My First Panto

"You've never been to a pantomime?!?"  My year 6 pupils were in absolute shock this morning when I told them that our school-wide field trip this afternoon to see the panto in Milton Keynes would be my first ever panto experience.

They were utterly confused.  "Wait, do you have cinemas in America?  Have you ever seen a play?"  The fact that I had never seen a panto seemed to be so hard to comprehend that they even had trouble remembering that Hollywood and Broadway are American.  I explained to them that of course I had been to many plays and movie theaters, but it was my understanding that a pantomime was a retelling of a classic fairy tale with some twists, humor and where one or more of the main parts is played by the opposite gender.  They all agreed that in fact that was what a panto was, but to them, a panto is just about as traditional for this time of year as watching "It's a Wonderful Life" or making gingerbread houses.

Field trips are always a bit stressful, but I have to admit that I have enjoyed not being in charge of any of the trips, but rather just having to show up and keep up with all of my kiddos (which still at times can be a bit tricky).  I was very thankful not to be involved in coordinating all 380 people onto 7 coaches and one mini-bus.  It went amazingly smoothly.  Rather, it went very quickly and we all ended up where we were supposed to be.  Maneuvering that many children is never something that is done smoothly.

I knew that the panto was meant to be funny, but I had no idea what I was in for.  I assumed that going in to the panto would be like going into any other theater, where you go in and sit quietly before the currents open.  I could not have been more wrong about my assumptions.  I was so shocked in fact that looking back, I did not partake in all the pre-panto fun that was going on.  The audience was standing up, singing, clapping, dancing and shouting to the Christmas music that was playing before the curtain was raised.  It was obvious that the excitement of the season was taking over in the children and teachers alike.

This panto was a retelling of Cinderella.  The basic plot-line was the same, but there were some rather stark differences to this telling from the many others I know so well.  First off, the step-sisters were played by two men.  Their costumes were ridiculous; they were as absolutely hideous (as you hope her evil step-sisters would be).  Cinderella also had a sort of side-kick and best friend, Buttons.  He got the audience to participate by asking questions and greeting us each time he came on stage.  The fairy god mother was played by a woman who was in a British pop band in the 80's called 5 Star and she had a glorious voice!  It reminded me of the Disney version of Roger's and Hammerstein's Cinderella when the same role was played by Whitney Houston.  But the largest change in the plot was the Prince's wedding planner played by Louie Spence.

I had never heard of Louie Spence before, but he's a pretty big deal here.  He is a teacher at a very well-known dance school in London.  Thanks to reality TV, he has become a house-hold name. He was absolutely hysterical.  The part seemed to have been written for him.  He would show off dance moves at any opportunity and he seemed incredibly comfortable prancing about in his pink tights and sparkly top.

I love the story of Cinderella!  I'm drawn to all of the stories and films based on this classic tale.  And of course, I love musicals - those fabulous stories where people dance about and randomly burst into song.  So, a Cinderella musical was right up my alley.  But it was even better than that!  Besides being that classic story of the sweet, genteel girl falling in love with the prince, told through song, the songs were ones I knew!  The panto mixed in popular songs as part of the act to tell the story!  Cinderella and the Prince danced to "Dance with Me Tonight" by Olly Murs, a song to which I have a hard time sitting still to.  After the clock struck midnight, when Cinderella was back in her rags, the fairy godmother sang "Let it Be."  There was even a bit when Buttons and the step-sisters were walking through the woods searching for Cinderella when they sang "Ghost Busters."  The Prince thrilled all the middle-school girls (and myself) in the audience by singing "You Don't Know You're Beautiful" to Cinderella and why not end a fairy tale with "Don't Stop Believing"?  The music was fantastic, and by the end, I was standing up, dancing, clapping and singing along with the rest of the audience.

As the play came to an end, Buttons came on to entertain us for a bit.  He invited several young children to come up on stage.  They each picked a bizarre animal and then the whole audience sang a verse of old McDonald with their animal.  We sang, "...and on his farm he had a flamingo, e-i-e-i-o.  With a peck-peck here and a peck-peck there..."  We also sang about a dolphin ("eee-eee") and a shark (I can't remember the sound he made!).  One of the girls on the stage took full advantage of being in the spotlight and danced along as each verse was sung.  What did this have to do with Cinderella?  I have no idea, but it certainly added to the fun of the performance.

What does this all have to do with Christmas?  I'm not really sure, nor is anyone I asked.  The step-sisters were dressed as a Christmas tree and a snowman when they went to the ball, but besides that, there were no real references to the season.  It just seems that this is a holiday tradition across Britain, one that I was thrilled to experience!  I had SO much fun at the panto!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tis the season... to bake!

Senegal

Good-byes