Tamworth Assembly Rooms
Cinderella - 2009

The Tamworth Pantomime Company presented Cinderella for this, its third production as the reincarnation of the old Stephen James company and it more than justifies its claim to be a tight team of accomplished performers at the heart of the town’s Christmas.

Jenny BarlowJennings is the beautiful, persecuted Cinderella with the perfect voice surrounded by villainous idiots – ugly sisters, boozy father and venal stepmother, and brokers men who would sieze all their valuables if only they had any.

A breath of sanity is brought into her life by the devoted Buttons, a breezy comic turn by Alex Farrell who knows how to work an audience, and yet achieves moments of genuine pathos when Cinders at the end goes off with the prince to live happily ever after.

Prince Charming is a vacuous character brought ringingly to life by Adam Gregory’s winning smile and riveting singing voice. The progress from mistreated kitchen scrubber to romantic princess is assisted by a Fairy Godmother who is played with other worldly grace and authority by Gina Clarke. She also manages to save the fox (impishly played by Emily Pitts) from the hunt.

The low comedians are Ian Gibbons and Wendy Doyle (the brokers men) and Lee Bates and Terry Batham (ugly sisters), accomplished idiots who have never knowingly underplayed a scene. Each have sublime comic moments – in the hunting forest, in the kitchen and in the ballroom, and Terry Batham has an unerring ability to mask Cinderella wherever she goes to avoid him. They are led, of course by Tina McBain, whose exquisite rendering of Old Love resembles Shirley Bassey’s performance with Morecombe & Wise. Praise indeed.

The king and queen and Baron Hardup are Linda Jackson, Megan Horton, and Eamonn Burns, like Dandini (Laura Doyle) and Lady Caroline (Carolyn Buckle), who give selfless and immaculate support to the competing egos of the more flamboyant leads.

The Lord Chamberlain is brilliantly played by Tom Edwards with great timing and sense of comedy. His‘Go Compare’ addition to this production works well and the audience showed their appreciation with loud applause.

But the essence of a pantomime, especially Cinderella, is in the music and dance, and Juli Eccles’ Steps Dancers perform beautifully, especially in the hunting scenes and the ballroom, while Wendy Doyle’s Youth Group fill all other roles and climax with the UV scene leading to the transformation, which works brilliantly.

JG

REVIEW OF CINDERELLA PANTOMIME BY TAMWORTH PANTO COMPANY

GO COMPARE! – CINDERELLA

It’s that time of year when you are faced with difficult decisions. Pantomime takes over most of the country’s theatres. The question is which one do you choose? For the past few years I have given the Tamworth Panto Company my patronage and this year I am delighted I did. Cinderella is one of the most popular pantomimes, and this show was devised and directed by John Garforth.

In a packed Assembly Rooms on Saturday evening, it was blantantly obvious to me that the audience was up for a good time.

The curtain opened and we were welcomed into the world of panto by the glamorous Fairy Godmother, beautifully portrayed by Gina Clarke, who throughout the two and a half hour production maintained an air of elegance, beauty and a sense of seriousness about the plight of Cinderella.

The opening set which was played against a delightful forest backdrop came to life with the Steps Dancers hunting routine, which also introduced the woodland animals which included a cute little fox played by Emily Pitts (8), the poor fox looked to be doomed as it was chased by the hunt, until the Fairy Godmother came to the rescue.

We were now into the familiar tale of Cinderella, the one we all know and love. The leading lady was once again the magnificent Jenny Barlow-Jennings. This lady knows how to command the stage, both with her singing and acting; she does a fantastic job and looked beautiful in her fabulous costumes throughout the production.

The Prince Charming played by Adam Gregory was confident in his performance and later in the show we were to witness his outstanding singing capabilities. His sidekick Dandini played by Laura Doyle was both humorous and efficient, controlling the Prince to ensure he got the girl. Dandini has a love interest of his own, throughout the production Lady Caroline played by Carolyn Buckle was determined to get her hooks into Dandini. Carolyn is an actress of some standing and she made this role her own with steamy innuendos and subtle comic timing.

We were introduced to some lesser known characters of the story – namely a roly poly King, played to great comic effect by Lynda Jackson, she is just outstanding in everything she does, and the incredibly efficient old codger the Lord Chamberlain, played with great skill by a new discovery to the panto company, 15 year old Tom Edwards. He is a rising star, well done Tom!

Until now things had been quite calm and serious, whilst building the plot for the audience. This was all about to change with the introduction of a plethora of comic characters. Bounding onto the stage with tremendous energy and a smile as broad as the Thames, Alex Farrell as Buttons completely commanded the role from the very first line. Whatcha Kids! Everyone loved Buttons and that was simply because Mr. Farrell gave such a convincing performance.

Buttons introduced us to two ridiculous characters; the hen-pecked and inebriated Baron Stoneybroke and the dominating but rather elegant Wicked Stepmother. The Baron, played by the ever brilliant Eamonn Burns who never put a foot wrong, and was totally in control of this part from start to finish. The Wicked Stepmother, played by Tina McBain was nagging, controlling and pretty vile, but oh so funny. One only had to glance at her and you quickly realise that someone is in for trouble.

Everyone knows the story of Cinderella and we had all been waiting in anticipation for the two Ugly Sisters to make an appearance. And they certainly did that, and on horseback. From the very first moment on stage, they had the audience in fits of laughter and in the palms of their hands with their knock about jokes and antics. All the panto innuendos were there. The pairing of Terry Batham and Lee Bates was perfect for these roles. They are natural idiots.

As if we hadn’t had enough fun by this time, we were then introduced to two new characters; the gormless Brokers Men delightfully played by Wendy Doyle and Ian Gibbons. Comparatively small roles, but completely effective and this was shown when the Brokers Men introduced a guest on stage – one of the funniest parts of the show – when young Tom Edwards came onto the stage to cameo the tenor in the Go Compare advert. The audience were in stitches and quite rightly gave it massive applause.

The story flowed very well. There were many highlights and one or two obvious unscripted items, which were incredible funny one being when for some reason the wicked stepmother lost control and began sniggering on stage. The Uglys didn’t help by leaping in and making the hapless character laugh even more. It was obvious to us that this was not meant to happen, but it made it even more fun, and was one of the highlights for me.

The whole performance was well structured, well directed and a fantastically well played by all. The Tamworth Panto Company Youth Academy, under the direction of Wendy Doyle was responsible for the wonderful UV scene which portrayed the transformation of Cinderella from rags to ball gown and carriage. And what a lovely spectacle it was. The children were brilliant and they should all be commended. The Steps Dance Studio under the direction of Juli Eccles delighted the audience with some fabulous dance routines.

I started this review by saying how difficult it is to choose the right panto – but I feel confident insaying that if you want to go compare Cinderella against some of the others – you have one more chance as there are a special New Year performances on Saturday 2nd January at 1pm and 7.30pm.

Retrospective Look at Dick Whittington
by Tina McBain

This year's panto, Dick Whittington, was devised and directed by John Garforth, who is an author and playwright of some note. His calm and gentle manner certainly got the best out of the cast and the script was funny, the directing was funnier and all in all we always knew we were in safe hands. John has taught us a lot, and we look forward to him working with us on Cinderella in 2009. Go John Go!!

The title role was played by our own Glen Chevannes, who after 20 years of panto in Tamworth has decided to take a well earned break for a couple of years, but he has promised to return to us at some stage in the future. We wish Glen well in everything he does. He once again played the leading man with his usual flare and talent, leaving nothing to chance, his costumes were fabulous, his acting and singing were superb, his comic timing is well and truly honed - well it would be wouldn't it after 20 years? The thing about Glen is he absolutely wreaks stage presence; when he walks onto the stage he commands attention and that is just what a leading man should do. He will be missed while he takes his sabbatical.

Jenny Barlow-Jennings returned to panto land in the role of Alice Fitzwarren and she was a great asset to the production, with her quiet, unassuming manner. She is stacked with all sorts of talent. Her acting skills are superb. Jenny has served a long and fruitful apprenticeship with Tamworth Arts Club in many leading roles, so she has plenty of experience to draw from and like Glen she has that wonderful asset of stage presence. Her singing is fantastic, harmonizing at every opportunity and making the audiences just sit up and take note. She was the perfect leading lady and I think I can speak for the whole company, we are pleased as punch she is well and truly back in the fold. Panto has certainly missed her.

Dick Whittington's faithful cat, Mistoffelees was wonderfully portrayed by Laura Ann Doyle. Now this was a big step for Laura, the last time Dick Whittington was performed at the Assembly Rooms, the cat was played by Anna Deeming, wowing the audiences - no pressure there Laura!! What is most pleasing is that Laura is still only 15 and she took to the role as if she was born to it. Her dancing was exemplary, but more importantly, her catlike mannerisms were spot on, never once did she let it slip; nose twitching, preening and prowling were all there, a pretty damned fine performance Laura - Well done !!

I don't want you to get above yourself Laura! But I know first hand that both Ian and Director John Garforth were delighted with your performance and both have said that you are a very talented young lady. Ian was in the previous production of Dick Whittington, and he says that overall you did a much better job than the previous cat. Praise indeed coming from Ian lol. xx

I played the most fabulous character, Queen Cat, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Obviously I won't spout on about how brilliant I was (cough) but I will say how great it was working with all of the cast, and I would pay particular homage to my catlins, who were, without exception, brilliant. Little Emily (3) was a treasure and the older catlins looked after her so well. They are a credit to the company.

The parts with Terry were such a joy, you never know what he is going to do next and it certainly kept me on my toes. I will endeavor to learn my lines before we start the performances next year, instead of doing it as we went along, hope nobody noticed - I don't think they did lol.

Now to King Rat, played superbly by Terry Batham - a master class performance. Earlier this year John Garforth and I took a trip to Wolverhampton Grand to see Dick Whittington. OK they had the stars, they had massive budgets. King Rat was played by Dirty Den (Leslie Grantham) he got all the boo's and hisses in the right places. But there is now way, shape or form that the former Eastenders star could outrat our own Terry. King Rat was one of the main driving forces that made this panto so enjoyable, both to play in and to watch. His comic timing is perfect, his acting ability is fab, and he is just so damn funny. His ad lib's are a legend and he has us all and the audience howling. I don't think in all the years I have know Terry, that I have ever seen him put in a bad performance, but quite frankly I haven't ever seen him put in a better performance than in this production. Terry your a treasure among luvvies.

Making a welcome return for their second pantomime were the dynamic duo - Eamonn Burns who played Alderman Fitzwarren / The Sultan and Lynda Jackson, playing Lucrezia Fitzwarren / Sultana. These two are truly a revelation, they play the authority roles to magnificent effect. But both have an instinctive touch for comedy, which is absolutely vital. Although they are not strictly comic characters, they know how to make the most of a comic scene. But most importantly, they never overstep their mark. There is an old saying, it's what you put in, it's what you leave out - this applies so well to the parts Lynda and Eamonn played. For the second year, these two put in a perfect performance, both as an ensemble and as individuals. We look forward to their roles in Cinderella with great relish. Well done to you both!! xx

Enter the comic characters - A revelation - everyone connected with the Tamworth Panto Company knew of Wendy Doyle's skills as an organiser, a dresser, an all round good egg. But none of us realised just how good a comic actress she is. It was many years since Wendy had trodden the boards, and we are delighted she did. Her performance as the daft Lizzie was exceptional. Her costumes were outstanding, zany, colourful, everything you need in panto. Her make up was - well - hideous, again perfect for the part. Wendy was just perfect, and I for one, hope that this wasn't a one off, how can it be? Wendy you set a standard, you have to do some more.

The love of Lizzie's life was Idle Jack played by Alex Farrell. In last years production of Sleeping Beauty, Alex took much of the praise and quite rightly too, for a wonderful performance as Lord Rupert. In this years production he stepped up into the main comic role, a difficult and demanding job. Alex nailed it, lock stock and smoking barrell. He was funny from start to finish, he was lovable (even when they all thought he had stolen the necklace, which Queen Cat soon put right). Alex has boundless energy and even on the last night when he really should have been at home with some lemsip, he carried on manfully and brought the house down with his antics. Alex has star quality and we are quite sure that he will go on to bigger things but not yet, we are keeping him for some time.

Nigella Noodles was played by Lee Bates. This is the third year for the arty councillor and he just gets better and better. He is the perfect dame, playing the audience to extreme with all the cheeky innuendo's. But what is absolutely obvious is that you are seeing it as a man playing a woman, which gives the comedy element needed. A touch of camp is necessary but not overstated which is what Lee is so good at. One of the strengths that Lee has is his ability to drop out of the script occasionally, and like the other master of ad lib (King Rat) throwing the odd topical and wickedly funny line - 'I have to go now, I have to go home and watch Golden Balls'. Brilliant. Nigella Noodles was a massive triumph for Lee and the production, and those who know the history of the panto's at the Assembly Rooms will appreciate that the dames shoes have been well and truly filled.

Nigella Noodles assistant, Becky, in the kitchen capers was played by 18 year old Becca Howe who has over 10 years panto experience. Isn't this what TPV is all about, Becky started her panto life at the age of 7, as a flower with the previous group. When you think about Becca's task in this production you will realise that it was played with skill and tenacity. Her dry wit and great timing perfectly complimented the Nigella scenes with great flair. The difficulty in playing a straight role to a character like Nigella Noodles is that the temptation is there to try to compete and be obviously funny, when in actual fact its important to be as straight as possible, making the role so much funnier. Becca accomplished this excellently and had us in tucks with her facial expressions.

The tradition of panto is a wonderful thing. It's about a great team working together, and it's also about various double acts - Dick and Alice, Queen Cat and King Rat, Alderman and Lady Fitzwarren etc etc... and one of this years most pleasing double acts was Captain Blackheart played by Ian Gibbons and Pipsqueak played by Emily Pitts. Earlier in the plot one of King Rats quips was that Captain Blackheart had been to the school over acting, of course this was intentional. Ian played the part for the dramatic effect and for the comic effect. And he quite simply did the job as you would expect. If any of you know about the Stanislavski techniques, you will realise that over the course of the panto run, Ian simply immersed himself totally into the part. By the end of the week he was threatening to declare war on all and sundry. Capt. Blackheart's role was made easy because he had a most fantastic side kick that made the scenes funny, but also had a touch of poignancy.

Emily Pitts - Pipsqueak - it was so good to see Emily in this role, her confidence had grown to some extent last year when she played the 6 year old Sleeping Beauty. But this year, after many times when she thought she wasn't up to the job, she glided into the part with great ability. She even started putting in her own direction and ad lib's, pulling faces and pulling her hat over her eyes after being chastised by Cptn. Blackheart for trying to interfere with Archibald the goldfish. This showed me that she had finally arrived. For me personally, the highlight of the show was the way 7 year old Pipsqueak confidently took the walk down and in good old Freddie Starr fashion signalled for the music and the audience to be quiet, while she delivered the last and her only line of the show. She won the hearts of the audience and the cast. Well done Emily, you made me proud.

No production could be a success without the supporting cast. The children who made up the chorus were unbelievable. Too many to mention by name, but let me just put to record that not one of them were less than superb, they all were where they should be, and when they should be. They did exactly what was required, from the minute the curtain opened to the very end of the show they were all happy, obliging and committed to the task in hand. There were no individual stars, because they were all stars. We look forward to seeing the youngsters develop into more demanding roles as time goes by.

The dancers of the Steps Dance Academy were again superb. Principal Juli Eccles did a wonderful job, making the show come alive with the amazing dance routines, acro routines and general chorus.

The girls are a pleasure to work with, and even when being told off for being a little loud and over enthusiastic, they took it all on the chin and got on with the job.

Well done you lot, you are a credit to the panto company and yourselves.

Overall, I think we have a production to be proud of, and I know a lot of you are really excited about next years production of Cinderella. Thanks to everyone who made Dick Whittington such an enjoyable experience.

One last thing, the day the Mayor of Tamworth was in the audience, it fell to me to do the awards. Obviously Glen was high in our thoughts, but I forgot to mention the one person who drives the whole thing, Ian. The minute the curtain closed on Sunday evening, all thoughts of Dick Whittington had gone from his mind, he was already thinking that was good, but Cinderella has to be even better. It drives me mad, having to live panto all year round, but deep down I know that it is a good thing for TPC to have someone like Ian, who eats, breathes and sleeps the whole thing. And like he says, panto is not just for Christmas, and don't I know it?

Tina McBain

xx

Retrospective look at Sleeping Beauty
by Tina McBain - Director

As a new company, setting up from scratch, with no money, no cast, no script, no scenery or props and no idea of how much work was involved there were many meetings and discussions on how to get this merry-go-round turning. Everyone had something to say, and we agreed that The Tamworth Pantomime Company was something we all wanted to see succeed and everyone pulled out the stops to make it all happen.

After many months of hard work and a lot of heartache and stress, it was somewhat of a relief to see the curtain go up on Thursday 13th December at 1.30pm.

Everyone was so very nervous, as the dress rehearsal on the previous evening was nothing short of a shambolic affair and I went home afterwards and had a well deserved nervous breakdown, albeit for just a couple of hours.

There had been many stumbling blocks to overcome when we set up the company; not least the deliberately difficult and spiteful attitude of a certain member of a previous regime (I don't need to mention a name as we all know who this is); however we were not to be deterred and as they say there are not problems, just solutions waiting to be found. Mind you some of them were hiding very efficiently!!!

I found myself in the strange position of having to take over the sole directing role with only 3 weeks to go to the opening of the show. This was something of a shock to my system as i had never previously even directed traffic let alone a cast of luvvies. But it was with great support from all of the cast and crew that we finally got Sleeping Beauty together and I would like to thank everyone for being so supportive.

The script for this production of Sleeping Beauty was written by Richard Lovelock, who was mainly interested in seeing his work performed. There were no charges for the script and no charge for the licence to perform his work, so that was a good start for us. We would like to thank Richard for his support.

The Production

Sleeping Beauty is a tale of good over evil, love winning over hate and one of the lead roles was played by the incomparable Glen Chevannes (Prince William) Glen has been in panto for 19 years (a big one next year, we must get a darts trophy to commemorate the occasion). Glen is one of those people you could cheerfully strangle as he attends more christenings on Sunday afternoons than you could possible imagine. However there is a certain warm feeling you have when Glen is involved in a production as you just know he is going to do the business. He is word perfect, note perfect and plays a most convincing part in whatever he does. A master stroke this year was to include songs by Snow Patrol and Amy Winehouse. His costumes are fantastic and he is just plain and simply wonderful. I congratulate Glen on his performance and look forward to next year.

Victoria Gordon (16), played the 21 year old Princess Beauty and she is perfect for this role as she is not only beautiful, her singing talent is astounding. She gives that glow to any performance and has a modesty that is rare. If there is any justice in this world Victoria will be wowing audiences for many years. I didnt know her very well prior to starting the rehearsals, but I would consider Victoria as a truly nice person, she is warm, kind and fabulous with the very young members of the cast. Her acting ability is second to none and when she sings, you could hear a pin drop in the theatre. Her duets with Glen were amazing, you can just tell they love singing together.

Lynda Jackson is one of the new members of the company this year, and played Queen Portia. It was a wonderful portrayal of a stern and slightly hysterical character. Lynda was most reliable and more than capable of the task in hand. She will be a valuable member of the company for many years we hope. She has a wicked sense of humour, and brilliant facial expressions, she and Eamonn Burns worked so well together and their comic timing was perfect, their mime to Chu Chi Face was a highlight of the production. be thankful that they didnt sing the song 'live' - I will say no more on that subject !!

Eamonn Burns was another new member and also new to the stage. During rehearsals, he was the first member of the cast to have all costumes ready and waiting for the big day, and the way he responded to direction was excellent. Eamonn admitted to me on the last day of the production that he hadnt ever been to the theatre before. So it was a little surprising that he played the role of King Bentley with such style considering his novice status. He is a natural and his sense of comedy was amazing. Attention to detail a with costumes and the part were all there (pity we didnt get the birds nest for the waking up scene, that would have just been the icing on the cake). And we are thrilled he has accepted the role of Alderman Fitzwarren in Dick Whittington next year. I would also like to thank Eamonns wife, Pat for her help with make-up backstage, she was a tremedous asset during the production.

Terry Batham - what can I say about this man - one of my best mates, Terry played the evil wicked fairy, Ghasthag and did what Terry always does, he got the audience hating him from the very word go. His hiss and boo moments are legendary. Its quite odd really that when Terry dons his costumes, he looks nothing like his normal everyday self and his whole persona changes. He even walks differently, mind you that might have been the stilletto's!! Terry has been in panto for 113 years now, and loves playing the baddie. His ad libs are fantastic, and I cant remember a single performance this year when he didnt make me snigger in one particular scene when i was supposed to be 'frozen'. In fact he makes me laugh all the time, its just Terry, thats what he does. Everyone loves him. But dont tell him cos his head is big enough already.

Olivia Shepherd who is a member of Steps Dance Studio came into the cast when we were looking for someone to play the spoilt brat Veruca. And what a coup it was. From the very first entrance on stage Livvie was convincing, with facial expressions that said it all. The horrid little madam made Simple Simons life a misery and her slap stick routine with Ian Gibbons (Simple Simon) was wonderfully executed. She added lots of little touches to her role which made it a much meatier part than she first thought it would be. And if you havent heard her scream, you have certainly missed out, it was so high pitched that dogs from miles around were gathering outside the theatre to see what was going on. Ever reliable and ever smiling, nothing phases her and she is one of the funniest people i know. I sincerely hope Livvie will become a permanent member of the senior cast as her acting ability is superb, although we know she is heading off to other things at LIPPA in Liverpool, you just know dont you that she is going places. We just hope she can make it back to us from time to time.

Lee Bates - The Good Fairy Rachel. Lee has only been doing panto for two years, and has already established himself as a great comedy actor. His camp as chips portrayal of this character was so funny, he made me laugh so much and the Rocky Horror piece was, for me, one of the best scenes in the production. You would never think he was Mayor of Fazeley!!! In fact i cant imagine Lee being anything but funny, but I know he does have a businesslike and serious side to his character. One of the best moments for lee was during the last performance, when he made his entrance to wake up the court, and liked it so much he went back and did it again. So efficient on stage, so reliable, But just dont ask him to organise a van though, or you will be running about like a fool at the last minute. I know Lee was very emotional after the last performance, he was moved to tears I heard, which doesnt surprise me at all as he is one hell of a guy and very caring. he did have us all in tears of laughter throughout the production though. He was as thrilled as anyone that it had all been such a success.

Alex Farrell (17) who played Lord Rupert was nothing short of perfection. He played the bumbling Court Chamberlain to its fullest potential. He isnt a stranger to the stage, and it certainly shows in his performances. I think Alex is one of the most talented young players I have ever seen and he is lovely into the bargain. He played up to my role as Nanny Moneypenny perfectly. The thing that made me smile though was his constant checking of everything, phoning and texting to check details and requirements all the way through. He didnt want to leave anything to chance. We have already offered Alex the role of Idle Jack in Dick Whittington on 2008. A role Ian Gibbons has played in the past, but to be honest I think that Alex is so good at this type of role it would be criminal not to have him play it. Well done Alex.

Laura Doyle was cast originally as the Good Fairy Phoebe, which she played on and off throughout the production. But as we had to have a substitute Princess Beauty on two performances due to Victoria's exam commitments, Laura stepped into this lead role without a moments hesitation, and what a perfect job she made of it. her singing was beautiful and she fully deserves praise for how quickly she learned the script. Both roles were played with Laura's usual excellent style and she looked beautiful in her fantastic costumes. She is also a dancer of some talent, and we look forward to utilising this in our next production when Laura will be the Cat in Dick Whittington. Laura is also marvellous with the younger members of the cast; helping them hone their skills and guiding them along the way. A most valuable member of the company, we know Laura will be with us for many years. Although she is doing some work as a Bluecoat in 2008 and this will add to her already growing confidence and talent. I cant wait to see her after her new experiences.

Becca Howe was Monica, the third of the three Good Fairies. She has been in several productions over recent years and is obviously someone who feels very comfortable on stage. Becca has a face that shines on stage, a lovely smile and loves to laugh and have fun. It was unfortunate that Becca had work commitments for two of the performances, and she was upset because she missed out on these, although we did have the excellent Abbie Howe to take the role of Monica in Becca's absence. Becca has developed into a very valuable member of this company and she will be taking on more demanding roles in the future.


Ian Gibbons - OMG Ian Gibbons, who played Simple Simon. I am sure he was born into this role and anyone who knows him will understand what I mean. He wasnt at all happy with his performances as he was so busy clucking about like a mother hen all the time. He had spent so long making sure we had the BACKDROPS and scenery, press, promotion, grant applications etc and the political lobbying (driving us all mad at times) But he felt he didnt give the part of Simple Simon his all so to speak. But I think he was great. but then again he pays me to say that!! His portrayal of the idiot Simple Simon was priceless with his 'I Dont Know's' getting the desired reaction from everyone every time. One of the most surreal moments of the production happened backstage when ian was lobbying the Mayor, a very serious conversation about the future of panto - dressed in his pink babygro and bonnet with dummy. He has given his fools role over to Alex for Dick Whittington, as he says, and quite rightly, that Alex is the right man for the job. So Ian will be playing the nasty Captain Blackheart next year and no doubt will throw himself into the role with relish. He is already driving me mad with Dick Whittington, finding all sorts of stuff to use and forcing me onto the website to make changes to accommodate his whims and fancies.

Josh Swift, Knuckles the Bouncer was a little disappointed with this role at the start of rehearsals as he didnt see first off that it was a role that was perfect for him. I had many chats with Josh about the role and told his to get off his butt and make the part his own. never one to be beaten, he did just that and made the part fantastic, adding bits and bobs to full effect. His teamwork with Andy jones (Meathead the Bouncer) was brilliant and they found themselves being nicknamed the show-stealers. They dont scare me though, and for meat and two veg they arent bad at all.

Andy Jones - Meathead the Bouncer. Andy had a particualrly difficult time with the rehearsals as he would insist on playing rugby and breaking his leg. Not good eh? But he still managed to pull off this demanding role with his usual cool way. The teamwork between Andy and Josh was lovely, they worked so hard on getting their parts to match up and I think they were one of the highlights of the production and I know the audience liked them too. Although some members of the audience wondered why we needed bouncers on the door for panto !!

Chantal Lake (15) played a maid, and at times played one of the Good Fairies. She stepped into the shoes of Laura when she was playing Beauty - confused - so was I !!! There was a lot of swapping about with the girls roles, and Chantal had to learn all sorts of scripts to fill in where needed. She did a great job and has shown how versatile and talented she is and we are looking forward to having her back again next year.

THE CHORUS

Abbie Howe	Jamie Wilson	Jessie Cordell	Daniel Doyle	Emily Pitts

Abbie Howe (12) also played a maid and a Good Fairy, which was rather funny because she is so tiny - the scene where she tells Ghasthag off was fabulous. She has a great young talent and we hope we will get the chance to nurture Abbie in the years to come as she was a very valuable member of the cast.

Jamie Wilson (10), played everything he could get his little hands on; the Bear, an Aussie character, a courtier, a tree amongst things I have forgotten. But lets just say there are some people you know will just get on with things and he is certainly one of them.

Daniel Doyle (9), an excellent youngster and although Daniel has experience in all sorts of shows he is still only 9 years old. He did a very convincing job as a courtier and I understand he raided his mums linen cupboard to find things to make one scene more authentic - good on ya mate!

Jessie Cordell (9), another new member to the group, Jessie played various roles from maid to flower. She is a lovely girl who we hope will stay with the company and allow us to develop her skills further. In spite of having a problem with her leg, Jessie carried on like a real trooper and I think she thoroughly enjoyed it.

Emily Pitts (6), this was Emily's first time on stage (well at least since she was 4 months old, when she played the baby in Local Hero's Local Villain's, especially written by John Garforth for Tamworth Borough Council's Thomas Guy Tercentenary celebrations and was held in the Town Hall.) Emily started off taking on the role of the 6 yr old Sleeping Beauty and quickly established herself as a bush, a maid and a ghoul. She had one case of terminal stage fright during the fourth performance, which she thankfully overcame. Emily loved the whole experience and cant wait to do it all again.


Steps Dance Studio were fabulous, they were a bunch of delightful girls who wowed the audiences every day. The Milk Bottle dance was one of my favourites and the finale dance to Shake your Tail Feathers was another. The dancing in any pantomime is an important element and Juli Eccles and Karen Newman's choreography was stunning.


Wendy Doyle faffed about looking after me and everyone else before and during the production, she was a tower of strength and looked after everything regarding costumes and lots of other things too. Any of the actors and I mean any of them, take your pick, could have been replaced, but this is one lady we could not have done without. She knows everything about everything and leaves nothing to chance and comes up with things I would never even have thought of. She makes excellent tea too bless her. Ta Wendy.

John Doyle - Stage Manager worked tirelessly and efficiently throughout. He is one of those guys you just know will be there when you need him. He and his son Nick did all the scenery stuff on their own, in the most calm manner you could imagine, with only the odd expletive to contend with!!!. I am sure there were times when he wanted to strangle someone, but he just got on with it. No matter what crisis seemed to be looming John would be there to sort things out. A Disatrous nightmarish dress rehearsal, major transport problems, and even managing to salvage Simple Simon's balloons on stage when Ian let go of the strings 5 minutes before the start of the show. Ever seen a Doyle doing Spiderman impressions ??

Chris Doyle on sound. I didnt ever think the sound would be as good as it turned out to be, after weeks of myself and Chris looking for music and sound effects and finally having a goodly amount to chose from, we finally got it all together and Chris ran the whole sound perfectly with hardly a glitch. And the one thing that pleased me most over previous years, is that Chris seems to have ears and knows when something is too loud or not loud enough. He knows that sometimes less is more !!


Keith Swift - a man of integrity and style, doing his bit on the drums to enhance the bits in the panto that need it. He is also a fabulous source of support and a great shoulder to lean on. Keith is a good mate to me, and I am very happy I have met him, as an elder statesman, he is a calming influence on a stormy sea. Thanks for being there Keith. x

There were too many helpers to mention by name, but its important to know that there were many people who helped with all sorts of things. From Ray getting raffle prizes for us to the mums and friends who were matrons for the children and generally ran about making things happen backstage. Hugs to Helen, my daughter and my dear friend Tracey. I dont know whether the cast realise but the terms and conditions of the hire of the Assembly Rooms, due to stringent health and safety laws are becoming very strict. Maybe we should be looking to form a Friends of the Tamworth Pantomime Company committee to take care of these vital roles.

To summarise, this pantomime run has been very successful and we have had a lot of lovely comments from the people who paid to see it. The ticket sales were excellent, the timing of the show was more comfortable than previous panto's at the venue. The programme was far more effective and looked really good. The DVD production company look as if they really know what they are doing, although we are yet to see the DVD we are confident, thanks to Ian Reed for this. The posters and flyers were as good as any professional production. I would also like to thank Steve brady who took over 100 photographs of the pantomime as it was being played, these will be with us soon, so watch out for a large gallery insert.

We have of course the introduction of a rather nice website, even if I say so myself. But most of all, after the disastrous dress rehearsal, we all buckled down to produce what I feel and many others seem to feel, a first class panto and as a bonus, we had fun too. I am so proud to be associated with everyone involved.

Finally as i am typing this, Mr Garforth is busy on his laptop writing our next production. Ian is on the web sourcing backdrops (YES BACKDROPS) the flyers are done and plans are in place. Bring on Dick!!

Thanks to you all, can i go and do Christmas now please, me bunions are killing me!!!

Tina xx