Meet The Cast & Crew
Provisional
for Dick Whittington 2008
This is a provisional list of the roles taken so far for the production of Dick Whittington in 2008. Many of our younger senior members will be embarking on their further education adventures, universities and performing arts colleges etc., and we would like to wish them all the luck in world for the future. Some of them may well be able to return in 2008 but at this stage we are not sure who. One of the benefits of having a bespoked script is that it could be possible to write in parts should the talented youngsters become available.
The first casting is by no means set in stone, and if you are new and would like to
audition for our production of Dick Whittington, please contact us.
Writer and Director
We are delighted to announce that in 2008 the script for production of
Dick Whittington will be specially written for us by professional
author and playwright, John Garforth.
John has a wealth of experience, he was the manager and artistic
director of the famous Questors Theatre in London and artistic
director of the Camden Arts Festival. As a novelist has written many
novels including The Avengers, The Champions and The
Pallisers. He has many successful Tamworth based projects under
his belt; John wrote and directed the highly acclaimed Local Hero's, Local Villains and was the director and writer of the work of the Theatre
of the Unemployed in the mid 90's which won many awards at
midlands drama festivals.
To date John has written three pantomimes for Tamworth companies, Robin Hood, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves for Theatre of the Unemployed and Jack & The Beanstalk for Shoebox Theatre Company.
Assistant Director
and Queen Cat
Tina is a well known local perfomer both in music and drama and a vocal coach. This will be her fifth pantomime experience. She is a skillful and crafted comedienne with an essential sense of comic timing. She co-directed last years production of Sleeping Beauty and it looking forward to working with John Garforth.
Dick Whittington
A big year for Glen; Dick Whittington will be his 20th year in panto in Tamworth. He is an all round song and dance man, a perfomer of great ability, he has played the lead in no less than 14 pantos at the Tamworth Assembly Rooms including the role of ‘Prince William' in last years panto ‘Sleeping beauty' which he carried off with great aplomb. He has vast experience of both Panto and Cabaret shows, and regularly performs with his own dance troupe.
Alice Fitzwarren
Making a welcome retunr to panto this year is the fabulous Jenny Barlow as the leading lady. Jenny is undoubtedly one of Tamworth's leading actresses and vocalists with many excellent performances under her belt not only in panto but also with Tamworth's ever popular Arts Club, with whom Jenny has played the leading role on many occasions to critical acclaim.
It's good to have you back Jenny!
Alderman Fitzwarren
There were many revellations about the Sleeping Beauty production, and none bigger than the quality of the performance of Eamonn in his role as King Bentley. It was quite staggering to think that it was his first acting role and he had never before been inside a theatre. We are delighted to welcome him back for this challenging role and we know it will be portrayed with great style and flair.
The Dame - Nigella Noodles
In only his third role in panto, Lee finds himself playing a the dame. Lee was a runnaway success in Sleeping Beauty when he took the role in a highly skilled and comic portrayal of Good fairy Rachel in Sleeping Beauty in 2007. He has taken to panto like the proverbial duck to water.
King Rat
The irrepressible baddie, Terry, this year will be returning to one of his favourite roles, the wicked baddie.
in 2007 he triumphed with his role as The Bad Fairy Rachel. Terry is a king of ad lib and a comedian of great talent. He has many years experience in the hiss and boo role in panto, the character we love to hate.
Idle Jack
Alex is one of the younger members of the senior cast and is certainly showing his true worth to the company. In Sleeping Beauty in 2007 he was a runaway succes with his role as Lord Rupert. A Highly acclaimed performer having appeared in Dr. Faustus, Grease and Mid Summer Nights Dream.
It is with great pleasure that we announce that Alex has been given the leading comedy role in Dick Whittington.
The Cat
A performer of many years, Laura has been treading the boards since she was a toddler. A member of the Steps Dance Studio, it will be most pleasing to see Laura taking this principal role in her stride.
It is one of our main principles to develop the youngsters potential.
The Captain Blackheart
Ian has many years experience in drama and in particular playing
the fool in panto. he is now stepping aside from the idiot role for a younger and more talented man (enter Alex stage right). He is now taking the role as the secondary villain - the captain although we have not seen Ian in this type of role for many years, its not new to him as he played the evil Sheriff of Nottingham to great acclaim in the Theatre of the Unemployed.
Dick Whittington has a very large cast. There are many roles still to be cast. We are hoping that the members who played in Sleeping Beauty will return to us for Dick Whittington. John will be thinking about casting over the next few weeks or so, and will be issuing scripts to the cast at the end of January and a workshop to discuss the characters and plotting will be arranged for early February.
we are hoping that, with the issuing of the scripts early in the year, by the time we start rehearsals in August, the principals will be fully conversant with the scripts, allowing much needed time for productive rehearsals.
Sound
Chris, has proven his worth as a very skilled young man when it comes to things of a technical nature, so we are delighted to have him in the company. He did a first rate job with the sound for Sleeping Beauty and we look forward to working with him again in 2008.
Stage Manager
An expereinced and extremely efficient Stage Manager with vast numbers of productions under his belt.
Its all very well having all these drama queens hogging the limelight, but no show can possibly survive without the vital skills of the backstage crew, and John leads the team with a huge amount of expertise and ability.
Wardrobe and Costume Manager and General Good Egg
Wendy has been involved in theatre, both on and off stage for many years and has vast experience in all matters of the panto tradition. We are pleased Wendy will be on hand to advise the cast about costumes and props and she will no doubt be helping with a few stitches here and there. Wendy thinks of things no-one else would even contemplate.
