Pantomime People
Author's Note: Sorry about the delay in this blog. I've been writing about a lot of other things but I hope you enjoy reading about the casting process.
I found that while writing the script for my panto, Aladdin, ideas of who could play what role would pop into my head. Because I’m a limelight stealer and I need attention to survive, I had already decided I was going to be in the panto, although not as Aladdin! This blog aims to not only promote my panto (insert cheeky face here), but to educate people on the art of panto too!
Traditionally in panto, the principal boy is often played a girl. Other roles also specify gender. For example, the Dame characters in pantos are always played by a man. Then the rest of gender choices are down to the roles. For example the Princess in Aladdin will be played by a girl no doubt while the villain, Abanazar will usually (although not necessarily) be played by a man. Often, with regards to the Emperor, the gender is open to debate and simply by changing the title to Empress, you can easily give the part away to a boy or a girl.
Casting my panto was an interesting operation, and if I’m honest, it has been my favourite part of the process so far! The first role I cast (besides me own) was that of the Princess. A dear friend of mine had hinted subtly that in all the pantomimes she’s ever been in, she has never played the Princess. I immediately cast her as Princess Chrysanthemum and we spent the rest of the train journey home discussing the possibilities of her new role!
I took an unusual method of casting. I did not audition people for the roles as I felt this would be too daunting, not for them, but for myself. I’m too weak a person you see, and I’m sure I would be unable to pick one person out of however many, nor dash people’s dreams of playing a medium sized part in an amateur pantomime! Instead, I took the rather odd approach of delving into my group of friends at uni and seeing who would be good for the role. Being on a Drama, Theatre and Media degree at uni, I knew anyone I asked would not only be up for it, but also do an excellent job as we all have quite a lot of theatre experience. Such are the joys of university! People who are just as talented as you!
Over the course of a couple of weeks, I carefully observed people in my course and after that failed, I picked people I liked and knew would do a good job. Being a drama student, one often develops a sixth sense for these kinds of things. Well, I say that, I guess I’ll find out how good my casting abilities are when we actually get round to performing the thing!
The comedy duo in my panto was relatively easy to cast although I didn’t think of them for a while. Once their adorable little faces popped into my cranium however, I leapt on the idea and thankfully they were both fully up for it! God bless you Leah and Christy! The villain of the panto was settled within a few minutes due to the sheer appropriateness of my friend’s image! One of my favourite characters in the play is being played by a wonderful actress in my class by the name of Lucy. Having only read a scene or two of the panto before it was finished, she was fully happy to accept the role and I’m sure she’ll do a fabulous job with a fabulous character.
Some of the other characters in the panto weren’t cast for a couple of weeks such as the Genie, who was the last role I cast, going to a brilliant girl named Laura. Within a couple of week, I had a full cast of excited and eager people, while some doubted that the production would even go ahead at all! Nonetheless, with a full cast, it actually feels like this panto is really going somewhere. Hope to see you there on opening night… whenever that will be!
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6 Comments – Post a comment
Sprout Editor
Commented 15 months ago - 2nd March 2011 - 19:29pm
I once played the front end of a pantomime cow, in an adaptation of Jack and the Bean Stalk! I used to do loads of panto when I was younger, but never got the part of the princess. I was once the black sheep, once the cow.. you get the idea. Then when I moved on to theatre I also always got cast in odd roles. I was in the National Youth Theatre of Wales for three years running and played an evil twin in Hamlet, a pink haired mischievous clone in Woyzeck and then a weird skeleton baby catcher in Freda and Diego.. Type cast? ;)
Stormer007
Commented 15 months ago - 2nd March 2011 - 22:23pm
You can be in my next pantomime if you like =D
acatris
Commented 14 months ago - 3rd March 2011 - 15:58pm
I once played the part of Cinderella and my mom played the role of the evil stepmother. She had far too much fun torturing me on stage and when it came to giving me a 'list of chores' as reasons for not going to the ball she actually inserted a few of the chores I do anyway. My dad was giggling in the audience the whole way through.
Pasternak
Commented 14 months ago - 3rd March 2011 - 15:59pm
"Mom"? Are you American? :p
Stormer007
Commented 14 months ago - 3rd March 2011 - 18:00pm
Yeah, it's always fun to put inside jokes into pantos! It's fun having a giggle offstage when the audience don't understand!
acatris
Commented 14 months ago - 4th March 2011 - 03:01am
Pasternak: Nope, but my computer spell-check is apparently. Just be thankful it didn't replace it for "Man".
Stormer: My favourite incident was once when the man playing my father forgot to come on stage to comfort me whilst I was crying (the evil stepmother had just told me I couldn't go to the ball - sob). I was stood all on my own trying to fake crying into my hands while I actually stifling laughter because I could see the actor offstage fiddling with his script and trying to figure out what scene it was. My mum tried to over compensate by coming on stage and skipping to the next scene... but in fact she skipped to the end of the second act!
Stepmother: "Oh my, the prince, he's here! He's coming down the path!" [Stops upon seeing me giving her the stink eye]
...Oh! No they're not!" [Muffled expletives under breath as she runs off stage with a red face]