Day 10 - "Aladdin: Im a real boy....!"

Friday has come around again ladies and jellyspoons, and today, as a special weekends treat, you get two entries for the price of one… continuing with this one from Day 10….!

"The best things in life are silly!" {Scott Adams ~ Dilbert}

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 all
PongoX

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 @sarahloujones1
James McArthur @jamesCmcarthur             Ben Gillett @bengillett94
Charley Maclaren @ Cherleynicola7              Lydia Bannister @Lydiabannister
George Hankers @iamGRH                            Adam Haigh @adamhaighltd