We showed you a little of life during an Annie rehearsal - well, now have a glimpse behind the scenes during a performance of our Christmas 2002 Pantomime Puss in Boots. I'm afraid I only caught a few of the cast but hopefully it gives you an idea of life away from the bright lights.
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Here is our "puss, after transformation", Andy, getting the make-up that
helped make the transformation
so spectacular. Putting the make-up on took nearly all of the first
half of show: often, in the scene before the transformation, the assistant stage manager
would rush back stage to get Andy and find him still trying to attach his nails.
Ah, but it wouldn't be showbiz without nightly backstage panic! Below is the calm
face of our make-up lady, with some of the kids in the background.
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| And it wouldn't be panto without a comedy donkey. Here is our donkey, Denzil, taking a well earned rest back stage, without its head. Which one is the back end, I hear you ask - both is the answer: one did the first act, one did the second. The head (out of shot) was fabulous - you couldn't tell that, at the last minute, it was hewn out of spare polystyrene by our designer because we suddenly realised that no-one had made one before the dress rehearsal. | 
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Look at the mess in that room - you'd never tell it was the girl's changing room, would you? Here we have the Wicked Fairy's evil sister, Vermina de Verrucae, in her day clothes. Catherine (as she's otherwise known before the nightly enchantment takes hold) had it easy: one scene in the second act. As the curtain rose, while most of us were running around wondering where one of the kids had gone or what had happened to half of our costume, Catherine could be found propping up the bar. Good work if you can get it. |
| Here is our Princess Heavenly, aka Sarah, practising for her next role as Sleeping
Beauty.
Note (a) the slightly dodgy man in the background - that's our official photographer Paul and (b) the notice above the princess' right shoulder. No, not the sign for the men's toliets, further back: yup, that one: 
Aren't we a polite lot?
If you continued down that corridor, just out of shot is a door. Behind the door are some steps that lead you to the wings of the theatre. Can't you just feel the expectant hush of the audience? "Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight's performance of Puss in Boots is about to begin..." |
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Here we have one of our Tom's (our hero) stupid older brothers -
Hoover, played by Brett. The other brother, Bissel, is scheming elsewhere
and the two together were Hoo and Biss (boom-boom etc).
Artistic aside: isn't it nice the way Brett's shadow appears on the left hand wall, in some way providing a real life example of the masks of acting, as they appear along the same walls? Or am I just getting carried away with my own camera work? Probably best if I stopped now and took some more of those dried frog pills the doctor prescribed. |
Having seen life behind the scenes during a performance, perhaps you might be interested in having a look at tidying up as the scenery comes down?
Well, I'm the webmaster at the moment, so, if you have any ideas for this website, please contact: webmaster@boardwalkers.org.uk.