Panto rehearsal Sunday 16th

For those who are uninitiated - I am in a Pantomime (Aladdin) this year, raising money for a local charity (Phyllis Tuckwell). It's supposed to be a bit of fun with local people from the village getting together and running amok on stage. However, as the total cast and crew number over 50, and we have sold a grand total of 560 tickets for all performances - the pressure is starting to build.

Last night was a run through of act 2 and half of act 1. We spent quite a lot of time on the singing (Abba, Madness, Oliver, Tom Jones etc...). Still more time needed. But not as much as is needed on the dancing and singing at the same time. I also got to go through my striptease (don't panic - it's all in good taste!) which was funny and surprisingly not as embarrassing as I thought... Although it was just the steps, and not the whole enchillada.

For clarity I am playing Widow Twankey in the panto. To be honest the idea of the red patent high heels was vaguely appealing. Until I had to wear the chuffing things. How women (and some men) can possible find any sort of comfort or pleasure in wearing these things is beyond me. Clearly invented by the Marquis de Sade - they really hurt. Clearly, my pounds per square footage doesn't help - but even so...

Anyway, as I said, the rehearsal was good. We got our finale working which was nice. I think we over-estimated our ability by preparing for an encore. This is after all - am amateur production, and when I say amateur - I mean amateur.