Pantomime 2006/7
I know I was booked for pantomime in Woking quite early on in the year, but the only person I knew that was already booked was Susan Hampshire who I had worked with the year before at Wimbledon. Susan is not only a wonderful actress, she is one of the most generous people I have worked with - as well as being a brilliant Fairy Godmother.
It came as quite a shock to me when I discovered that Patrick Duffy aka Bobby Ewing from Dallas was to play my father. The first thought that came wickedly to my mind was incest! I then found out that the brilliant ventriiquist, Paul Zerdin would be working with us and I already knew him from working together in Brighton on some of our shows for the Sussex Beacon.
At this point we still hadn’t found an Ugly Sister partner for me, but then after months of suggestions from both myself and the show's producers, I was introduced to a very fine actor and performer, Graham Hoadly. One of the most nerve racking things about playing an Ugly Sister is getting on with your partner/sister and being able to trust them. Graham was not only a brilliant sister ,he was also such a lovely man. Also in our cast was Stephen Dean, Leticia's (Sharon from Eastenders) brother, Steve Mcglynn and Joanna Kirkland. It was a great mix of people!
We first met Patrick in October for the launch and publicity photos. Unfortunately, we were dressed as Ugly Sisters when we were first introduced to him (the look of horror on his face was hysterical) and the picture of the three of us shows how nervous we all were. I am pleased to say after having waltzed with him for 6 weeks we learned to have great respect and affection for each other.
After a couple of weeks into the run, Patrick started to pin large notes on the back of his finale costume just for the cast to see - to have a bit of a giggle.
For example: ‘Someone shoot my agent!’ ‘I’m a celebrity get me out of here’ and ‘I used to be big on TV’. On the last night it simply said ‘I shall miss you all’ which set us all off - damn eyelashes! To our surprise he also made the most moving speech and told the audience he was going to break tradition and he turned round and showed them the sign he had on his back - it’s a moment I will treasure forever.
One of the nicest surprises was being directed by Bonnie Lithgoe. It was actually my first time being directed in panto by a woman. Bonnie Lithgoe is married to Nigel Lithgoe who we met, had a drink with and was great (and such a gossip, which I'm sorry I can't repeat any of!)
Our rehearsals were in a building on a council estate in Vauxhall. It was amazing - in the building were some of the biggest stars ever : outside were some of the biggest drunks ever! But Mrs Lithgoe never turned up in anything less than red carpet gear, we developed an amazing bond as she asked for my advice generally over a glass of wine! I would like to thank her for her care and love all the way through the season.
Finally I want to say a big thank you to David Leighton for his fantastic choreography which was such a standard above the rest and beautifully danced by our fab dancers. A big kiss to Sue, Amanda, Felix and Emily for their support, hard work and always being there for us all.
That’s it for this year's panto - I'll let you know about next year as soon as I know.
Entry written: Wednesday, February 7, 2007