The biennial Scouting celebration that is the Otago Gang Show is back, with a near record contingent of Te Anau Scouts set to take centre stage.

Eight members from Te Anau will join a group of 76 cast members in the Dunedin-based musical comedy show, which is performed entirely by Scouts and Guides selected from all over Otago and Southland.

Performers must be between 10 and 26 as of July 1, with more than 140 people auditioning for roles in the show.

The theme for the show this year is "tall tales", with unique takes on classic fairy tales such as Jack and the Beanstalk, Peter Pan and Sleeping Beauty.

The involvement of eight members from Te Anau more than doubles the number from the town last time, and falls just short of the record of nine.

Otago Gang Show co-director Sue Walker, who alongside her husband Noel have been in charge of the show since 1980, said she always looked forward to seeing the development of the performers in each of the shows.

She said that each show always set out to better the previous one.

"It’s just seeing the enjoyment that the cast get out of it and seeing them coming in as kids who don’t even know they can sing, but they can dance and act and that sort of thing and just seeing them develop in those areas hugely. Boys especially. It’s great to see them. We’ve got a lot of our boys who have been at several shows now doing major dance numbers and really love it."

It is the 20th Gang Show the Walkers have been in charge of, with the pair having been Scout leaders for more than 40 years.

Currently Mr Walker serves as the Te Anau group leader, while Mrs Walker is the Te Anau cubs leader.

Mrs Walker said the show is a huge commitment every two years.

"We’re lucky we’ve got a huge team of people in Dunedin who are music people, admin people, wardrobe and that kind of thing do it from Dunedin, which means we can just come up at the weekend to the rehearsals and kind of manage it that way. It’s a big commitment there is no doubt about that."

The Otago Gang Show begins on Tuesday (July 9) at the Mayfair Theatre in Dunedin at 7.30pm, running each night until Saturday July 13, with a matinee at 2pm on the final Saturday.

Tickets can be purchased at www.otagogangshow.com