Are you going to the panto this year?

Somebody has got over excited and needs to calm down.

I know!

There will be tears before bedtime Wilma
Yes, last week we went to the Panto (twice!) with different DGC. Very good fun, two hours went quickly.

I'm calming down now. What did you see lemongrove?

I have to go as GS is the 5th Munchin from the left.

Just thought on, the W of Oz isn’t a pantomime is it? Silly old goat.

It's probably classed as a panto by wherever it's being done. You know, a Christmas performance but without the 'behind you' kind of stuff. I hated the munchkins. In fact, I think it's a scary story! Good job it has great songs!

We are going to see Scrooge and taking some Children to see a production of the Town Mouse and The Country Mouse! They have all been to the panto already.

Glad you enjoyed your panto, Wilma.

Haven't been to a panto in years not H's cup of tea.

There are two on in the city at the moment, but I am another who hasn’t been to a panto for years. We used to go to an amateur production which was absolutely first class and the best dame I have ever seen bar none. Great fun.

It’s 8 years since I’ve been to a pantomime. Haven’t thought about it since grandchildren go with others . Right, next year will be different. .

Panto is not a tradition here, but the British Comedy Club put one on every year. This year it is Sleeping beauty and will be DGS first visit. We go to a lot of Childrens concerts during the year but Panto is a bit different.
Leaving it to DD to explain to her husband what Panto is .

It was Jack and the beanstalk Wilma ?

Nice that pantomime is still alive and well, isn’t it?

Not a panto fan I m afraid I used to take the grandkids until they were about 8/9, when they stopped wanting to go I wasn’t disappointed but would start again in a heartbeat if I had a child wanting to see a panto but from me personally nah not my idea of fun

The pantomime at the Corn Exchange in Newbury is part of our Christmas. Beauty and the Beast this year.

We are taking the 6 and 4 year old GSs to see Jack and the Beanstalk. I am not a meanie but the tickets cost £32.00 each ? How much did yours cost ?

Also DH and I will go to the local amateur dramatics to see Little Red Riding Hood, the tickets are £7.00 each, it’s always brilliant and they put on 9 performances over 3 weekends. I suspect I know which I will enjoy the best.

We went to The Palladium last year to see Cinderella and although the special effects were amazing I really disliked the smutty jokes every time Julian Clary appeared on the stage. Quite spoilt it for me.

Oh no I'm not!

We went to see Dick Whittington at our local theatre. Pensioners far outnumbered children (only 4 young children and a party of school children) and everyone seemed to love it. Our tickets were £24.50, but I was shocked to see the price of Palladium tickets - £77.50!

NanKate our tickets cost £22.50 and I thought that was expensive.

The cost of the ticket is my one gripe and I mentioned this in a little review I wrote, but the truth is that going to the theatre is a a treat for me and not something I can afford to do on a regular basis. I am sure I'm not alone in feeling this way. I don't think it's a rip off, just a sign of the times and I'm grateful we still have a local theatre because the bigger the theatre, the more the tickets cost.

At the weekend we went to see Queen with Adam Lambert at the NIA in Birmingham. This was a complete one off for us because the tickets were £75 each and that was the cheapest tickets. There was a booking fee on top and car parking was £7. The trip was our Christmas present and we agreed not to buy anything else for each other. The reason we went was we're both Queen fans, but my DH is the real fan and given that Brian May is now 70, I doubt we'll ever get the chance to see the band again (he's still got it btw, Roger Taylor too). Adam Lambert is someone we never thought we'd see in concert, so it was a bonus to see such a talented performer.

It's slightly off topic, but another example of how expensive live entertainment is these days.

lemongrove the Belgrade theatre's panto is quite well known and it doesn't have a big name star like some of the larger places. I think it's a real tradition for a lot of the audience because it's the same production team and central cast most years. Iain Lauchlan, the current director and dame has been involved for over 20 years. We're also lucky to have quite a few successful amateur productions and the prices are much more family friendly.

NonnaW £77.50 Good grief!

I remember going to see Tom O’Connor (is he still alive?) in Panto at the Floral Hall in Southport when my children were small. It had snowed deeply and only a few intrepid idiots had made it to the production. He made the best of it quipping ‘did you all come on the same bus?’ and came down into the audience and brought us all into the front seats. Every child present ( about 10 of them) were invited up on stage and he made it very memorable.

No, but really looking forward to taking Dgcs when they're older - still only 1.5 and 2.8.
I have lovely memories of being taken to the panto when we were small - I think a granny paid for the tickets since my folks were pretty much permanently hard up.

Best one more recently was in West End, with Lenny Henry in a major role, IIRC - it was hilarious. We had a young Australian friend of a dd staying - she'd never seen a panto and was asking beforehand whether it was a comedy! How to explain panto to someone who's never seen one....?? She soon found out, and loved it!