"Tableau", short for "tableau vivant", is a static scene with actors or models, in costume and with props, staged to represent a dramatic scene or to recreate an artwork. There was also a type of tableau used in the English professional theatre, which took advantage of a quirk of English law which allowed nudity on the stage provided the performers remained motionless while the stage curtains were open. These tableaux provide the basis for the plot of Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005).
A plaque at the beginning of the film boasts "Stars of Today" who got their starts at the Windmill Theatre. Among the names are Peter Sellers, Jimmy Edwards, Harry Secombe, Valerie Tandy, Eric Barker, George Carden, Jack Billings, Michael Howard, Eric Woodburn, Lesley Osmond, Richard Murdoch (as Richard Stinker Murdoch) and Jean Kent.
Patsy complains that the only time she gets a good hand at cards, she finds herself "detailed for NAAFI work." This refers to the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI) which had provided canteen services for British servicemen since 1920. Patsy's reference would bring to mind the large number of canteens operating during the Second World War.
The line spoken by one of the dancers, "It wouldn't be the first time they wouldn't open the door for Richard", refers to the song "Open the Door, Richard!" by Louis Jordan & The Tympany Five