524 posts
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Post by callum on Jan 14, 2018 1:33:50 GMT
Fantasy casting next year (which I think might be Snow White, with Jack and the Beanstalk in 2019/20 to go female/male/female/male) would be Bradley Walsh as Muddles, Nigel back as the Henchman and really splash out on having big big names as the Wicked Queen and the dame, hopefully to have a lot of repartee with each other. Could Joan Collins be tempted to return to panto or is 85 by next Christmas too much of an ask?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2018 19:00:49 GMT
Fantasy casting next year (which I think might be Snow White, with Jack and the Beanstalk in 2019/20 to go female/male/female/male) would be Bradley Walsh as Muddles, Nigel back as the Henchman and really splash out on having big big names as the Wicked Queen and the dame, hopefully to have a lot of repartee with each other. Could Joan Collins be tempted to return to panto or is 85 by next Christmas too much of an ask? I thought next year was the last year? There wont be any panto at the palladium in 2019/2020 unless a new contract is issued. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2018 19:59:17 GMT
Fantasy casting next year (which I think might be Snow White, with Jack and the Beanstalk in 2019/20 to go female/male/female/male) would be Bradley Walsh as Muddles, Nigel back as the Henchman and really splash out on having big big names as the Wicked Queen and the dame, hopefully to have a lot of repartee with each other. Could Joan Collins be tempted to return to panto or is 85 by next Christmas too much of an ask? I thought next year was the last year? There wont be any panto at the palladium in 2019/2020 unless a new contract is issued. The amount of money the pantos make, they’ll probably keep doing them for years. I hope so as they are always amazing and they spend loads of money on them. I too hope it is Snow White as there’s lots of great casting opportunities: huge name for Wicked Queen then Dame, Henchman, Prince, Muddles, Snow White. Qdos always put lots of effort into their pantomimes, better than FFE. Why did FFE close and get taken over by Qdos tho? |
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Post by daniel on Jan 14, 2018 20:07:06 GMT
I thought next year was the last year? There wont be any panto at the palladium in 2019/2020 unless a new contract is issued. The amount of money the pantos make, they’ll probably keep doing them for years. I hope so as they are always amazing and they spend loads of money on them. I too hope it is Snow White as there’s lots of great casting opportunities: huge name for Wicked Queen then Dame, Henchman, Prince, Muddles, Snow White. Qdos always put lots of effort into their pantomimes, better than FFE. Why did FFE close and get taken over by Qdos tho? I think unless the Palladium have a sure-fire long-running hit lined up, they'd be foolish not to renew the contract. Re FFE, they were part of ATG, who decided (for whatever reason) that FFE wasn't working for them. And then signed a contract with Qdos for 9 of the 10 former FFE pantos. The one that didn't move across being Aylesbury which went to UK Productions instead. I can only think this must be because it's close to the Qdos/HQ stronghold of the Wycombe Swan. I think the Qdos/ATG deal is also three years, but again as with the Palladium I would expect it to continue until a time in the future when ATG decide they want to bring panto back in house once more. |
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Post by firefingers on Jan 15, 2018 2:16:14 GMT
Re FFE, they were part of ATG, who decided (for whatever reason) that FFE wasn't working for them. And then signed a contract with Qdos for 9 of the 10 former FFE pantos. The one that didn't move across being Aylesbury which went to UK Productions instead. I can only think this must be because it's close to the Qdos/HQ stronghold of the Wycombe Swan. Yes Wycombe Swan was the main reason they didn't do Aylesbury, but there was also Oxford and Milton Keynes within a 40 minute drive of Aylesbury so they chose not to compete. I believe the logic was that ATG essentially "privatised" the panto wing that is FFE, sold it off believing that someone else running it could be more profitable. I imagine they were also able to sell off a load of costumes and sets etc, and possibly even warehouse space that was used to store all that. |
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Post by fiyero on Jan 15, 2018 12:05:08 GMT
I was at the final performance and it was great, I'll definitely be looking out for the next one (didn't manage to squeeze it in last year). It worked well on the second viewing (I mainly went back for Elaine's songs, as it seems did a good chunk of the audience from the enthusiasm I heard for them). It showed how good they are at the rehearsed corpsing! I was a little disappointed to find out that the children who come up are rehearsed, the first boy was nearly word for word with the one I saw the first time!
I hope Nigel gets a bigger part next time ;-)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2018 15:01:25 GMT
Glad it had a great run and reviews. And good luck to Charlie in Dolly, I just saw he headed off this morning for New York so wish him all the best! Lets hope for a future of Cynthia Erivo success with less of the forgetting your roots and being a dick on social media.  |
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Post by CG on the loose on Jan 15, 2018 20:14:51 GMT
Really amazed today. I was chatting with a friend on Twitter about Gary Wilmot, and she had tagged him. Mr Wilmot himself thanked us. Now that is not only a professional, but a real gentleman too. Always been a fan, now even more so. Nice to hear. He got a standing O for his tube song at the final show. Well deserved. |
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Post by Stephen on Jan 15, 2018 22:32:44 GMT
Jack and the Magical Flying Beanstalk courtesy of the Twins FX! That would be a good one...
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Post by garetha on Jan 15, 2018 23:38:08 GMT
Re FFE, they were part of ATG, who decided (for whatever reason) that FFE wasn't working for them. And then signed a contract with Qdos for 9 of the 10 former FFE pantos. The one that didn't move across being Aylesbury which went to UK Productions instead. I can only think this must be because it's close to the Qdos/HQ stronghold of the Wycombe Swan. Yes Wycombe Swan was the main reason they didn't do Aylesbury, but there was also Oxford and Milton Keynes within a 40 minute drive of Aylesbury so they chose not to compete. I believe the logic was that ATG essentially "privatised" the panto wing that is FFE, sold it off believing that someone else running it could be more profitable. I imagine they were also able to sell off a load of costumes and sets etc, and possibly even warehouse space that was used to store all that. If only it was that simple! Its actually much much more complicated than this. Warehouse space was only hired anyway. |
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Post by callum on Jan 16, 2018 13:45:19 GMT
Now that it's over, I thought I'd share the 'unrehearsed' moments that happened in my performance, wondering, and betting in fact, that they happened every time:
One of the bells falling off Julian's staff and Dick bending down to get it (Julian says: while you're down there...)
Julian saying to Dick that one of his talents isn't remembering his lines... he peaked at the matinee this afternoon
Nigel coughing and Julian saying he should have a fisherman's friend
Nigel falling into the curtain and pulling it down during 12 Days of Xmas
The young boy saying to PZ 'I saw your lips move' and that Nigel was his favourite
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Post by fiyero on Jan 16, 2018 14:07:36 GMT
Now that it's over, I thought I'd share the 'unrehearsed' moments that happened in my performance, wondering, and betting in fact, that they happened every time: 1 One of the bells falling off Julian's staff and Dick bending down to get it (Julian says: while you're down there...) 2 Julian saying to Dick that one of his talents isn't remembering his lines... he peaked at the matinee this afternoon 3 Nigel coughing and Julian saying he should have a fisherman's friend 4 Nigel falling into the curtain and pulling it down during 12 Days of Xmas 5 The young boy saying to PZ 'I saw your lips move' and that Nigel was his favourite I was there on the 30th December and 14th Jan evenings: 1 - nothing like that either night 2 - both times 3 - both times 4 - both times (obviously on purpose - the others wouldn't just be hanging out behind the curtain - but I loved it!) 5 - Nigel was second favourite both times! first time was Eileen the Cat and second time just the cat. Word for word with the seeing the lips move too!
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Post by tonyloco on Jan 16, 2018 14:23:45 GMT
Nice to hear. He got a standing O for his tube song at the final show. Well deserved. I know I have said it before but Gary Wilmot's versatility is astonishing. Anyone who can sing the tenor role of Joe (Don José) in 'Carmen Jones' and the bass role of Dick Deadeye in 'HMS Pinafore' (Regent's Park) and make them both entirely convincing is a genius. And furthermore, his Dick Deadeye in the cleverly adapted 'Pinafore' was the link between the audience and Gilbert's characters on stage and he made it menacing and funny and totally meaningful. Musical theatre accomplishment does not come much better than that – not to mention 'Copacabana', 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' and his other many successes. I promise not to repeat this stuff about Gary Wilmot for at least another three weeks! |
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Post by tonyloco on Jan 16, 2018 14:34:30 GMT
Now that it's over, I thought I'd share the 'unrehearsed' moments that happened in my performance, wondering, and betting in fact, that they happened every time: 1 One of the bells falling off Julian's staff and Dick bending down to get it (Julian says: while you're down there...) 2 Julian saying to Dick that one of his talents isn't remembering his lines... he peaked at the matinee this afternoon 3 Nigel coughing and Julian saying he should have a fisherman's friend 4 Nigel falling into the curtain and pulling it down during 12 Days of Xmas 5 The young boy saying to PZ 'I saw your lips move' and that Nigel was his favourite I was there on the 30th December and 14th Jan evenings: 1 - nothing like that either night 2 - both times 3 - both times 4 - both times (obviously on purpose - the others wouldn't just be hanging out behind the curtain - but I loved it!) 5 - Nigel was second favourite both times! first time was Eileen the Cat and second time just the cat. Word for word with the seeing the lips move too! I think the important thing to be said here is how brilliantly the company played all the rehearsed corpsing and such, unlike in that dreadful production of 'One Man, Two Governers' several years ago where I found all that kind of artificial production totally unfunny, even down to stooges who were supposed to be random members of the audience. But the clever players at the Palladium brought it off with much good humour, totally in the spirit of pantomime. God bless them all! |
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Post by callum on Jan 16, 2018 15:25:37 GMT
Oh god yes, the 'unrehearsed' parts were done so artfully, I didn't feel like I was being lied to or fooled or anything like that - just curious to see how much of it is genuine or not. Actually, fiyero , you're right, the young boy did say Eileen first and that Nigel was his second favourite! Makes it all the more convenient that Nigel was waiting in the wings to come on after the child says his line! Come to think of it, I can't remember seeing the young boy that had the 'lines' going back to his seat afterwards, but the other three kids did. Am guessing he must have had some time to learn his lines? |
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Post by basdfg on Jan 16, 2018 17:09:38 GMT
I know the bit where the Bell flies into the audience is scripted as relatives saw it on a different night and it happened in their performance. Top Marks through for making it seem unscripted so convincingly.
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Post by fiyero on Jan 16, 2018 21:25:39 GMT
I know the bit where the Bell flies into the audience is scripted as relatives saw it on a different night and it happened in their performance. Top Marks through for making it seem unscripted so convincingly. Toilet rolls flew into the audience both times I saw it (in the 12 nights of Christmas style number) |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2018 10:56:09 GMT
Bog standard.
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Post by basdfg on Jan 17, 2018 10:56:31 GMT
I think it might have been a bell in "Cinderella" that flew into the audience with it being toilet Rolls this time.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2018 15:32:48 GMT
The amount of money the pantos make, they’ll probably keep doing them for years. I hope so as they are always amazing and they spend loads of money on them. I too hope it is Snow White as there’s lots of great casting opportunities: huge name for Wicked Queen then Dame, Henchman, Prince, Muddles, Snow White. Qdos always put lots of effort into their pantomimes, better than FFE. Why did FFE close and get taken over by Qdos tho? I think unless the Palladium have a sure-fire long-running hit lined up, they'd be foolish not to renew the contract. Re FFE, they were part of ATG, who decided (for whatever reason) that FFE wasn't working for them. And then signed a contract with Qdos for 9 of the 10 former FFE pantos. The one that didn't move across being Aylesbury which went to UK Productions instead. I can only think this must be because it's close to the Qdos/HQ stronghold of the Wycombe Swan. I think the Qdos/ATG deal is also three years, but again as with the Palladium I would expect it to continue until a time in the future when ATG decide they want to bring panto back in house once more. Thanks for that. I’m surprised ATG gave up on FFE. Their pantos weren’t bad and it’s not like people didn’t go and see them specifically because it was FFE so changing to Qdos wouldn’t make a huge difference? Qdos seem to have better production values though and seem to care more for the shows themselves. Palladium contract is bound to extend. I’m surprised this yesr panto isn’t announced yet but I’m so hoping it is Snow White. Think the Qdos/ATG one will also extend |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2018 15:33:58 GMT
As much as they were amazing, I hope it’s a brand new cast this year too. Paul Zerdjn is fab but I hope he’s not back as the jokes would become very repetitive. Julian and Nigel could come back but again it’ll be good to see a band new set of people. Could Gary maybe return as Dame?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2018 17:01:12 GMT
Surprised to see both High Wycombe and Milton Keynes will be Snow White tbis year. They’re both very close so the same show? The only reason audiences would go to one over the other now will be because of casting. This makes me think that the palladium could be Aladdin or Peter Pan even though Wimbledon and Richmond are housing then respectively. Seems late to announce it..
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Post by Tibidabo on Feb 15, 2018 17:22:30 GMT
Well I, for one, under no circumstances, absolutely no way, am most definitely not buying a ticket until I know who's in it, whatever it is. *coughchesscough*
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Post by daniel on Feb 15, 2018 18:26:21 GMT
I'd be surprised if they did Aladdin, just with Disney having their panto-ish version just up the road.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2018 18:59:18 GMT
I'd be surprised if they did Aladdin, just with Disney having their panto-ish version just up the road. I agree, I think Aladdin is an unlikely option. I don't like Peter Pan as a panto but I have a strong feeling that it will be Peter Pan |
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