Which Pantomimes Are You Seeing This Year?

[talkingheads]

Dec 11, 2023 17:37:31 GMT @original9 said:

Dec 11, 2023 15:00:18 GMT Jon said:

I notice Theatre Royal Newcastle has a new panto title in the form of Pinocchio, I'm guessing Michael Harrison is using it as a testbed to see if it can work so it can be sent out in the future, next year is The Little Mermaid which doesn't strike me as a panto title but could work.

Clive and Danny have done the Toon panto for about 20 years now so they have likely been through all the regular titles a couple of time so are looking for something new to keep their shows fresh.

Clive must be up there with the most panto appearances amongst active performers. Biggins must be well up the list too along with Paul Chuckle,Su Pollard and Nigel Ellacott. But I'd think the current leader might be Keith Simmons from Simmons and Simmons.

Anyone else got any thoughts?

I could be wrong but I don't think anyone has yet beaten The Patton Brothers, Paul and Barry's elder siblings, have they? I think they did 58 or thereabouts.

[Deleted]

Dec 11, 2023 18:48:28 GMT toomasj said:

Dec 11, 2023 17:37:31 GMT @original9 said:

Most regional venues basically, particularly though where the producer/director also stars (usually as the Buttons) and the dame/leading lady are the same. Aldershot, for example, Rob has been doing it for over 20 years, and Donovan his dame for similar. Same cast every year, same jokes - but hugely popular.

Panto relies on familiarity and repetition - audiences come back specifically to see a replica of what they saw last year. If you find a dame for example that the audience connect with, it’s an easy decision to keep bringing them back.

But yeah, these mid-sized self-produced regional professional pantos are identikit, with just the names of local places changed in the gags. Same writer for most of them.

Yep I fully agree - same jokes just a different setting. Who gets writing credits for these pantos I'd love to know. Often the top "comedy star" gets an additional material/co-writer credit but the listed writer might be someone else. Claiming intellectual property of a ghost scene, song sheet etc would be hard.

[Deleted]

Dec 11, 2023 22:43:03 GMT talkingheads said:

I could be wrong but I don't think anyone has yet beaten The Patton Brothers, Paul and Barry's elder siblings, have they? I think they did 58 or thereabouts.

Yes, I'm pretty certain they are still the all time leaders or at very least within living memory. When I was chatting to a panto veteran once possibly Keith Simmons or Robin from the Grumbleweeds they said the Patton Brothers had been doing pantos a good 10 years longer than them.

Keith Simmons mentions about doing this 50th panto in a 2019 social media post so at most he'd be up to 53/54 with his current one so still a few years to go.

Its Behind You lists Dawson Chance - the ventriloquist's pantos between 1972-2019 before he retired so he was still a full decade behind the Pattons. 

Unless someone does some pantos as a child/juvenile performer they'd need to do one every year until they were pretty much 80 to get near what the Pattons did.

[Jon]

I noticed Birmingham Hippodrome's 2024 panto is Peter Pan, I assuming it'll be using the sets from this year's Palladium production?

[Deleted]

Dec 12, 2023 19:21:12 GMT Jon said:

I noticed Birmingham Hippodrome's 2024 panto is Peter Pan, I assuming it'll be using the sets from this year's Palladium production?

Yes it will be. Birmingham nearly always gets the Palladium panto the following year. It then goes to Southampton. It only doesnt happen when Birmingham has only recently had the title (e.g. with Dick Whittington so it went to Southampton straight from London instead).

[Oleanna]

On the subject of long-serving performers, Steve Royle has appeared at the Blackpool Grand for about 25 seasons now.

[hannechalk]

I'm going to see Jack and the Beanstalk at the Floral Pavillion New Brighton on Saturday.

I believe this is Sean Jones' 14th year with the same panto-company - Rhyl Pavillion robbed him of 10 years at the same venue after 9 years.

Also starring Joe Sleight - so Mickey and Eddie from Blood Brothers in the same panto.

Then on Sunday it's off to the Theatre Royal St Helens to see Aladdin, which coincidentally has Tim Lucas and Jess Smith from Blood Brothers in, as the Genie and Jasmine.

[talkingheads]

Dick Whittington at Richmond is wonderful. Paul Merton is hilarious as expected, but what really makes the panto is his wife Suki Webster. Because they are both seasoned improvisers, they had a funny line for every little thing that went wrong, as well as trying to make each other laugh.

[Jon]

I find it strange that some theatres already have next year's panto confirmed but not others. I'm not including the Palladium because that's always announced last.

[hannechalk]

Just been to Jack and the Beanstalk at the Floral Pavillion in New Brighton, and it was great fun!

Starring:
Hayley Tamaddon as the Vegetable Fairy
Joseph Elliott as Fleshcreep
Sean Jones as Simple Simon
Joe Sleight as Jack
Oliver Brooks as Dame Trott
Rachel Grundy as Jill
Tom Sterling as the King
Amy Walker as Sandra Bullock

Part of it in act II is with 3D effects, which we didn't know. We realised after the interval some people had 3D-glasses on, but many didn't. They weren't on the seats or offered when you went in, so that was a bit odd. The kind lady next to us gave us a pair to share, and she shared with her husband.

We had a great day!

[robertb213]

Saw Cinderella at Milton Keynes and Snow White at Wolverhampton last week. Doing my first shift for the Northampton Derngate's Snow White tomorrow. And I don't even like panto 🤣

[theatreian]

Saw Cinderella in Malvern on opening night on Thursday. Really enjoyed it and the audience was very enthusiastic.

[ladidah]

Saw Beauty and the Beast in Wycombe over the weekend, with Suzanne Shaw, La Voix, Joe McFadden and Verity Thompson. Excellent!

[Deleted]

Dec 16, 2023 22:51:11 GMT theatreian said:

Saw Cinderella in Malvern on opening night on Thursday. Really enjoyed it and the audience was very enthusiastic.

The one time of the year Malvern gets a younger audience!

I need to get back to that theatre haven't been since early 2020. Mark James is a solid panto comedy turn and is well liked by their audiences so usually their pantos are a safe bet.

[theatreian]

Dec 18, 2023 20:21:46 GMT @original9 said:

The one time of the year Malvern gets a younger audience!

I need to get back to that theatre haven't been since early 2020. Mark James is a solid panto comedy turn and is well liked by their audiences so usually their pantos are a safe bet.

Yes I know!! Mark is excellent and the audience gave it a great response.

[Deleted]

Dec 16, 2023 0:56:20 GMT Jon said:

I find it strange that some theatres already have next year's panto confirmed but not others. I'm not including the Palladium because that's always announced last.

Sometimes the contract with the current producers could be up as some venues do change these or go to an in-house production etc. If they have had a run of the "usual" shows they migt be looking for a lesser known title next year too.

But if the main "funny man" is returning nearly always you'll see it advertised as they want people to rebook.

[toomasj]

Many places announce next year’s panto to the audience after the song sheet before the wedding walk down.

[Jon]

I've finally broken my panto hiatus and going to see Cinderella at the New Wimbledon Theatre.

[Deleted]

Managed to get to the Lichfield Garrick on Wednesday to see Beauty and the Beast. Main selling point of this visit had been the resident Dame Sam Rabone reunited with comedy sidekick Ben Thornton after about 5 years. They did some hilarious performances in the 2016 until 2018 pantos so seeing them together again was highly anticipated. This is an Evolution production written by Paul Hendy who has a long panto pedigree as a writer and producer so looked a safe bet.

I got a side circle seat in one of their open boxes for £33 with no booking fee for buying in person which I felt was good value. The first part of the panto was a bit slow going until Sam appeared in one of his many spectacular costumes. But the magic seemed to be slightly missing, had I set the bar so high or the first visit to this theatre's panto in 4 years was I expecting too much.

The 7 principals and 6 ensemble were all giving good performances and the full house were certainly enjoying it. Kat Chatterton as Belle had been in last year's show so had a good rapport with Sam and he and Ben got into their stride. The ensemble had nice roles as the servants turned into furniture and danced very well but at the interval it still seemed as if something was missing.

Luckily in the second half - a very funny scene when one male dancer was in a statue body stocking and a fig leaf joke seemed to pick the show up. But it was the two panto staples the haunted forest bench scene and the slapstick spot where it was as if Sam and Ben were truly back to their best. Sam's outfits got more spectacular and his singling out of a man on the front row is the oldest panto trick there is but still worked.

There was no Gaston but a sidekick called Danton who assisted the goodies which seemed a bit strange. Not a comedy character as such but the actor sang well as did Kat as Beauty and Melad Hamidi as the Prince/Beast. Natalie Pilkington from Six was a fun fairy and Sarah Annakin was having a ball as the Enchantress.

This was the cast's third show of the day but the energy level's were still amazing. The first half I rated as a 7/10 but the second half a 9/10 so I'll give it 8/10 overall. Sam is one of the best younger dames in the country and him and Ben are always worth seeing as a panto duo. My expecations were possibly too high but well recommended show especially for real panto fans.

[Jon]

Will be interesting to see what the Palladium Panto is for 2024. Since they've not done a female title since Goldilocks in 2019, my guess would be Sleeping Beauty although I wonder now the Palladium panto is so established, it could be an opportunity to do debut a new panto at the Palladium, not sure what title they could do but Rapunzel would be quite fun to do.

[ruthieh]

Just home from Jack and the Beanstalk in Oxford at the Playhouse. Really very good. Nice low key, non starry, home written panto!

[fiyero]

Dec 15, 2023 15:13:09 GMT talkingheads said:

Dick Whittington at Richmond is wonderful. Paul Merton is hilarious as expected, but what really makes the panto is his wife Suki Webster. Because they are both seasoned improvisers, they had a funny line for every little thing that went wrong, as well as trying to make each other laugh.

just back on the District Line after the matinee which was missing Paul!
I love seeing covers but it is unusual to see a cover who I genuinely don't think knew he was in this show this morning. I didn't get a programme but I don't think his name is in it, a true emergency cover. Not sure if it is fair to name him but he was script in hand for 90% of the show and obviously didn't know the show but gave a great performance. I wish I had the chance to see him after a rehearsal. As has been mentioned Suki is a great improvisor and covered at least 2 parts [of Paul's track] too.
It was a bit of a shame to see this show that I know from the palladium shrunk down so much. I did expect flying at the end of act 1. The cast were all great though and it was a great example of 'the show must go on'

[David J]

Saw Salisbury Playhouse's Dick Whittington on Boxing Day. If you want a pantomime that thinks outside the box visually and storywise in the south then the Playhouse has always been a reliable venue

And this year is no different when you're faced with a sunny, tropical set with summer songs playing pre-show. All pre-empting the second act when usually our heroes are stranded on a tropical island. Except here they are now stranded in Miami, America (somehow, having been on a ferry to the Isle of Wight), before realising they are on a Hollywood set. And cue many film and star references, with the "he's behind you routine" done with the ghost of Jaws, or a man in a shark suit.

All very fun. With a running sub-story with Alice Fitzwarren dreaming of being an actress, and Dick encourages her to sign for the Hollywood director. And in the end she's starring in her Hollywood debut and instead of a wedding at the curtain call it's instead her film premiere. Though I felt the show did go on for 5-10 minutes too long.

And I couldn't help noticing a toy train track running along the front of the stage and sure enough they have a toy train (with a noticeable santa figuring on it) run along it during Dick's journey to London. Although they did set up that he was walking to London, playing the 500 miles song, so having him get the train the remainder of the sequence contradictory. But this is panto, so why should I take it seriously when this show is having a ball throwing so much in.

The cast were good though I did feel that not all the jokes didn't land. Either the audience wasn't the most receptive or the cast needs to tighten up on the timings.

[richey]

Just out from Jack and the Beanstalk at Manchester Opera House. A lot of padding which is basically a stand-up routine for Jason Manford at the beginning of the show. But it looks good and a pretty spectacular end to Act 1 which got everyone excited.
Makes a lot of use of the music from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, particularly the prologue and an extended Any Dream Will Do segment

[cherokee]

Dec 27, 2023 15:32:58 GMT fiyero said:

Dec 15, 2023 15:13:09 GMT talkingheads said:

Dick Whittington at Richmond is wonderful. Paul Merton is hilarious as expected, but what really makes the panto is his wife Suki Webster. Because they are both seasoned improvisers, they had a funny line for every little thing that went wrong, as well as trying to make each other laugh.

just back on the District Line after the matinee which was missing Paul!
I love seeing covers but it is unusual to see a cover who I genuinely don't think knew he was in this show this morning. I didn't get a programme but I don't think his name is in it, a true emergency cover. Not sure if it is fair to name him but he was script in hand for 90% of the show and obviously didn't know the show but gave a great performance. I wish I had the chance to see him after a rehearsal. As has been mentioned Suki is a great improvisor and covered at least 2 parts [of Paul's track] too.
It was a bit of a shame to see this show that I know from the palladium shrunk down so much. I did expect flying at the end of act 1. The cast were all great though and it was a great example of 'the show must go on'

Boxing Day in Richmond all sounded very dramatic. According to Twitter, the matinee started with Merton off ill, and his understudy - a lad from the chorus - came on, got stage fright and refused to come on again. So the show stopped for 25 minutes, and then when it restarted, a very ill - and apparently grumpy - Merton came on and did perform, although he then had to stop for 5 seconds when he felt faint. They then cancelled the evening show, and presumably drafted in the script-in-hand replacement for the 27th!