Another early morning today, made more entertaining by shared looks and digs relating to last nights revelations!
Straight
into things with “12 Days” to get us all nice and sweaty at 10 in the morning,
first time around with understudy Adam, as PG was “slacking off” again. Thankfully I’ve brought a spare shirt… I may
be Pongo by name, but I’d prefer not to be Pongo by nature! The scene’s very manic and can only get more
exciting once all the props, custard pies and an audience are added! I think this is going to be a crowd pleaser,
beyond what has been experienced in previous versions! But if you’re reading this and thinking “Oh
no… I’m not going if I’m going to get soaked!”
never fear… we have a very sensible cast this year, who will merely
tease you with a sprinkle of water as opposed to drowning you! WE HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Today
followed the same format as yesterday, working through the scenes and working
where necessary. Act 2 had received a
little less work than the first, BUT, does contain certain set pieces that came
together very quickly without much rehearsal, such as Guildford’s beloved Ghost
gag. We had the debate today about
whether we liked the gag or not… I think myself and PG were the only two that were… such a shame I’m not in it this year… but it
just isn’t possible. If everyone was
crammed into the scene, it would probably resemble a subs bench! Overall I think we all found today very
beneficial, for our own clarity and peace of mind. We all seemed a bit more focused on the job
at hand today – I do hope Gerry wouldn’t disagree!
Now despite
the hard work today was also the bringer of surprises!! Lucy (our Jasmine) getting the biggest of all
whilst rehearsing the garden scene with Emma.
Emma has the joy of humping Aladdin’s lamp around with her for a sizeable
chunk of the second act, for the purposes of plot… the story would be over
pretty quick;y if Abanazer got his mitts on it!! So, to make it easier for Emma, the lamp will
be attached, by some means, to her belt, meaning her hands are free and the
lamp doesn’t become a hindrance. Now our
lamp isn’t small… so imagine if you will the look on Lucy’s face when she was
whisked up into Emma’s arm only to find something reminiscent of an “appendage”
pressing into the groinal area! It was
of course the lamp… but Emma very quick wittedly called out “I think I’ve found
my manhood!” adding “Tell me that’s not going in the blog!” and indeed it has…. Talk about having that “little extra
something…!”
We then set
about a run through of the act, again stopping where Gerry thought necessary. He also spent much of the afternoon session
brushing up the final scene – which isn’t an easy job, as it’s a lengthy scene
and has lots of action, excitement and a couple of upsets in it! For example the male principals share a lovely
skit at the start of the scene which involves a lot of whispering and a few “bumps
in the night”. We’d marked it all out
earlier in the week, but it really got took up a notch today… it’s a lot
tighter, and as a result I believe much funnier; another example of Gerry “seeing
the whole picture” and altering things to suit!
We’ve also
started making a few cuts this afternoon.
It’s a shame to lose anything, as no one wants to lose lines or stage time,
but it is a bit of an “In joke” at the Arnaud that we have to make cuts before
opening. Better to have too much and
lose some quality than have to bulk out with drivel! As a result we’ve lost a lovely bit of
business, dumping Kit into a chest and us all sitting on it, but we agreed as a
cast with Gerry that something needed to go, to make the final moments less
wordy. I hope everyone was happy with
the result, they seemed it and the scene now seems a lot slicker and, as a
result, pacey and inevitably more exciting!
I think we managed to achieve this without the loss of any humour or
shortcuts when it comes to the plot.
We have a
full run through tomorrow for the theatre producers and the crew, so… first
opportunity to see how things lie with an audience! Will what has been making us laugh, transfer
to a fresh audience?! I have no doubt it
will! So tune in tomorrow for a full report!
For now
though… Pongo’s off to watch a bit of Ant & Dec!
Night allPongoX
Post Script:
As it’s “Follow Friday” on twitter, I’d like to introduce you to all of the
ensemble I’ve been talking about! Enjoy reading about panto? Then why not
follow them too!
Amy Reader @amyreaderr Sarah Louise Jones @sarahloujones1James McArthur @jamesCmcarthur Ben Gillett @bengillett94
Charley Maclaren @ Cherleynicola7 Lydia Bannister @Lydiabannister
George Hankers @iamGRH Adam Haigh @adamhaighltd