style | life
He’s behind you...
Keith Simmons: The Prince Charming of Pantomime Interview by Cath Ouston
Ludicrous story lines, farce, men dressed as women and happy endings. Otherwise known as the pantomime. At this festive time of year, who better to meet than the man who brings our most entertaining of Christmas traditions to life? Cath Ouston has been talking to
Keith Simmons, one of the most prolific and successful pantomime writers, directors and performers in the UK today.
F
or the last 47 years Keith Simmons has been bringing a smile to the nation’s faces, making people laugh, frequently to the point of tears. But his isn’t necessarily a face or a name that you would recognise, as a lot of his career has been spent writing pantomimes, TV shows and
material for other artists. During that period, he has worked with some of the most legendary names in British comedy: Arthur Askey, Ken Dodd, Norman Wisdom, Max Bygraves, Les Dawson, Danny La Rue, Eric Sykes, Des O’Connor, Brian Conley, Nicholas Parsons, John Inman; as Keith puts it “guys who knew about warmth, timing and act construction”.
Keith has been involved with pantomimes since 1968 but it wasn’t his first choice of career. He started out as a singer, as one half of the Simmons Brothers with his brother Alan in 1966. Their first record was produced by Tony Hatch (who wrote Downtown amongst many other hits) and featured Jimmy Page as session guitarist – before his days of fame with Led Zeppelin.
But despite such impeccable connections their record wasn’t the success they had hoped and eventually they turned their natural ability to make others laugh into a career. Keith was the comic to Alan’s straight man – the perfect formula.
They spent their first summer season performing here on the Isle of Wight and Keith met his future wife Fran Gleeson whom he married in 1968 at St Mary’s church in Ryde. This proved to be a lucky year for Keith as later that same year their agent got them an audition at the Theatre Royal in Bath to perform in Puss in Boots. This was their introduction to panto and Keith has been hooked ever since.
From those humble beginnings, Keith and Alan continued to work together across the comedy spectrum until Alan decided to retire from performing with Keith in 2002. At this
point they went solo…but not for long. “Once a double act, always a double act,” says Keith, and so he formed a new partnership, ‘Simmons and Simmons’ with his son Ben; writing and directing not only pantomimes but a variety of other entertainment shows as well. ”Ben provides that younger, more modern feel as he brings in references from popular culture and the press today. We bounce ideas off each other and basically have the best laugh. Some days we start with the aim of completing three scenes and barely get through one because we’re laughing so much,” says Keith.
To date Keith has written around one hundred and thirty pantomimes; some years getting involved with as many as eight performances around the country at one time. So it is with this illustrious career in mind that I sought out the man himself to take a peek behind the scenes of one of the great Christmas traditions, the pantomime.
WHY DO YOU THINK PANTOMIME IS SO IMPORTANT?
“It’s important on so many levels. It introduces kids to the theatre, it captures their imagination and makes them laugh. They then become the theatre goers of the future. Plus pantomimes have a strong moral storyline, good always triumphs over bad; and they get their message across in an entertaining way. For the adults it’s the perfect escapism from the realities of day to day life. It’s essential that punters leave the theatre laughing, especially in this day and age with so many problems and financial worries.”
“Pantomime is derided a lot in the business but it really is an art form if it’s done properly and its popularity means that it’s been crucial for keeping regional theatres going. A good pantomime can subsidise a whole year for a theatre allowing them to diversify and also put on more cultural and specialist pieces too.”
November / December 2013
17
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104