Bash Helmet The Musical. Calamity strikes on opening night.

On 30th January 1973, Bash Helmet The Musical premiered at the Ambassador Theatre. 

The story revolved around two young men coming to terms with their sexuality and falling in love. One of the men works in a comic book store and loves to regale customers with the comic book adventures of Bash Helmet and Flick Faster (which play out on the stage). 

The story of Bash and Flick’s encounters with many of their popular villains interweaves with the story of the two young men right up until the climactic finale. 

The two stories converge into a ‘Will they/won’t they?’ scenario i.e. will Bash and Flick escape the Death Trap / will the two men confess their love for each other?

The score was everything Bona Ventures' owner Godfrey Pryce wanted it to be - fresh, exciting, and passionate. Numbers included: We’re Out to Save the World; (I Find That) Hard to Swallow; Turn Your Back on Me; The Park After Dark; Everybody Loves Gays (These Days); I’m All in a Flap; Funk in My Space; and Goodbye Dr Jekyll - Hello Mr Pride. 

The soulful ballad sung by Flick Faster - Pulling Back the Curtains - was an instant show stopper and has since been covered by many recording artists. 

However, production costs for the musical were spiralling with the construction of elaborate sets that revolved and elevated. The finale of one number, A Load on My Shoulders, would leave the theatre having to re-upholster the front two rows of seats after every performance (the first three rows on a good night). 

Concerned about the amount of money needed to stage the musical, Godfrey’s backers pulled out one by one. Undeterred, Pryce decided to go ahead, leaving Bona Ventures as the project’s sole producer.

Godfrey Pryce had posters put up all around New York
to promote his musical before the score was even finished! 

On the opening night, the Ambassador housed the cream of America’s entertainers. Movers and shakers from the world of theatre, movies, television and radio had been personally invited by Pryce and they had all turned up, eager to watch such an innovative show. 

Unfortunately, as the lights dimmed and the strains of the overture struck up, the tank containing the fluid for the Load on My Shoulders number cracked, resulting in the cast, the stage and the orchestra being covered in gunk. 

The theatre had to be closed down and its repair costs meant that Pryce could no longer afford to put the musical on. He took the project’s closure and resultant money-loss very badly, assuming full responsibility for the failure and its huge impact on Bona Ventures. 

One evening, after downing a whole bottle of Campari, Pryce stumbled to his office, unlocked the top drawer of his desk and pulled out a small revolver. Then he pulled out the passport which the revolver was lying on, put back the revolver and went to live in Thailand with Pu Yao-Yun and his twelve brothers.