Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Culture vultures

Get tips on theatre and art from other Mumsnetters on our Culture forum.

Original poster

Panto - Is it fun to go?

74 replies

Earlybird · 22/10/2005 22:12

Noticing all the ads in newspapers for the next wave of panto - various shows starring Twiggy, Patsy Kensit, Melinda Messenger, Christopher Biggins, Simon Callow, Stephen Gately, Toyah Willcox, etc.
These must do big business, but I don't think I know anyone who's ever been to one. Have you been? What was it like? Horrible, good fun, dreadful but still a good seasonal tradition?

OP posts:
startingtobehalloweenylover · 22/10/2005 22:13

i went when i was about 5 and LOVED it

WitchyWhizzz · 22/10/2005 22:14

Oh no you didn't.......

flashingnose · 22/10/2005 22:14
hoxtonchick · 22/10/2005 22:16

i took ds to our local one (hackney empire, there was no one famous in it ) last year when he was almost 3. he loved it. i have very happy memories of going every year when i was a child. we're definitely going to go this year, & i'm aiming to organise my mil into taking the whole family.

binkie · 22/10/2005 22:25

Ian McKellen as Widow Twankey at the Old Vic last year ... sublime. Dd goggled through every costume change "mummy - mummy - she's got another dress - - - [speechless awe]"

There was a silent movie decorators slapstick shtick that had ds & dd laughing so wildly three rows turned to look.

So: if you choose the right one it's what memories are made of. (By the way, they were 5 and 4 then.)

spursmum · 22/10/2005 22:27

I loved them till I was in my teens(used to take my younger brothers) then my family used to embarass me by having my birthday read out and having to go up on stage. CRINGE.

Tommy · 22/10/2005 22:39

IME, if you have very young children, they will have just as much fun if you take them to a local even amateur production of any panto (it's also much cheaper) and you won't have to put up with the failed soap star or whoever is in your local "big" one.
We had Sarah Jane from Tikkabilla last year and I couldn't go as I worried that if I was in the same room as her I might not be able to resist slapping her
(Actually a friend went with her children and said she was fantastic)

monstersmummy · 22/10/2005 22:43

I have been to and been IN panto and either way its loads of fun

binkie · 22/10/2005 22:45

oh yes
I was Fairy Sunshine once upon a time

laligo · 22/10/2005 22:47

went for the first time ever a few years ago
loved it and so did all the kids present.

TurQorTreat · 22/10/2005 23:06

I agree with Tommy - either the really traditional kind like the Ian Mackellan one, or an amateur one is better than the the sort full of soap 'stars' and Big Brother rejects, which tend to be so full of references to the soaps, and often quite innapropriately smutty, that they're much less fun for the under 8's or so.

ThePrisoner · 23/10/2005 00:02

I have been going to professional pantos with my dds for years - it started off when my daughters were children, and I went with them, my parents and my two (adult) brothers. We all still go, although my dds are now 19 years old!! We are so sad, but it is now a family tradition set in stone, and it is such a laugh!

ThePrisoner · 23/10/2005 00:03

.. and definitely no Big Brother rejects in them.

Original poster
Earlybird · 23/10/2005 00:14

Perhaps a silly question - where do you find listings for the "professional pantos" instead of the former-Big-Brother-residents-as-actors pantos? Are there certain venues or productions that can traditionally do quality panto?

OP posts:
Miaou · 23/10/2005 00:20

Been to the local pantomime in Inverness (two hours away, ha ha at "local") - we get Mrs Mac from "High Road" appearing in it!!! But they are brilliant, so much fun, aimed at kids and adults alike and not too smutty. I swear I nearly wet myself the first time I went, it was so funny. Worth the ridiculously long trip home afterwards (particularly as we miss the ferry and have an extra hour's drive round the loch!) - last year got back at about 1am!!

polly28 · 23/10/2005 00:29

loved them as a kid..hate them now...bah humbug!

ScarySkribble · 23/10/2005 01:54

I have been to local ones that are fairly big productions with the usual soap stars and very local amateur productions that are often a bit more original.

RANT ALERT I actually hate other peoples kids in theatres, my tolarance levels are so low that I fear doing bodily harm to the next parent that lets their horrible snot covered child rattle the seats and wander all over. The amount you pay you think they would want their kids to watch the Bl##dy thing. Everybody munching crisps and chatting arrrgghh! I am the same at the cinema I have to sit with an ailse behind me can't bare people behind me. I rather be at home with a DVD .

The local touring amateurs came to the village hall and the show was very good, I wondered what the saucers were for at the end of each row, it turned out they were ASHTRAYS and everyone smoked all the way through it , so we have given that a miss now.

We might go to a kids show or panto if we get comps but I won't pay, we have DD's Christmas dance show to look forward to, I really enjoy it and the older kids are amazing.

gigglinggoblin · 23/10/2005 07:18

i was actually very surprised by how well behaved the kids were when we went last year (kids were 5,4 and 7 months then) and they were all brilliant until the last half hour or so when they started getting a bit bored (all of them, not just mine). ds2 was a bit of a nightmare the year before, we ended up leaving early but he still enjoyed what he did see. part of the difference was that last year we sat in the upper circle and there was hardly anyone else in it, we had the front row and the view was fab. year before we were at the back, loads of kids in front and he couldnt really see well enough to get excited. box office lady told me some days are guaranteed to be packed out (boxing day) and some are almost empty (xmas eve, oddly). loved it last year, we have got same seats this year for xmas eve afternoon show and i cant wait!!!

Blandmum · 23/10/2005 08:35

We always go for dds birthday (in the new year) and it is great. Get a seat in the stalls towards the front , then you get involved in all the sweet throwing etc.

They do have the dd 'star' (who is usualy crap and an also ran from a soap) but they have regulars who are excellent. We have gone for the last 5 years.

I love to watch the kids watching the panto IYSWIM

Enid · 23/10/2005 09:13

its dd1s birthday on the 20th Dec so last year we took a group of her friends for a meal and to the panto - local one with noone famous in it. They all LOVED it (although it was pretty crap tbh). Definitely going again this year.

Beetroot · 23/10/2005 09:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

tigermoth · 23/10/2005 09:35

I used to be a theatre usherertte (Arts Theatre Cambridge) many moons ago, so saw the same panto again and again... still enjoyed it!

I think an amateur production can be even more fun than a big professional number, especially if you know some of the actors.

We saw two pantos last year. The first was a 'proper'one at the local theatre. We had complimentary tickets because my ds1 won a newspaper competition looking for child panto critics. He had to review the panto and his review appeared in the local press. (Proud mother moment). The panto was by the London Bubble company so not too traditional, and it was pitched for an audience of all ages. We all enjoyed it - slick entertainment.

The second panto was put on by parents at my sons' school. The PTA organised it and chose to do 'Snow White and the 7 dwarves'. This was a way of encouraging fathers to join in with PTA events My husband was one of the dwarves - 'Happy' - so playing against type

He really got into the spirit of it and seeing him and the other parents ad lib was absolutely hilarious. One of our best ever family evenings out. Of the two panto, the amateur one was the best, but it was a close run thing.

Personally I don't like hearing lots of dirty double entendres aimed at adults. Not funny, not clever. I would not feel happy taking my 11 year old to that sort of show. Well, in fact, any child. But 11 is an awkard age. My son is now too knowing for the adult jokes to go over his head and if it got too much, there's no way I can turn over to another channel. I think if you do go to a big panto, it's best to ask about the amount of x rated jokes in the production.

Apart from that, lots of fun!

Octobernow · 23/10/2005 09:41

I hated pantos when I was a child and I still do. Pre-children I managed a theatre and had to spend every March watching millions of pantos on video so I could book a company for the foollowing Christmas. It was hell.

I really cannot bear to see badly done pantos. If they are well rehearsed with a script including jokes for adults but which still appeals to 4yr olds I can just about stand it, but I've seen so many awful ones...

There are panto traditions which should be in every show:

Baddie should always enter stage left, Goodie stage right and they should never appear on stage together (so the same actor can play them)

Dame should arrive with a new costume on every time (on top of the previous one) and should have a scene where all the extra costumes come off one after the other - down to nightgown.

There should be a ghost/transformation scene in every one

The scene before the finale is in front of the curtains to allow for the set up - and all finale costumes should be new ones.

Slapstick scene (usually cookery or wallpapering) has set pieces of business involving props - flour/shaving foam cakes/empty paste bucket etc. No excuse for scrimping on how these props work

The panto developed from Italian theatre tradtion but became used by theatres as an opportunity for the theatre to show off what it could do - so all elements are involved, including the trapdoor and flies if there are any.

Oh, I know this doesn't matter to anyone really but it does to me and I hate paying £70 for a family to watch a panto that has been thrown together. The soap stars can get £30,00 a week in a main house show fgs - so they should damn well work for it.

tigermoth · 23/10/2005 09:48

octobernow, brilliant! - just the sort of info I like collecting. I know what I'll be talking about when we sit down to christmas dinner

I don't envy you seeing endless videos of pantos - that would put me right off the panto idea. Did you really have to power to choose which one your theatre put on? I am in awe!

Octobernow · 23/10/2005 09:59

Yes, I would spend a lot of time putting stuff into contracts like

"No local dance school pupil should be expected to dance the can-can, unless parental consent is sought and documented"

and

"The giveaway bags should not contain items which collectively reach a value of below £3 per bag. If balloons are included in the bag they should not be pre-inflated to give the impression the bag is more full than it is."

or

"The character of Abanazar must in no way adopt any identifiable racial characteristics, either visually, vocally or in his use of vocabulary."

You can tell that I worked under Local Authority guidelines - I don't think independent managements would have to be so PC.