What Does a Panto Company Do Throughout the Year - February

Continuing our blog of what a pantomime company does ‘for the rest of the year’ here is a brief overview of what the Imagine team have been up to during February.

Although many of the team take the opportunity to have a well-earned break in February, things have still been exceptionally busy at Imagine HQ.

Many of the companies that we hire sets, props and costumes to produce their pantomime during January and February and so the last few weeks have seen the majority of the set and costume hires for the 2022-23 season come to an end. The warehouse, wardrobe and props floor are once again full.

This year our warehouse is home to 5 new sets. The stores team have been logging all the new sets onto the system. They have to measure and photograph each piece of every single set.  Each individual piece of set has its own label with a barcode which is linked to a central system along with the photo and measurements. This allows the team to quickly pull up images and information for each piece of set we own. This system is also used to log the sets in and out of our warehouse each season.

The wardrobe team are cleaning all the costumes from the season and doing any necessary maintenance before they get put away. In addition Saeni and Adam have been venturing off around the country procuring some new costumes to add to the collection.

The debriefs with the venue management and the marketing teams are now almost at an end and budgets are getting closer to being finalised.

The casting process has begun with a few familiar faces beginning to be confirmed for this season with announcements and brochure launches imminent for a few of our venues.

In addition, Sarah, Steve and Laura attended the first ever pantomime symposium in London run by the UK Pantomime Association and the team behind the MA in contemporary pantomime at Staffordshire University, along with many of the country’s other top pantomime producers, and other representatives of the UK pantomime industry. It was a fabulous day of thought provoking panels, honest and open discussion about the future of pantomime and a chance to meet up with friends and colleagues from the industry.

The team are delighted that the Just Imagine podcast has now received 6,000 downloads and the schedule for the podcast for the rest of 2023 is already in place.

And finally, the Imagine Team did not forget to embrace the tradition of Shrove Tuesday with Amy making delicious pancakes for the whole team on Tuesday 21 February.

If you are interested in a further look behind the scenes check out the fortnightly Just Imagine Podcast which as well as interviews with the members of the Imagine HQ team includes guest interviews from the wide range of people we work with each year.

Venue Cymru - Panto’s coming back, Bigger and better than before, Oh yes It Is!

2020, the year we’d all like to forget

…..However, Venue Cymru has just secured the ultimate news for 2021. The return of their Pantomime, Aladdin with their Panto hero John Evans.

John will return for the eleventh time to the Venue Cymru stage in the role of Wishee Washee in December 2021. John Evans first appeared in the Llandudno pantomime in 2006 and performed every year until 2016 before performing at the Liverpool Empire Theatre for three years.

He should have been back in Llandudno in 2020 however, earlier this month Venue Cymru announced its temporary closure until Spring 2021. The building is utilised as Ysbyty’r Enfys by the Betsi Cadwaladr Health board. This meant the postponement of many shows, including the annual Pantomime.

Pantomime is such an important experience for so many people, and a family tradition each year for so many, for some it’s the first experience of theatre as a young child, and others it’s the memories created of each festive period.

Venue Cymru spokesperson said, “Our patrons spoke and we listened, it was an overriding roar of ‘Bring back John Evans!!’ and, with the help of Imagine Theatre Ltd we’re proud that John will be treading our boards for the next few Christmas’ - John has agreed to work with Venue Cymru and new co-producers Imagine Theatre Ltd on their Pantomime for the next three years.
Imagine Theatre is one of the UK’s leading Pantomime Producers and we’re thrilled to have them on board, their ethos for panto matches the direction we want to take our shows. Along with a brand new script, amazing sets, costumes, comedy and great music we’re proud to be creating a show that we know will resonate with, and create memories for the entire family”

John Evans - Wishee Washee

John Evans commented – “If I had Aladdin’s lamp, my first wish would definitely be to take a magic carpet ride straight to 2021! I have so many great memories of my 10 years in Llandudno, so when I was asked to come back for next years of production Aladdin I didn’t hesitate. I can promise you 2021’s panto will be jam packed full of action, adventure and big big laughs. I am so excited, I cannot wait to see you all!”

Managing Director of Imagine Theatre Steve Boden said “We are absolutely delighted to be given the opportunity to work alongside the team at Venue Cymru to produce their annual family pantomime. Discussions are already underway, and we are going to make sure that pantomime bounces back after Covid even bigger and better than it was before. It is really important to us that we create a show that is unique and bespoke to the Llandudno audiences which is suitable for the entire family. Working alongside the theatre team and the wonderfully funny John Evans, we just know that the 2021 production of Aladdin will be worth the wait!”

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“We’re excited to take our annual Pantomime in a new direction, with a new co-producer and John on board we’re more excited than ever to get started, and to give you, our loyal patrons the theatre experience you deserve after such a trying year. Pantomime is such an iconic tradition for so many families and the experience keeps our industry alive, so for 2021 we’ll ensure its better than ever before” continued Venue Cymru

Those who had tickets booked for Aladdin in 2020 will have the chance to transfer their tickets to 2021 ahead of the general on sale. Further details will be popping into the inboxes of ticket holders’ very soon so keep your eyes open for that.

Bookings for Aladdin 2021 will reopen early this December  

The show will run from Saturday 12th December 2021 – 3rd January 2022.

Venue Cymru cannot wait for Panto to return, and with our very own panto hero and stalwart John Evans. 2021 is looking up!

Box Office 01492 872 000  l  venuecymru.co.uk

What is it like being a pantomime producer during the Covid 19 pandemic?

These are strange times. Usually by mid-May the Imagine Theatre Head Office team would be flat out with casting, scripting, preparing sets , wardrobe, props and marketing campaigns would be in full swing. With the planning for 16 shows all happening at the same time to manage, our days would usually be full to over flowing at this time of year with emails constantly pinging in, and the phone ringing constantly.

But this year it’s completely different.

Those usually busy phone lines have been transferred to Steve and Sarah’s home, and they are quiet. Many of our staff are currently on furlough and our inboxes are busy dealing with a multitude of emails never even considered in normal times. COVID-19 has turned a usually hustling and bustling company into a rather quiet one at the moment.

Our days are spent considering budgets and their impacts and meaning, speaking with theatres, listening to webinars from UK Theatre or such organisations, thinking a lot and listening to the government’s daily briefing, trying to understand what this means for our industry as a whole, as well as for pantomime come Christmas 2020. What we do know is that personal health, well being and welfare is paramount in this situation – for our staff, the theatre staff and for any potential audience members.

And the honest answer is that right now we just don’t know what this all means. There are more questions than there are answers. How can social distancing work in a theatre – for the audience? Front of house? Back stage? Do actors have to be 2 meters apart on stage? Can a wardrobe manager help with a quick change? What is the capacity of a socially distanced auditorium (word on the street is approx. 20% of usual capacity – slightly more in some venues, slightly less in others)? Will the finances stack up if we have to limit audience numbers but our production overheads remain almost the same? What happens if a cast or crew member becomes ill with Covid-19 during the rehearsal or performance process – does the rest of the cast have to isolate and are we in a ‘show stop’ scenario? How do we ensure that actors are 2m apart backstage if the dressing room area is limited? How do we manage social distancing backstage and side of stage where space is notoriously limited? The list goes on and is utterly endless.

However, the most important question of all is, if theatres do re-open, how confident will our audiences be to return before social distancing ends, or a vaccine is found? That’s the million dollar question.

With every person and organisation we talk to, there is a sense of the unknown. However, what we do know is that there is a huge amount of work going on behind the scenes and so we give a big shout out to the many organisations championing our cause including Equity, UK Theatres, SOLT, The Federation of Scottish Theatre, The Arts Council and absolutely everyone involved in trying to build a structured and co-ordinated approach to the situation from the theatre industry’s perspective. Thank you for all you are doing to help present our collective case to the Government and for working with us to try and understand the impact that all of this will have on us in the immediate, short and long terms.

So, while there are so many questions at present, what we do know is that it won’t be long until the right answers naturally presents themselves and whatever they are, we as an industry will be ready to pick up the panto baton again.

Stay safe and well everyone – because we really do mean it.

Sending you all our very best wishes

Steve and Sarah x

Casting – Everything you need to know

This blog is relevant to adults who are looking to apply for one of our principal performance roles whilst our main casting window is open. For ensemble roles, the same process applies, but please be aware that even though you will apply during the same window, we normally cast our ensemble once our main principal line up is in place due to the need for ensemble to pick up understudy tracks.
 
For children’s casting please click here and for production/creative teams and crew, please click here
 
Imagine Theatre welcomes applications from everyone and all applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or disability status.. Indeed, we are very lucky to receive thousands of applications each year from performers, creatives, stage management etc who want to work for us and it is therefore essential that we have a fair process which allows us to give every CV or spotlight link we receive the time and consideration it deserves.
 
The request on our website of HOW and WHEN to apply to us is part of that process, and we’d really appreciate it if you would help us to help you. 
 
We understand that applying for roles can be laborious and that you may want to try make your application stand out by doing something a little different. However, rather than sending us a message over social media or phoning in, please apply via the method stated on the website. Applying to us via a method that’s not listed on the casting page on our website, or applying outside the window of when we have casting open may affect the outcome of your submission. Your application may not get considered and we don’t want that to happen to anyone.
 
We are extremely active on our social media channels, therefore appreciate that we may appear old fashioned by not accepting applications via social media. Facebook and Instagram are not user friendly in allowing us to move messages about employment into any other format. We can’t move them into our casting database, and as a result they may not be processed and could get overlooked. In addition, these platforms don’t make it easy for us to download photos or CV’s. Our company ethos is to give everyone a fair chance and fair consideration and by sticking to the method stated at the end of this article we can ensure that this happens, we know we’ve not missed anyone who wants to be considered, and you know your application has been treated as you would like and expect it to be.
 
We wish we could audition everyone who applies to us, but with the sheer volume of applications it’s not feasible for that to happen. Therefore, as stated on our website, we only contact those we want to audition. We aim to post the dates of the principal auditions on our website and if you’ve not heard from us by the audition date, then you’ve not been selected for an audition with us. 
 
It’s also worth bearing in mind that, although you may not hear from us in a particular year, that doesn’t mean we aren’t interested in receiving your CV again in subsequent years. Some years the balance of roles means that we might be looking for more Dames and comics, or another year we might need more principal girls and father roles. It all depends upon the mix of titles we’re producing and what casting may already be in place. A breakdown of the roles that we are casting for will be posted on our website and spotlight ahead of the audition calls going out. If there isn’t anything that fits your casting bracket this season, please keep applying in following years. Never say never! You never know what a casting team saw in you or your initial application and what they might want later down the line. 
 
What we will do is make a commitment that if you have an audition with us, we will let you or your agent know the outcome, however this may not be straight away. Due to the fact we are usually casting for multiple productions all over the country, casting is a huge jigsaw puzzle that sometimes requires 3 or 4 key people to fall into place before we can cast the rest. If they don’t accept straight away and we’re left waiting for a little while, this can have an impact on the rest of the casting. It might be waiting for a ‘name’ to confirm, resident dames/comics or just that someone is waiting to hear if something such as a touring contract is going to happen for them. We promise we try to do things as fast as we can, but as you can now appreciate, it’s not that simple. 
 
Thanks for taking the time to read this, and we look forward to hearing from you.
 
The email to apply for both Principal and Ensemble Understudy roles to is casting@imaginetheatre.co.uk – this inbox is manned during the time that we say casting is open on our website. This date will also be announced on social media, so please keep an eye out on our channels for opening and closing dates. It may feel like you’ve not heard back from us, but so long as you apply at the right time and get our email bounce back reply then your application will be being considered by us. Please DO NOT apply to individual emails within the company, we only accept applications sent to the casting email as stated above.