life | style
Keith and son Ben take every opportunity to perform.
Posters from some of the shows Keith has been part of
SO WHAT MAKES THE PERFECT PANTO?
“There has to be something for everyone, the whole family has to be entertained at the same time, on different levels. It’s like producing a full scale musical now. The music has to be very current, the faces instantly recognisable, the women glamorous, the dance routines slick and professional. Kids today expect a lot, they’re so used to the highly produced performances and special effects on TV and the instant draw of computer games that you have to capture their attention and fight to keep it the whole way through. It’s great because it really keeps you on your toes. You have to add some wow and that usually means special effects and stunts of one sort or another such as making Peter Pan fly. The special effects have to be really strong to convince the kids!”
“Names help to put bums on seats. It’s very trendy for young actors and pop singers to appear in panto now which is a godsend. Over the years I’ve worked with some incredible and really unexpected people. Wolf from Gladiators was superb. As soon as he walked on stage the whole audience went mad. Larry Lamb (from East Enders and Gavin and Stacey) was superb as Captain Hook with George Sampson (from Britain’s Got Talent) as Peter Pan. They were both fantastic to work with and really popular with the crowd.”
“Obviously with each panto there is the basic story line to follow but then our job as writers is to factor in both the theatre - its layout, restrictions and technical capabilities; and then of course the performers. You need to restructure it and write it around them. For example we’re writing two performances of Jack and The Beanstalk this year: for the Assembly Rooms in Derby with Cheryl Ferguson (Heather from Eastenders) headlining as the Fairy; and in the Weston Playhouse in Weston Super Mare with George Sampson headlining as Jack. The Fairy doesn’t ordinarily appear in many scenes but she has to in this one so new lines and references need to be added around her. For George, he’s playing Jack so that’s easy enough but he’s known for being a phenomenal dancer so it’s important to incorporate extra dance routines.”
YOU’VE WORKED WITH SOME INCREDIBLE NAMES OVER THE YEARS, ARE THERE ANY THAT REALLY STAND OUT FOR YOU?
“There’ve been so many great performers that I’ve had the privilege and pleasure of working with and some of them many times over. I’ve worked with some outstanding pantomime dames, Danny La Rue was one of the best, and John Inman was just incredible! He played Mother Goose for one of my pantos and he played it just the right way transforming himself from old lady to a glamorous young woman, perfect!”
Ian Smith (Harold Bishop from Neighbours) was a great Baron Hardup in Cinderella, Des O’Connor was always fantastic to work with, Wayne Sleep, Lesley Joseph, Neil Morrisey, Bill Pertwee, Tim Vincent, Eric Sykes, Lorraine Chase, Les Dawson, Richard Briers…the list goes on and on.”
SO WHAT’S NEXT?
“Well we’re busy all year round, not just with writing pantos. We have ‘The Get Happy Show’ in Margate again next summer and hopefully I’ll be back to perform on the Island again before too long. Plus more panto of course! We’ll keep evolving it to suit the audience. It’s been a funny old business and I still love every minute of it.”
Keith formed Simmons and Simmons with his son Ben in 2005
18
www.styleofwight.co.uk
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