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Post by xanady on Jul 1, 2020 9:13:42 GMT
Mike Harrison from Qdos says that his company will have to make their own decisions on the 34 panto’s planned for this year very soon.Final decision to be made on 3 August by Qdos,if the government doesn’t provide any clarity on the issue...don’t hold your breath! Panto is often the first taste of live theatre for the little un’s so if the entire Panto season is abandoned,this may affect future audience-going. Also amateur theatres are closed which causes a major loss for local communities in terms of perhaps a first-ever taste of being a live stage performer as well as social inter-action with friends,developing confidence,team-work and other incredibly important life-skills.Not to mention the missing audience with their revenue!
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Post by talkingheads on Jul 1, 2020 9:29:38 GMT
Mike Harrison from Qdos says that his company will have to make their own decisions on the 34 panto’s planned for this year very soon.Final decision to be made on 3 August by Qdos,if the government doesn’t provide any clarity on the issue...don’t hold your breath! Panto is often the first taste of live theatre for the little un’s so if the entire Panto season is abandoned,this may affect future audience-going. Also amateur theatres are closed which causes a major loss for local communities in terms of perhaps a first-ever taste of being a live stage performer as well as social inter-action with friends,developing confidence,team-work and other incredibly important life-skills.Not to mention the missing audience with their revenue! Extremely worrying. That is the first concrete date I've seen in terms of anything happening with theatre and it makes absolute sense. My guess is that they want to set a deadline so that the Government has something to work towards, not that I can see them doing anything.
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Post by hulmeman on Jul 1, 2020 10:45:12 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2020 12:18:36 GMT
I would have thought Pantos could hold back a bit from early August the rehearsal period for the shows aren't huge and often costumes are in situ. A lot of principal casting has been done. Scripts need to be written and updated but with the amount of comic performers not working these could be done fairly quickly.
For a show opening early December or late November a decision needs to be made sooner than one opening nearer Xmas but theatre's may be reluctant to announce any cancellations too quickly given they probably have advance bookings money in the bank.
Could a pared down panto be run with less ensemble the Palladium had something like 16 dancers and Birmingham Hippodrome had about 10. Could more sequenced music from an MD's keyboard be used instead of a full live band. This would sadly reduce job opportunities for working performers and musicians but you could make decent savings there to make half capacity audiences more cost effective.
The bigger issue would be would the stars accept less money and a lot might be on percentages too.
Also just looking down the It's Behind You website casting in QDOS shows alone a lot of their stars are in the over 70's or near to that age bracket or well over - May McFetteridge, Billy Pearce, Allan Stewart, Biggins, Cannon and Ball (Tommy Cannon is 82 now), Clive Webb, Paul Chuckle, Berwick Kaler. May and Biggins are both larger guys who play Dames and will have loads of costume changes. Berwick and Allan also play Dames so that involves the quick changes to. In other productions Keith Simmons, John Challis, Brian Capron spring to mind. This is with minimal casting only announced. Throw in the likes of Craig and Shirley from Strictly they have big money TV jobs would they want to risk a tiring panto run. I'll even mention Clive Rowe although he is only 56, he is a large BAME male in his 50's so could be seen as being in a higher risk group and doing lots of quick changes across a tiring panto run might not appeal to him.
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Post by talkingheads on Jul 1, 2020 13:22:46 GMT
I would have thought Pantos could hold back a bit from early August the rehearsal period for the shows aren't huge and often costumes are in situ. A lot of principal casting has been done. Scripts need to be written and updated but with the amount of comic performers not working these could be done fairly quickly. For a show opening early December or late November a decision needs to be made sooner than one opening nearer Xmas but theatre's may be reluctant to announce any cancellations too quickly given they probably have advance bookings money in the bank. Could a pared down panto be run with less ensemble the Palladium had something like 16 dancers and Birmingham Hippodrome had about 10. Could more sequenced music from an MD's keyboard be used instead of a full live band. This would sadly reduce job opportunities for working performers and musicians but you could make decent savings there to make half capacity audiences more cost effective. The bigger issue would be would the stars accept less money and a lot might be on percentages too. Also just looking down the It's Behind You website casting in QDOS shows alone a lot of their stars are in the over 70's or near to that age bracket or well over - May McFetteridge, Billy Pearce, Allan Stewart, Biggins, Cannon and Ball (Tommy Cannon is 82 now), Clive Webb, Paul Chuckle, Berwick Kaler. May and Biggins are both larger guys who play Dames and will have loads of costume changes. Berwick and Allan also play Dames so that involves the quick changes to. In other productions Keith Simmons, John Challis, Brian Capron spring to mind. This is with minimal casting only announced. Throw in the likes of Craig and Shirley from Strictly they have big money TV jobs would they want to risk a tiring panto run. I'll even mention Clive Rowe although he is only 56, he is a large BAME male in his 50's so could be seen as being in a higher risk group and doing lots of quick changes across a tiring panto run might not appeal to him. I think the problem is that with the amount of money that needs to be spent on panto, they can no longer guarantee the audience numbers to make it viable, given that people either won't buy tickets or the situation by December could have changed and people will need refunds etc, the books just won't balance. And can you imagine if a single person in a panto cast or crew showed symptoms, the entire production would need to be shut down.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2020 15:39:24 GMT
I think the problem is that with the amount of money that needs to be spent on panto, they can no longer guarantee the audience numbers to make it viable, given that people either won't buy tickets or the situation by December could have changed and people will need refunds etc, the books just won't balance. And can you imagine if a single person in a panto cast or crew showed symptoms, the entire production would need to be shut down. Excellent point. How many times do we hear about panto performers with colds, coughs etc. It could be something minor but could they take the risk. Throw in the juvenile casts often 2 or even 3 groups and things can spread. Only last year at the Wolverhampton panto Jeffrey Holland was very croaky as he was recovering from a cough which he referenced in the show. Something like that could halt a production potentially. QDOS could potentially test performers as they would surely have the means to buy in tests but to undertake full cast tests across 30 odd venues several times in a run would mount up lets say 500 performers times 4 tests is 2,000 tests before you factor in band, crew, theatre staff. Could theatres look to book comedians or comedy performers to do seasonal ones. One of two people on stage wouldn't cost a lot at at 50% capacity and could turn a decent profit. Even single, double or small cast plays might be able to be run. Something like "Art" sprang to mind. I don't know what the exact social distancing in that is but I think it could work from what I remember.
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Post by couldileaveyou on Jul 2, 2020 11:29:50 GMT
With the exception of Sister Act and I guess Hairspray, most starry productions have still unspecified dates. It doesn't really tell us anything we didn't know before but it's still good to hear
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Post by stevejohnson678 on Jul 3, 2020 9:30:42 GMT
Another panto that won't be happening this year.
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Post by talkingheads on Jul 3, 2020 10:33:55 GMT
The Lowry have rescheduled their Christmas show:
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Post by stevejohnson678 on Jul 3, 2020 11:13:34 GMT
The Lowry have rescheduled their Christmas show: I wonder if The Lowry might move the Christmas run of Six from the Quays Theatre to the Lyric Theatre with a socially distanced audience, now that their largest auditorium is scheduled to be empty for that period.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2020 19:54:04 GMT
Another panto that won't be happening this year. Major QDOS cancellation. I guess Birmingham Hippodrome will be next.
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Post by princeton on Jul 3, 2020 21:09:22 GMT
I think that this year the Wolverhampton Grand was actually going to do an in-house production which may be one reason why they have decided to cancel - as presumably they would have had to invest more money up front than if it was a QDOS production (as had been the norm there for a long time).
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Post by stevejohnson678 on Jul 3, 2020 21:17:29 GMT
I think that this year the Wolverhampton Grand was actually going to do an in-house production which may be one reason why they have decided to cancel - as presumably they would have had to invest more money up front than if it was a QDOS production (as had been the norm there for a long time). Yes, the statement on the theatre's website about cancellation says that it would have been the first in-house panto for more than three decades. www.grandtheatre.co.uk/2020/07/03/grand-pantomime/
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Post by xanady on Jul 4, 2020 9:10:34 GMT
^The ‘lead-in’ to a Panto production takes a very long time and Qdos’s decision on August 3rd would be a very tight deadline as it is. In terms of my two amateur Panto’s going ahead, on admittedly a minuscule scale compared to Qdos’s mammoth operation,I reckon we have a 1% chance of going ahead.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2020 13:44:54 GMT
^The ‘lead-in’ to a Panto production takes a very long time and Qdos’s decision on August 3rd would be a very tight deadline as it is. In terms of my two amateur Panto’s going ahead, on admittedly a minuscule scale compared to Qdos’s mammoth operation,I reckon we have a 1% chance of going ahead. Pantos effectively work year on year so start the planning as soon as one year is finished. Often the next year's pantos are announced when the current year ones open especially with returning stars. Principle casting can also be in place early with top names having agreed where they will be a few years in advance. Years back in the late 1990's I think a TV programme followed the casting and rehearsal process of Paul Elliott's pantos ( now QDOS) and he is was discussing possibly with the great Danny La Rue that he wanted him to do somewhere like Plymouth that year and Danny said he'd do it provided Paul guaranteed that next year he would be somewhere like Wimbledon or Woking so Danny would be local and could presumably get home each night. Scripts are often recycled and sets are mainly in storage but the casting process would take a while and top stars would need to know what is happening. I know Matt Slack has said he is always thinking and planning what he can do each year so is effectively writing his scripts on going. Other script writers will be looking to polish their scripts for local markets and all the logistics need to be booked. So decisions do need to be made. Do we think shows will just be pushed back a year or some may have different shows than those planned for this year. Also if we do lose a year then will the older performers return. They will be another year older and we don't know how many were thinking this year may be a swansong.
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Post by Dr Tom on Jul 4, 2020 21:22:38 GMT
Do we think shows will just be pushed back a year or some may have different shows than those planned for this year. That would be what would happen in an ideal world, but I don't think it will be so simple. As you say, people have signed up to be in one place in a a particular year and there's no guarantee they'll be available the next year (or they won't want to consider other options).
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2020 23:52:05 GMT
Do we think shows will just be pushed back a year or some may have different shows than those planned for this year. That would be what would happen in an ideal world, but I don't think it will be so simple. As you say, people have signed up to be in one place in a a particular year and there's no guarantee they'll be available the next year (or they won't want to consider other options). You could have producers and performers looking to maximize their money and we don't know who may have been told they would be somewhere in 2021/22.
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Post by stevejohnson678 on Jul 8, 2020 18:15:10 GMT
My Best Friend's Wedding the Musical has been postponed.
The show is not currently showing on the ATG website for the Palace Theatre in Manchester where I'd booked to see it but on logging into my account my booking has changed from early October 2020 to late September 2021.
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Post by lou on Jul 9, 2020 13:58:48 GMT
ATG have extended closures until the 20th September. That’s my booking of Addams Family cancelled at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham. I’d also been keeping an eye on Come From Away in London as have tickets for the 26th September. They’ve taken that off sale until mid October so I’m assuming I’ll be receiving an email about that as well.
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Post by n1david on Jul 13, 2020 14:30:53 GMT
Southbank Centre cancelled all events until Sunday 13 December.
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Post by mortal on Jul 14, 2020 10:45:22 GMT
Southampton Mayflower have confirmed that The Mousetrap will not be rescheduled and is now cancelled
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Post by stevejohnson678 on Jul 21, 2020 12:55:20 GMT
Waitress tour postponed. All previously advertised venues are listed as having new dates pending on the Rescheduled and Postponed Shows page on the ATG website.
From logging into my ATG account I can see that the Manchester dates scheduled for the start of December 2020 have moved to November 2021.
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Post by justfran on Jul 21, 2020 15:07:38 GMT
I’ve just read that the world famous Sheffield Theatres won’t be fully re-opening until spring 2021, though they are planning a pop-up season in the autumn. Sad times in your area TallPaul 😢
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Post by stevejohnson678 on Jul 21, 2020 15:28:15 GMT
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Post by 49thand8th on Jul 22, 2020 4:05:16 GMT
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Post by fiyero on Jul 22, 2020 14:41:45 GMT
I know it was only a matter of time but all remaining dates for City of Angels cancelled. Just had an email saying I'll get an automatic refund
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Post by Rory on Jul 22, 2020 17:59:30 GMT
I know it was only a matter of time but all remaining dates for City of Angels cancelled. Just had an email saying I'll get an automatic refund I wonder if they will try to re-schedule City of Angels? Doesn't sound very promising if they're offering automatic refunds with no mention of an option to swap tickets to a re-scheduled date. Would be a shame if it wasn't.
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Post by partytentdown on Jul 23, 2020 13:29:32 GMT
"Good" has been postponed from this autumn to next Spring as confirmed by ATG today...I think this was the last thing I had tickets for, do that's the rest of my year's bookings cleared...
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Jul 29, 2020 11:58:07 GMT
Vault Festival 2021 cancelled. 😭
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2020 12:04:34 GMT
I know it was only a matter of time but all remaining dates for City of Angels cancelled. Just had an email saying I'll get an automatic refund I wonder if they will try to re-schedule City of Angels? Doesn't sound very promising if they're offering automatic refunds with no mention of an option to swap tickets to a re-scheduled date. Would be a shame if it wasn't. With US cast members this would be an issue plus if you'd have booked to see certain well known names in it. Is there any guarantee they would return too?
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