Flash, Bang, Wallop! is probably the best known song from the musical comedy, Half a Sixpence, which was first staged in 1963 and starred Tommy Steele who plays Arthur Kipps, an orphan who unexpectedly inherits a fortune and climbs the social ladder before losing everything and realising that you just can't buy happiness. This humorous song is from a wedding scene in the musical and the title refers to the action of taking a wedding photograph at the turn of the Twentieth Century, when the story is set. This concert orchestra arrangement is designed to be instrumental only, though some of the lyrics are illustrated within the orchestration (such as a hint of Greensleeves at the mention of Henry VIII and a snatch of La Marseillaise heralding a mention of Napoleon) and the vocal line and lyrics are shown in the score just for reference purposes. As the lyrics of the chorus (at least) are well known, it might be worth getting your audience to join in the "clap your hands" and the "stamp your feet" bits!
Duration: 3.30
