MARINA THEATRE | JACK AND THE BEANSTALK
DAME A
Bobby is a piano-playing
s a new era under a management trust dawns, Lowestoft’s Marina Theatre is set for a bright, glorious future, starting with Jack
and The Beanstalk this Christmas. Oh yes it is! Since Victorian days it’s been
hard to imagine Christmas without turkey, mince pies, decorated tree and pantomime, although before that time panto used to play at any time through the year. While panto may now be uniquely British it developed from 17th century Italian commedia dell’Arte, or masked comedy, with stock characters like Harlequin, Arlecchino, Columbine, Zanni and Pantalone. It also gave birth to the traditions of circus clowning and Punch & Judy.
While the origins are directly
traceable to 17th century Italian comedy, it’s a genre which continues to evolve. The hallmark notion that it’s a
family show (particularly for children)
As Jack and the Beanstalk opens in Lowestoft David Porter peeks behind the curtains
lives on, though sometimes jokes creep in for adults. Shouting, familiar gags and routines (‘it’s behind you!’), adaptations of contemporary songs, local news, personalities and television shows interweave traditional panto tales. Snow White, Dick Whittington/
Puss in Boots, Sleeping Beauty, Mother Goose, Aladdin and Cinderella continue to be popular. Pop stars; newsreaders; sports stars; ‘celebs’ and the odd politician tread the boards in winter seasons and are frequently audience draws. Stock panto characters are
comfortably familiar: the handsome young (poor) man, the beautiful (rich) girl and her slightly dotty father, the baddie (step-mother, witch; Boo! Hiss!), the idiots (simple clowns, butts of humour; clumsy, accident-prone but always likeable) and some version of a fairy godmother who makes everything turn out well with a wave of the wand and a puff of white smoke. The era of females playing romantic male leads may be largely over, but the panto ‘dame’ played by a man survives
triumphantly. Usually larger than life in ever more outrageous costumes, these are the comic attractions. This year at Lowestoft Marina, audiences can see a master in that role – a piano-playing dame! It’s Bobby Crush, the renowned pianist, actor, broadcaster, TV presenter and songwriter whose showbiz career spans three decades and who achieved early national fame when he won ‘Opportunity Knocks’ in 1972. He is starring alongside Chris Edgerley and ‘Allo, ’Allo’s Sue Hodge (featured in Places&Faces® last month), playing pianist Dame Trott, donning wigs, dresses, false eyelashes and boobs to amuse all ages. He told us he loves panto, describing it as ‘exhausting but completely different from what I do the rest of the year’ and also looks forward to ‘being part of the Christmas company at the Marina; such a pretty theatre’. No stranger to the area, Bobby’s
played one-off gigs at the Marina and regular guest spots at Pontins in Pakefield, as well as summer seasons
Jack and The Beanstalk, Lowestoft Marina, Saturday December 10 – Monday Jan 2 Jan. Bookings 01502 533200 online
marinatheatre.co.uk
There’s also a chance to welcome the New Year in real Viennese style at the Marina when the National Concert Orchestra returns with a concert starting at 10pm. It will feature the traditional favourites of Strauss’s Blue Danube waltz and the Radetsky March as well as welcoming 2012 with Auld Lange Syne. Tickets £26.50 - £35.50
in Great Yarmouth. He’s certain Lowestoft’s precinct will be enough for all his seasonal shopping needs and is clearly excited by the Lowestoft run and the ‘thrill’ of playing the dame yet again, something he’s made uniquely his own.
Jack and the Beanstalk promises
to be a spectacular show from producer Paul Holman who provides pantomimes for a number of towns and cities, including Derby. Paul comes originally from Lowestoft where, as a teenager, he put on shows before eventually becoming a significant national producer of summer seasons and pantomimes. But let the final word come from
Roy Hudd, Suffolk resident, comedian, writer and pantomime expert, whose wife Debbie is the highly experienced director of Jack and the Beanstalk. Roy has written of pantos: ‘In a way they’re a bit like folk songs or the Lord’s Prayer, handed down the generations. You talk to anybody in the business and usually it was panto that inspired them first. It looked like fun and it still is’. Oh yes indeed!
placesandfaces.co.uk | 23
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