It was a very physical show with the all-male cast performing a high-kick dance routine and 30 push-ups. All the scheduled performances were sold out so it was decided to give two performances a night, the second going up around 10.45pm.

In a particularly poignant moment the cast would stand and sing Onward Christian Soldiers to mourn the death of Soviet cosmonauts before Peter Field broke the tension with a line something like, “Hey guys, I’ve just had a brilliant idea!”

No-one had thought about the running time of the second show, so on the opening night, just as the cast began to sing, the theatre’s automatic trip switch kicked in, plunging the entire theatre into total blackout. Panic set in as we struggled with the second and then the third verse in the blackout.

In an effort to save the situation, Peter delivered his line..and at that precise moment the lights came back on (someone had found and reset the trip switch)...and the audience never knew of this unscripted departure from the lighting plot.