The Pepper Show

About the Pepper Show

From 1989 until 2014 the Pepper Show had been performing at the Centenary Theatre in Berkhamsted, but in 2015, the show moved to its current home of The David Evans Pendley Court Theatre Tring, Herts. 

In the early days, the show was a two-night stint, but it eventually evolved into its current six-show format, performing five evening shows and a matinee across five days. The show now typically happens in the second week of October. 

The setlist every year is a mix of music to suit all tastes; from modern pop and rock music to huge hit songs from the last six decades, there’s bound to be something for everyone. You never know, you might hear your next new favourite song at the show!

[The Pepper Show Band, 1990]

Putting the Pepper Show together

It takes our team over six months to prepare for the show. The show currently happens in October, but preparations for the Pepper Show begin in January, with the production management team discussing potential setlists, casting, creating a schedule for rehearsals, marketing, and much much more.

There can be up to 50 people involved in putting on the Pepper Show. Everyone in the Pepper Show cast and crew is a volunteer – singers, musicians, lighting and sound engineers, front-of-house staff. They give up their personal time entirely for free to ensure that the show meets the high standard our audiences expect.

The team of Musical Directors creates arrangements for each song in the set and makes sure that musicians and singers have access to everything they need for their performances. They also work with vocal groups on harmonies, and are there to help coach singers should they need help with their performances.

Once the setlist is decided, the house band needs to learn two hours of music, with rehearsals beginning months in advance of the show. Whole show cast rehearsals begin six to eight weeks before the show starts, with the band and all singers giving up a whole Sunday every week.

Behind all of this, a marketing team is working to ensure that people know about the show, setting up the box office for ticket sales, designing show materials, creating the show programme, working with print production companies, and getting advertisers and sponsors onboard.

A new consideration for the production is Covid safety, which affects vocal rehearsals, band rehearsals, and audience safety during show week. We do our best to keep everyone safe.

The weekend before the show a crew works tirelessly to prepare the theatre for the show, putting up lighting, sound equipment, and staging.

After all this work we finally reach show week, which for cast and crew often feels like it is over in a flash!

And of course, the most important people are our wonderful audience, for whom without we wouldn’t have a show at all!