Hi y'all!!
Welcome to this here blog post on the subject of a pantomime that I recently performed in. It was set in the Wild West and I played a sleazy saloon gal who went by the name of Buttons.
Okay I'll stop now.
But honestly I loved doing this show and as tough as it was to get used to the accent back in October I now find myself using it far too often! In all the years I have spent with Broughton Drama Group I've never had so much fun doing a show with them. I love my little family so much and even though they can be so frustrating during rehearsals, the feeling of community backstage when there's an audience just the other side of the blue curtain (which as the director told the kids "is not a magical sound barrier") is astounding.
For me, there's something about doing a show with so little tech used - just a few lights and the occasional sound effect but no mics or spots that can follow you smoothly - that really brings a sense of achievement. Especially to the kids.
Now of course there were things that went wrong: costume malfunctions, pyrotechnics not working, cast illnesses, and many more. But each time the show was carried on as if nothing had happened. Or sometimes cast members pointing out their mistakes and making the audience laugh with them about it; one of the joys of a pantomime being that you can do this. Two moments that have really stuck out are when one of the adults completely missed her cue and was sat down in the Green Room while a different cast member was onstage first saying the likes of: "I think someone might have missed their cue... Yep we're definitely missing a cast member up here..." etc. and then feeding the audience a multitude of one-liners. And the other being when one of the cast forgot to say their line so another onstage cast member said it and the first one was like: "That was meant to be my line wasn't it? Let's try again." And so they did the few lines leading up to that point in the scene again, much to my relief since it was one of my cues and I was slightly stressing out backstage about whether to go on or not...
In my experience, the most memorable parts of any production happen backstage. This one was no different. There was quite a number of children this year who I got to spend plenty of time with in the Green Room helping the chaperones to keep them entertained but not too rowdy. A highlight of this was seeing the joy on their faces when I joined them in playing musical bumps very enthusiastically. I think that the fact that someone who was part of the "main cast" wanted to spend time with them meant a lot because a lot of the teenagers and adults don't pay much attention to them which makes them feel not so important. And even though I got a little bit into musical bumps and injured my knee (as well as having a tantrum when I got out because "I really wanted to win") it was worth it to see the happiness on their little faces. I know what it's like to grow up in this particular drama group and I remember that it seemed like I would never get more than one line so it always meant a lot when someone who had quite a few lines would pay attention to me.
I've kind of half gone off topic now but oh well. All in all this was a great show and the cast all did brilliantly. I already can't wait until September for next year's auditions, especially if the rumours are true and we're going to be doing Aladdin - yes I will be auditioning for Jasmine if this is the case.
Now that it's over I've got 11 days to concentrate on my NYMT audition in London where I'll also be seeing Matilda the Musical and In The Heights!!
Upcoming dramatic events:
-NYMT audition (14th February)
-Abbey Musical Society's Annual Show: White Christmas (14th-19th March)
Keep being a star!!
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