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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2018 13:52:11 GMT
Biggins has talked about these last few pantos probably being his final ones and that he'd likely finish when he turns 70. As he turns 70 next month I could see this year sadly being his final run. Unlike Berwick he has taken some years off notably when he won I'm A Celebrity.
I'd be interested to know what Berwick's total number of pantos are, some performers were also well past 40 shows - Jeffrey Holland, Robin from the Grumbleweeds, Paul Chuckle, Keith Simmons etc. Off the top of my head they are probably the most prolific panto performers. I know Robin has taken the odd year off like Biggins so Berwick may be the most consecutive shows.
I once asked Paul Chuckle if they had probably done the most pantos of anyone in the UK and he said his older brothers - The Patton Brothers were about 10 ahead of him. But I think they may have retired now but had about 50 odd appearances.
Also which lady has the most current panto appearances I wonder?
Sue Pollard sprang to mind as she is 69 now and must have done a show most years in the last 40 or so years. Sue Holderness, Jeanette Krankie and Lesley Joseph could also have a fairly high number too. Any other female names that spring to mind?
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Post by hulmeman on Nov 24, 2018 17:17:47 GMT
Also which lady has the most current panto appearances I wonder? Sue Pollard sprang to mind as she is 69 now and must have done a show most years in the last 40 or so years. Sue Holderness, Jeanette Krankie and Lesley Joseph could also have a fairly high number too. Any other female names that spring to mind? Dorothy Ward made her stage debut at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham in 1905 in Bluebeard (a now long forgotten pantomime) and retired in 1957. Apparently played principle boy all that time!
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Post by talkingheads on Nov 25, 2018 22:54:13 GMT
Well I can now say that the Lyric Hammersmith panto was a lot of fun. The cast really gave it their all with some brilliant singers and Sarah Louise Young particularly was terrific as the baddie, played with such relish
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Post by stevejohnson678 on Nov 27, 2018 13:37:50 GMT
The Everyman Theatre's rock & roll panto is a bit of a Liverpool institution and last night it was easy to see why! This year's production is The Snow Queen, with Everyman veterans Adam Keast and Francis Tucker returning for their 14th consecutive years, alongside a terrific company of actor musicians.
Nikita Johal (Wendla in Hope Mill's Spring Awakening) and Nicola Martinus-Smith (fresh from recent rock & roll pantos at Theatr Clwyd) brought sublime vocals to the central roles of Snowdrop and Laputa respectively. Much of Nicola's characterisation as the combative fairy was frequently very funny too, perfectly complementing the wacky antics of the two leading men.
Even on a Monday evening, the audience were into this right from the moment the house lights went down to whoops and cheers, while Lucy Thatcher as Viletta could barely utter a line a times without attracting a chorus of boos and derision!
All the key panto ingredients were there - audience participation with a singalong refrain for Adam Keast's Toni Cornetto, poor John in the front row (or 'Juicy John' as he became known to us) singled out for some lust and affection from Francis Tucker's Beau Peep Po, and a dance-a-long led by Nicola Martinus-Smith's Snowdrop. Even those of us in the Circle didn't escape a sprinkling from the customary water blasters!
Musically we had everything from The Beegees and Elvis to KC and the Sunshine Band, Right Said Fred and Take That to name just a few, all played live by various members of the company who doubled as the band whenever they weren't centre stage.
This was my first experience of the Everyman panto (and my first panto full stop for 20 years) and it's easy to see why this venue has so many people flocking back to its Christmas productions year after year. If you could bottle that feeling come the end of an unmissable 2.5 hours of rock & roll festive fun, you would pretty much have an elixir of pure joy.
Five stars.
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Post by Snciole on Nov 28, 2018 13:00:17 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2018 15:37:33 GMT
Should be a good show with a lot of panto veterans.
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Post by talkingheads on Nov 29, 2018 22:51:23 GMT
Well if anybody's still dithering, the Hackney Empire, no hyperbole, is the most fun I've ever had at a panto. The entire company from Gemma Sutton as Aladdin to Clive Rowe being outrageous as Widow Twankey all spark off each other wonderfully and they go at the slapstick with a gusto that leaves most other pantos in the shade!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2018 13:39:29 GMT
Saw Dick Whittington at Lichfield Garrick last night, always a good smaller venue panto and has been so popular it has been extended by a week. Sam Rabone is one great young dames IMO - ironically he is playing buttons next year! and Ben Thornton a great comic side kick and stooge.
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Post by talkingheads on Dec 9, 2018 15:55:23 GMT
Bittersweet today. Went to Woking to see Paul Chuckle in Cinderella. Still got the great old routines but with the local comic playing Buttons who didn't appear to know the intricacies of the timing, missing some of the laughs. I enjoyed it and will continue to support Paul wherever he appears but I couldn't help feeling desperately sad
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Xanderl
Member
Not always very high value in terms of ticket yield or donations
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Post by Xanderl on Dec 10, 2018 13:11:23 GMT
Here's a selection of what you could have seen in 1987
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Post by Dr Tom on Dec 10, 2018 13:31:33 GMT
Here's a selection of what you could have seen in 1987 Bizarre to think of Anneka Rice being a panto lead, but I suppose she was at the height of her fame then.
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Post by TallPaul on Dec 10, 2018 13:47:08 GMT
31 years later some of the same names are still at it, though hopefully not still playing Buttons!!!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2018 18:20:50 GMT
31 years later some of the same names are still at it, though hopefully not still playing Buttons!!! Brian Conley still plays Buttons and I first saw him in the early 90s. Worst one was Biggins as Buttons, just didn't work and was a bit creepy
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Post by theglenbucklaird on Dec 10, 2018 18:37:09 GMT
The Brexit pantomime. Theresa May in the lead, Boris and Jacob Rees Mogg the pantomime dames and Jezza the fairy godmother
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Post by wickedgrin on Dec 10, 2018 21:43:33 GMT
This time next year Theresa May will have been voted off Strictly and appearing as the Wicked Queen at the London Palladium Panto!
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Post by david on Dec 10, 2018 21:53:07 GMT
The Brexit pantomime. Theresa May in the lead, Boris and Jacob Rees Mogg the pantomime dames and Jezza the fairy godmother Boris and JRM as the ugly sisters in Cinderella? With TM, a character asks her “What happend to your career?” Audience Reply - “It’s behind you!”
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2018 0:53:21 GMT
Here's a selection of what you could have seen in 1987 Bizarre to think of Anneka Rice being a panto lead, but I suppose she was at the height of her fame then. Anneka certainly did a number of pantos on the back of Treasure Hunt and was known from Kid's TV also in early 1980's. She was in demand as a principal boy role - this could well have been her last panto as I think she had her first son the next year and I don't recall her returning to panto in later years. Anneka was a hot young property of TV in the 1980's and had success well into mid 1990's. I see a very young Janie Dee listed too!
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Post by frosty on Dec 12, 2018 12:11:14 GMT
Given the 5* reviews, I'm very pleased to have tickets for 'Mother Goose Cracks One Out' at Above the Stag in Vauxhall next Friday. I am expecting lots of seasonal smut and festive filth!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2018 23:20:20 GMT
Wolverhampton's Sleeping Beauty is good but not great. The story has been slightly convoluted and a lot of the action is carried by Richard Cadell with Sooty who still seems to appeal to all ages. This is apparently Richard's first panto for 15 years. Debbie McGee is a fun good fairy and seemed to be having a hoot as she had several fits of giggles. Ian Adams is always a good Dame and director whilst Doreen Tipton has lots of good local jokes. Oliver Ormson aka Mr CHF is underused if anything as the Prince but is in fine voice during his numbers.
Having seen a lot of pantos Ian has directed at Lichfield and Wolverhampton this isn't one of his best but through no fault of his as his others were really good. I don't regret seeing it and would tell people it is a good show but not one I'd say go out of your way to see.
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Post by sf on Dec 13, 2018 23:42:50 GMT
I'm watching Question Time right now. This year, that's as close as I get.
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Post by talkingheads on Dec 14, 2018 8:24:27 GMT
Wolverhampton's Sleeping Beauty is good but not great. The story has been slightly convoluted and a lot of the action is carried by Richard Cadell with Sooty who still seems to appeal to all ages. This is apparently Richard's first panto for 15 years. Debbie McGee is a fun good fairy and seemed to be having a hoot as she had several fits of giggles. Ian Adams is always a good Dame and director whilst Doreen Tipton has lots of good local jokes. Oliver Ormson aka Mr CHF is underused if anything as the Prince but is in fine voice during his numbers. Having seen a lot of pantos Ian has directed at Lichfield and Wolverhampton this isn't one of his best but through no fault of his as his others were really good. I don't regret seeing it and would tell people it is a good show but not one I'd say go out of your way to see. I have a lot of time for Richard Cadell, I'm 23 and still go and see the Sooty live shows he puts on, so much work goes into them, and he stayed for hours after to meet everybody, a lovely guy.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2018 13:27:22 GMT
Wolverhampton's Sleeping Beauty is good but not great. The story has been slightly convoluted and a lot of the action is carried by Richard Cadell with Sooty who still seems to appeal to all ages. This is apparently Richard's first panto for 15 years. Debbie McGee is a fun good fairy and seemed to be having a hoot as she had several fits of giggles. Ian Adams is always a good Dame and director whilst Doreen Tipton has lots of good local jokes. Oliver Ormson aka Mr CHF is underused if anything as the Prince but is in fine voice during his numbers. Having seen a lot of pantos Ian has directed at Lichfield and Wolverhampton this isn't one of his best but through no fault of his as his others were really good. I don't regret seeing it and would tell people it is a good show but not one I'd say go out of your way to see. I have a lot of time for Richard Cadell, I'm 23 and still go and see the Sooty live shows he puts on, so much work goes into them, and he stayed for hours after to meet everybody, a lovely guy. I met Richard after the panto and he was a top guy, he chatted briefly about Sooty and knowing Matthew Corbett who was my Sooty era presenter. He owns the Sooty rights so obviously puts in great effort with his own shows.
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Post by talkingheads on Dec 15, 2018 15:20:04 GMT
I'm afraid I can officially declare Wimbledon's offering this year just 3 stars. Nowhere near the standard of last year, alas. Merton doesn't connect with the kids, Firman does but his magic act is dull, and Lee Ryan is in the show. The minor characters are far better. More on my blog if anyone is interested. Where can I find your blog? I agree it isn't the best panto, but I admit I went purely for Merton, he speaks with such affection about the variety era and has a near encyclopedic knowledge on the history, I thought he and Firman were the best part. Funny you say it wasn't up to the standard of last year, I thought that one was pretty poor bar Clive Rowe! I do hate the 3D stuff though, you have experienced artists on the stage, use them!
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Post by Dr Tom on Dec 15, 2018 17:27:31 GMT
Can I throw out a question (not being a regular pantomime goer, although I did get to the Palladium I'm tempted to go to one of the big pantomimes this year).
When I was growing up, I always thought that pantomimes were mostly local productions (and the nearest we got to star casting was Jet from Gladiators).
Now they're big productions, with name celebrities and with (it seems) a few major operations dominating.
For a company like QDOS, which is running around 30 pantomimes this year, with mostly the big name pantos like Cinderella, will all of their productions of any particular pantomime use the same book, similar staging etc? Or is this all very bespoke by venue? I know they do change things based on the star casting, but are there just slots which they leave open for the stars to do their thing?
A side question. I see that Southampton, for example, is running what's listed as "Dick Whittington - The London Palladium Production". How does that work, in that my experience of the Palladium was that 90% of it was scripted around the stars and their variety acts? The cast here is completely different, so how much of the Palladium production would actually survive?
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Post by kathryn on Dec 16, 2018 8:59:03 GMT
Had a whale of a time at the Hackney Empire Aladdin last night. At least a hundred times better than the QDOS show I saw in Southend last year. We’ve decided that we need to drag everyone else along with us to it next year!
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Post by jgblunners on Dec 16, 2018 9:45:14 GMT
It must be at least 10 years since I last saw a panto and I tried but failed to see the past two Palladium ones, so I decided to bite the bullet and go for a nice mid-stalls ticket for Snow White. Can't wait!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2018 10:32:20 GMT
Southampton has the Palladium sets and many of the costumes, especially the ensemble. Some of the leads too.
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Post by comporhys on Dec 16, 2018 12:22:48 GMT
Went to see the final Berwick Kaler panto last night in York - a fitting send-off to his 40 years as Dame, with a “storyline” about his inability to complete a script on time and the cast trying to work out what the story is. Great fun! Will certainly miss Berwick and his company of actors next year.
An added bonus was being sat next to the legends Imelda Staunton and Jim Carter for the show - just about managed to resist embarrassing myself in front of them...
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Post by wickedgrin on Dec 16, 2018 15:06:32 GMT
I have seen several pantos already this season and the Hackney Empire was just glorious! The atmosphere in the theatre was wonderful.
Standards vary enormously - I wont mention the worst but I find QDOS pantos very corporate and although the production values are high the shows are lacking in heart. One such panto I saw last week was very lazy - running just 2 hours 10 minutes including a 20 minute interval. The leads seemed to be merely marking it through with several references to "we have to do this all again later" and "12 shows a week". Low energy levels all round and only the first week of a four week run!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2018 15:47:29 GMT
Not exactly a Panto but went to Christmas Spectacular at B'ham Symphony Hall with London Concert Orchestra, Capital Voices with guest vocalists Kerry Ellis, Tim Howar, Kimberley Wyatt and Laura Pitt-Pulford. A very good concert but maybe a 2-2 female-male vocalist split would have been better as Tim seemed to carry a load and Laura only did 3 numbers.
If anyone knows B'ham Symphony Hall there is a big walkway through and after the show I went to the internal stage door as I thought Tim might pop out or possibly Kerry and I'd noticed the steward on there was a chap I've spoken to many times and he'd said he was going travelling across Asia for a couple of months and this was first time I'd seen him since he was back. He said the artists were on a coach so would likely go straight out the back but as I was chatting to him I saw some lads laughing and whistling at a nearby window. A downstairs room next to SD was being used as a costume store and the blinds weren't closed the dancers were handing their costumes back to wardrobe person. But one gorgeous dancer stripped off her costume in the room and did a most elegant ballet lean forward naked but for a tiny thong. No-one inside the room had rumbled what had happened and said lads moved on.
The steward said he'd remind companies to close the blinds in future as there have been jokes about people looking up and seeing stars in the main dressing rooms which look out onto the concourse a level or so up forgetting to close the blinds. Anyway as I was finishing chatting to the steward said daring dancer walks out of stage door clothed asking which way to coach, we both kept a straight face and thought it best not to mention it to her as she might have been upset and embarrassed having provided a peep show.
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