Well, today's Panto news is a bit of a shocker! Who guessed Lee would be in Aberdeen this December?!
Yes, Lee will be Prince Charming in Snow White, in the aforementioned Aberdeen from 1st December to 6th January. Lucky Aberdonians!
It'll be a long journey from Sheffield but it will actually work out better for me than if Lee had been at the Palladium, as the taxi fares just from the Strand to the Palladium were huge when I went in 2017. And I'm lucky enough to have a railcard which will cut the cost of the train. Okay the weather could be awkward but it can snow anywhere in the country in winter as we've learned over the past year.
In a conversation a couple of days ago (about Lee in panto), I said jokingly "As he's been close to home the past two years he's due a panto a long distance away!" Little did I know how prophetic those words were!:ghost::laughing: Though, luckily, the destination turned out to be Aberdeen rather than the one I then mentioned ("Do they do pantos in the Outer Hebrides?")!:laughing:
Incidentally, I had a weird dream the other night that Lee's panto this year was Rapunzel! Do they even do that as a panto?
I believe they're doing Rapunzel as a panto somewhere in Cambridge this year. That hair will be a drawback for the dancing bits though!
Just popped in to say I had heard the panto news. I have hoped for a concert in 'The North', but didn't imagine Aberdeen. Good news. I may see some familiar faces from way back. Liz from not quite as far north as Aberdeen.
Who has already booked and looking forward to a "Snow White Christmas" in Aberdeen?
As my balance has improved quite a bit over the past two months I've decided to go for it and have booked for the last Saturday and Sunday in Aberdeen. I thought my sister might try to talk me out of it but she said "People were stranded in Birmingham because of the rain and that was in July, so the weather can act up at any time, so stop worrying about that part of it, and go for it!" She also had the great idea of my breaking my journey in Glasgow on the Friday night. So we'll see!
That's fabulous news. I really hope that you have a safe uneventful journey.
At last Lee comes to Aberdeen, and I have tickets,,,
Woohoo!!!! Wonderful for you, PatB!
Lee's Snow White has been announced!
LINKY THING
Lucky lady!
To everyone travelling to Aberdeen to see our Prince Charming.
Have a safe journey, Looking forward to reading your reviews.
I fancy a train ride tomorrow … a very long train ride … maybe to Scotland … maybe take in a panto performance or two …
We can't wait to hear all about your Panto adventures A Liz
I bet it is going to be an interesting journey but worth it to be greeted by the man wearing crushed velvet leggings. ( Not tights )
While we're waiting for the panto reviews I had this idea to combine Holby and Snow White. The Prince finds Snow in the glass coffin and is devastated. Waving his sword threatningly at the audience he shouts "Gaskell, is this you?"
:laughing: :laughing:
Gas Kill would make an excellent panto villain...with Fredrik and Isaac as his henchmen!:imp: :imp:
I just found out (from reading reviews) that Lee's character in the Aberdeen panto is called Prince Harry!:laughing:
Just back from Aberdeen, and yes, I can confirm, Lee is Prince Harry of Holby!:joy:
I will try to do a brief report in the next day or so, but warning - it will contain spoilers!
Yes I love it. Can Frieda be the Goth Fairy?
I fear not the spoilers, I would love a review!
Where to begin? Well, how about Aberrrrdeen for starters? A mere hop from Essex, a nice little train ride or two …… actually 12 hours door to door, but who's counting where Lee is concerned? The weather was reasonably kind to us (very cold on Wednesday, and a bit damp now and again, but we dodged most of the wet stuff and even went for a walk on the beach!
Right, Snow White.
A couple of Aberdonian comedians introduce Snow White. Then handsome prince comes calling. A mirror and wicked queen put in an appearance, as do seven dwarfs/dwarves (according to preference). Some singing, dancing, heroine tastes poisoned apple, hero kisses her back to life, the mirror cracks and wicked queen is banished. The end.
Oh, you want a bit more detail? Then …
SPOILER ALERT
This version of Snow White is very Scottish. You may have seen Doric mentioned a fair bit - it is the local Aberdonian/North East Scotland language/dialect. I googled it before we went to get an idea of a few phrases, and just as well I did, as there are a lot of references to Doric.
Also, I may not get everything in the right order, but hopefully you will get the gist.
We start with the usual scene setting in the village of Aberdeen, followed by the entrance of Muddles (the 'simple Simon' type role), the son of Nurse Nellie MacDuff (Snow White's former nursemaid), the traditional Dame. When they were in full flow, we had to listen very carefully to understand some of the fast delivered dialogue!
It is the eve of Snow White's 21st birthday. The Wicked Queen is determined she will not see her 22nd. Snow White had met Prince Harry of Holby only once before, where they both fell in love at first sight. She can't wait to see him again at her birthday party.
Muddles wants a girlfriend. The latest device to embarrass the audience is a camera, operated by Nurse Nellie on stage, scanning the audience, for everyone to see. It is hilarious as long as it isn't you that's being picked on (and oh, yes, we were!). They then put a 'bubble' of words above your head, to indicate what you are thinking. It is very funny.
At some point we are introduced to the Seven Dwarfs, who used to guard the Palace until the Wicked Queen banished them for being ugly. They are hilarious, and play the parts on their knees (think Lord Farquaad in Shrek) - it was quite disconcerting to bump into a couple of them later and find they are about six foot two (but I digress!). Thanks to a Disney embargo, they had to be given different names from the traditional, and are also not allowed to sing their famous song ….
Finally, Prince Harry arrives. We have had to wait a good 20-30 minutes for this moment - wow, does he look good! Once it's established that he is a Prince (not a doctor!), "if you're Prince Harry, then I'm Meghan Markle" purrs Nurse Nellie as she tries to pinch his posterior! - it's not long before he launches into Any Dream Will Do, accompanied by children, and disrupted by Nurse Nellie and Muddles, who get bored, and start reading a newspaper with the headline "Holby City axed" and photo of a sobbing Lee in Prince Harry costume!
Prince Harry and Snow White meet up, confirm that they are still in love, although she does think he should work on his cheesy chat up lines, and they sing "Rewrite the Stars" (from The Greatest Showman).
There is a hilarious sketch involving Prince Harry and Nurse Nellie, where the latter performs an amazing song incorporating the names of 75 Aberdonian/Scottish towns and villages, while Harry looks on, totally mystified. They kept calling him a doctor, to which he replied crossly, "I'm not a doctor, I'm a nurse - I mean Prince!"
Now I'm somewhat confused over the order of things from here on. I know there is lots of arm waving and cursing from the Wicked Queen, culminating in the end of Act One with her flying over the audience in a giant pterodactyl, with Prince Harry looking very dashing and singing "It's Alive" (also from the Greatest Showman).
There is another sketch (this is definitely in Act Two) where Harry shouts "lead on Macduff" and gets teased mercilessly by the other two. They accuse him of being posh and not understanding Doric. "Of course I know Doric. He's a character in Shakespeare. 'Alas poor Doric, I knew him well' …" delivered in suitably princely/Shakespearian fashion! This leads on to them eating Haribos - or Torry-bo's as they rename them, whereupon Harry's voice turns into broad Scots on helium! All three do, actually, while they discuss which flavour and colour of the sweets they prefer and how they like to eat them! That bit is pre-recorded and they lip sync it.
Going back briefly to the plot, Snow White takes refuge in a cottage in the forest, home of the Seven Dwarfs. They tell her all about being banished when she was a baby, and she immediately restores them to favour. Prince Harry proposes at some point and she accepts him. Meanwhile, the Wicked Queen makes a poisoned apple in her laboratory and, disguised as an old crone, finds Snow White at the cottage and tricks her into taking the fateful bite. The dwarfs, Harry, Muddles and Nurse Nellie all gather around her, and someone suggests that she can be saved only by her true love's kiss. Muddles, who has always loved her, tries but fails. Harry then gives her the 'snog of her life' and brings her back from the brink.
There are other bits. Lee/Harry sings "Nothing Holding Me Back", which I confess I hadn't heard before, but is in fact sung by pop star Shawn Mendes (younger readers will probably know!) - and in one of life's strange coincidences, when I was watching I'm A Celeb last night, that song came on in the background and I was instantly transported back to Aberdeen.
The two comedians have another moment, when Nurse Nellie has nodded off and needs bringing up to speed - speed being the operative word as Muddles recaps the entire panto in about four minutes, in broad Doric, but with the odd clear phrase such as "his agent said four songs in his contract" - very funny! Then Muddles did the Wonky Donkey sketch, which I recall Bobby Davro did in the Southampton panto some years ago.
The Wicked Queen was captured, Prince Harry came on wielding a sword to smash the mirror but, to please all feminists, Snow White took the sword from him, saying "this is personal" and smashed the mirror herself, before the Wicked Queen was carted off to exile in Balamory (an "in" joke, as the actress playing her had starred in the Balamory children's TV programme). We all ended up with the audience joining in in the traditional sing song, each side of the auditorium vying for the loudest (imagine, on a school's matinee afternoon!). Then, finally, the Royal Wedding.
Phew! I'm sure I have left out several bits, and as I said I have forgotten the correct order, but it was fun, and improved each time we saw it - well, you can't make a journey like that and only go once, can you? If anyone wishes to add anything, please do so!
Thank you Liz for taking the time to post your review, much appreciated.
How did you manage to remember so much.
What a long journey you had, but it sounds as though it was worth it. Did you manage to speak to Lee?
Wow! I wanted detail and I got it! Thank you so much. I would have loved to have gone - but i'll cut the whining session short and say how much I enjo*** that review. I hope Lee reprises his role soon so that I can see that magical snog for myself!
Thanks A Liz for that fabulously funny review, I sat here smiling and could visualize it all through your eyes.
( Gosh you had a good view ) I won't be able to make it to see Lee in panto this year so every tiny snippet is pure gold.
The official reviews have been fabulous but nothing beats the in depth detail that we get from you. hehe
Thanks for that review, A/Liz!
Just seen a review for the High Wyconbe production of Snow White. Brendan Cole has been cast as "Brendan the Dancing Huntsman"! I nearly fell off my cbair kaughing at that one.
That's brilliant!:laughing:
So has anyone got any Christmas or New Year travel plans to see our handsome prince??
If so we would love to hear from you.
