Gotta go Wii

Hah, now I know why my husband couldn't find a Wii to buy for my Christmas present!

Every night, the Dame invites six children up on stage to help the heroes complete a task, but before that she interviews each one briefly (hilarious to watch). Before Christmas, she asked each one what they wanted for Christmas (Hannah Montana merchandise was coveted by the girls) but now that Christmas is passed, she asks them what presents they got.

So far it seems like about ten percent received toys, sixty percent got a Nintendo DS, and the rest got a Wii. Children, hah.

Of course, this means that pretty much every night, the Dame gets to make jokes about needing to go Wii. I won't repeat what she said after a little boy reported receiving a joystick.

Matinée = Pasta Buffet

Today was our first matinée show, which made for a long day with a show at 3pm and another at 8pm. That's about ten hours in the theatre and twenty costume changes if you're in the chorus.

The first show was fun but we weren't looking forward to doing it all over again a second time – however our spirits were lifted by the pasta buffet provided by Island Caterers. The dining area was set up at the other end of the theatre-tent. Large round tables covered with snowy white tablecloths (no paper or plastic here, oh no), china plates, heavy cutlery, four uniformed waiters, the works. Oh yeah, baby. The food was great, apparently the pasta was cooked in situ by a chef, and it was al dente which is perfect. There were three choices – fusilli with a creamy sauce, farfalle with salmon, and penne with a tomato sauce. Also bread rolls and soft drinks. What a spread!

I really enjoyed my supper, and all that kept me from going back for seconds was the knowledge of the nine dances that lay ahead of me.

Just before the second show, we were a bit sluggish, but once the first Act started, we found ourselves caught up in the now-familiar rhythm of the show, and you'd never have guessed at the amount of half-digested pasta that was being whirled around the stage inside our bellies.

Already looking forward to the next matinée... *burp*

Auto-pilot

Now that we've been performing for a while (six shows and two dress rehearsals), the initial excitement is wearing off. Some nights I would rather curl up under a blanket than strut my stuff on stage. But not going on is not an option!

I have found, though, that once Act 1 gets underway, then I don't mind, no matter how tired or fed up I was to start with. A sort of auto-pilot kicks in between scenes - the mad rush off stage, scrambling out of the costume, scrambling into the next one, getting into position for the next entrance - but it's not really needed during the scenes. Even if I'm standing backstage wondering why I am about to get out there in front of a thousand people in a silly and unflattering costume... once I'm actually on stage, all I feel is exhilaration. And occasionally embarrassment if it's a belly-baring costume.

The song-and-dance numbers are the best - I love performing them so much that I enjoy each one every single time. Being able to sing and dance on stage makes all the boring and tedious rehearsal time over the last three months worth it. Oh yeah. Just call me twinkle-toes.

Merry Christmas!

I'm enjoying our two days off for Christmas - did some shopping, did some baking, and did a lot of hanging out with family, and it's nice to have quiet evenings. We've already finished a five-day mini-run, now I'm ready for the next five days, bring 'em on!

Painted lady

The promised stage make-up tutorial never materialised, so I have been picking up hints and tips from various people such as my dressing-room-mates and my sisters. This week I also surfed over to expertvillage.com and watched a twenty-part tutorial video about stage make-up, so now I feel a little better about my somewhat deficient make-up-application skills.

Until now, my make-up routine (say if we were going out to watch a movie) was this:

• Put on brown eyeshadow

For Panto, it has grown into this:

• Use cleanser
  
• Put on moisturiser
  
• Foundation
  
• Concealer
  
• White eye-shadow at inner corners of eyes
  
• Light colour of eye-shadow
  
• Medium colour of eye-shadow
  
• Dark colour of eye-shadow
  
• Shimmery colour of eye-shadow
  
• Liquid eye-liner on upper lids
  
• Pen eye-liner on lower lids
  
• Mascara, mascara, mascara
  
• Red lipstick
  
• Shimmery lip-gloss
  
• Bronzer
  
• Rouge
  
• Setting powder

I don't really mind doing it all, but it's a bit of a pain if I'm in a hurry or crowded with a bunch of other people around limited mirror space (try seven girls and half-a-dozen boys in front of two mirrors). When I do it quietly, it's actually kind of fun.

Before this, I didn't own much make-up, just a few basics that I rarely used. I have bought so much make-up in the last ten days, it's ridiculous (I now own everything in the list above). At least, given the amount of make-up that I usually wear (none), this lot will last me several years.

I did already have an eye-liner pencil but I'd never used it, and when I tried putting it on last week I couldn't get it to leave a mark. So I went and bought liquid eye-liner. I was practicing using it at home a couple of days ago when a retired neighbour rang the doorbell to leave a message – now when he sees me in the street, he still looks at me funny. I hope he doesn't think I eat kittens.

Actually I am rubbish at putting the liquid stuff on, so the eye-make-up sub-routine actually looks more like this:

• Forget about putting on eye-shadow first
  
• Put liquid eye-liner on right eye
  
• Blink
  
• Make a mess on right eye
  
• Say some rude words
  
• Put liquid eye-liner on left eye
  
• Observe shaky hand
  
• Make bigger mess on left eye
  
• Say even ruder words
  
• Look around to check if anyone is watching the entertainment
  
• Use eye-make-up remover to remove errant liquid eye-liner
  
• Put pen eye-liner on lower lids
  
• Apply eye-shadow
  
• Apply mascara

Forget practice makes perfect, I'm actually getting worse at this as time goes by. Oh well, I suppose that my fine motor skills could use the exercise.

Third Show

Wow, tonight was the best show so far!

There were two main reasons for this - first, the cuts.

It is usual in Panto that, at the beginning of the run, the show goes for about four hours. This is partly because the actors are still a bit slow in responding to eachother's lines, partly because the scene changes are also a bit slow, partly because of technical hitches, and partly because there's just too much material in the script.

Quite a lot of cuts have been made over this weekend, including my only line in the whole show, and a dance number that we put a lot of effort into. Oh well, there had to be casualties. The result, however, is a faster-paced show which keeps the excitement level high.

The second reason why tonight was great is that the audience was fantastic! Apparently, besides our expected visitors, there were also a lot of MADC people out there - people who know how to be good Panto audience members. The booing was great - they were the first audience so far to boo during the singing competition at the end (booing your opponents is considered good form in Panto). They also nearly blew the roof off the tent when doing the call-backs with the Dame - awesome!

So we had all this great energy rolling off the audience, which made us more excited and energised too - I don't know who was having more fun, the audience or the cast.

Three cheers for the best show so far, and here's hoping the remaining twelve are just as fun.

Painted faces on parade

Apparently tonight the cast of the 'rival' Panto are going to be in the audience - they have the night off and will open their show tomorrow.

We are a bit nervous because we want them to see us do a good job and be impressed *grin*.

A friend of mine asked me if I 'expected trouble' but my response was, 'as if!'. I don't think anyone from either cast would try to disrupt either show. At the first sign of rivalry several weeks ago, involving some unpleasantness from both sides, the heads of both companies spoke to each other. We all got a huge ħasla that day and I imagine they did too.

After being put through the Panto mill, I don't feel any animosity towards 'them', but instead respect and, strangely enough, solidarity, because right now we are all going through the same experiences of grueling rehearsals, tension-fraught shows, frantic costume changes and so on. We have too much in common!

I am planning on going to see their show after our run closes, because they will keep going a while longer after we stop. I am looking forward to it because I love Panto. I intend to be a model Panto audience member - I shall boo the baddie, cheer the heroes, yell "It's behind you!", shout the call-back, and sing the song at the end at the top of my lungs. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll even catch a sweetie - being in a Panto audience is so much fun.

I hope they enjoy the show tonight.

Social life status: on hold

To be in Panto, we have had to put our social lives on hold, especially those of us in the chorus as we have had rehearsals six days a week since mid-October. I haven't really minded myself because it's not like I had much of a social life to begin with, heheh, but now as Christmas approaches we also have to miss out on the social activities that the season brings with it - dinners with family, dinners with colleagues, school concerts and so on.

Well, the Panto veterans say that if you do Panto, you basically don't have a Christmas, but I intend to make the most of our two days off for Christmas proper. My mother said that she doesn't mind if I don't go over on Christmas day because I need to rest due to Panto, but I have assured her that nothing short of a natural disaster will keep me from being there.

Tonight is the second Christmas event that I am missing in order to be in Panto - I was invited, along with my husband's family, to a celebration thrown by a friend of their family called Leli. He's got a plot of land that is mostly fields but includes a small building with basic amenities including kitchen and bathroom, and also a large barn usually used for storage.

Leli invites a few dozen of his nearest and dearest, sets up trestle tables in the barn, and cooks the main dish in his outdoor wood-fired oven that will remain warm for twelve hours after the fire goes out. The womenfolk pitch in with ħobż biż-żejt, timpana, and other wonderful home-made food.

After everyone has eaten their fill (and drunk as much as they can safely handle of Leli's potent home-fermented wine), then we break out the instruments. Usually either my husband or Leli leads on guitar and sings, I play backing guitar and jump in wherever I know the words, my brother-in-law plays keyboard, and we work our way through a repertoire of folk-songs and hymns. I really like it when Leli sings spirtu pront, it's hilarious even when it's me he's making fun of. All this sounds a bit corny, but it's wonderful fun to be singing with a bunch of people who are just enjoying eachother's company.

I'm sorry to be missing it tonight but I can't be in two places at the same time. For everything there is a season - right now this is my Panto season. I am determined to enjoy it fully, and so far it has been worth all the sacrifices that had to be made. And at Leli's next get-together I shall sing extra-loud to make up for this one.

In appreciation of the chorus

The current mood of the chorus is universal to each member. And it is almost exclusively expressed in unprintable words, so unfortunately I can't detail them here.

The chorus is unappreciated – but we can deal with that. We deal with it by communally commiserating with each other because, let's face it, no-one else wants to know. We work our socks off and hardly ever get praised – but we can deal with that. We praise each other, we congratulate each other, and we look out for each other. United against those who do nothing but criticise and verbally abuse us, we become stronger, muahahaha.

Today is one of those days when we feel hard done by. We were called in very early for an intensive rehearsal to clean up some straggly bits in the dances, two-and-a-half hours including the time spent standing around waiting for everyone to arrive. We are sweating, we are tired, we are wilting, we want supper and showers and we will get neither. And now we are expected to put on our happy faces and exude energy on stage. Well, we'll put on those happy faces because we know how to be professional, but backstage we are not at all happy. At least misery loves company and right now it's got lots of it.

First Night

Funnily enough, I didn't really feel nervous about the first night. Usually before a first show I feel sick to my stomach, just the same as before an exam, but that didn't really happen this time. Maybe it's because I was so excited to finally be going on stage and doing what we have been training for over the last two months that I didn't have enough emotional capacity left over to use for being nervous.

Having a dress rehearsal with an audience helped too I think - that was a good transition into the performance proper, so we went into first night knowing that we had already proved that we could do the scenes, do the costume changes, do the dances, and so on.

I enjoyed the show, it's a great feeling to be doing something that you have been working so hard towards. It was for this that I spent two months going straight from work to rehearsals to home to work, sacrificing almost all my free time and quite a lot of my sleep. At the time it was really hard, and often boring and un-fun, but now it's pay-off time and it's great.

Warning: theatre can be hazardous to your health

When you think about it, the physical conditions themselves are full of health-and-safety hazards. For example, in just one scene, we walk, dance and even run very close to a five-foot drop into an orchestra pit full of pointy instruments, in dim light, with smoke everywhere, and a black veil hanging in front of our faces. At any other place of employment, there would be a guard rail by the drop or safety equipment attached to the employee, but in theatre the normal rules are suspended for the sake of art.

Then there's the pyrotechnics that are set off three feet away from us, the drop-off at the back of the stage, the ramp that we run down at full tilt in black-out, the wires snaking everywhere offstage - loads of potential for accidents. So far everyone is still in one piece, more or less, but it doesn't help that recently an actor was in the news for nearly killing himself on stage.

A week ago, back in the relatively safe environment of the MADC clubrooms, our major problems were injuries that were either long-term and pre-existing or which emerged recently, perhaps due to all the extra exercise. These we struggled with during the intensive dance rehearsals. On one night in particular, the chorus laboured with two injured backs, a busted knee, a damaged shoulder, and a trapped nerve (very painful) - and that's just the ones I knew about. It was quite alarming to be dancing next to a guy who used the loud music to cover his shouts of pain - actually the grimaces might have been amusing, had I not had matching expressions on my own face (I was one of the injured). At least having injuries flare up during rehearsal helps us to learn how to treat them and dance through them, in preparation for when we are on stage.

Here at the theatre, we are accumulating even more injuries due to accidents. Only one person has had to be taken to hospital (she's fine, but had to be checked as a precaution) and the rest are minor cuts and bruises. There's one scene in particular which seems to be particularly hazardous, partly because there is a piece of scenery that is hard to see and people keep tripping over it, and partly because there are twenty-eight people on stage, brandishing heavy wooden weapons. In typical fashion, I got hurt due to a combination of these two factors - the person behind me tripped in the scenery, and bashed me in the head with her weapon as she stumbled. I had a bump, some blood, a fright, and a director calling me names for holding up the scene. Fun times.

My other 'injury' was a bit bizarre. I was in the (unheated) toilets, changing into my tights, when I sneezed and got a nosebleed. Strange, because I can't even remember the last time I had a nosebleed, maybe back when I was a child. From first-aid training I knew that I'm supposed to lean forward and pinch the bridge of the nose until the flow stops, but that didn't seem like a viable option given that I was half-naked and heading towards hypothermia. So I stuffed my nostril with toilet-paper and got on with trying to put on the tights without dripping blood all over them. The bleeding kept on for a couple of minutes until one of my dressing-room-mates came up with a solution - she held some cold metal scissors to the back of my neck, and the flow dried up within a few seconds. Very cool. Performing with toilet-paper up my nose would have been a bit strange.

Second Dress

The second dress rehearsal was with an audience – and a heated tent! The heating made such a difference – having an exposed belly wasn't so bad any more.

Having a live audience was great because we got to hear them laugh and boo and so on. They were mostly kids so a lot of the political and adult humour didn't get a reaction, but the rest was fun.

There was a difference in how the cast performed too – some people (especially the main characters) have been performing in rehearsals just as though an audience was in front of them, but some people in the chorus weren't really. But with bodies in the seats, everyone suddenly became animated and started reacting to all the lines, interacting with other chorus members and generally hamming it up as you are supposed to do in Panto. That made it even more fun to perform.

The costume changes were OK, we have enough time for the most part, I only had one sticky moment. I was given braces to wear over a shirt, but they had to be safety-pinned to my trousers as they didn't have snaps. One of my dressing-room-mates was pinning them on when, to our horror, we heard the orchestra striking up the song that we were about to perform! We rushed out of the dressing-rooms and onto the blacked-out stage, and that's when I realised that the braces were still safety-pinned to the back of my trousers.

I didn't have any way to attach them to the front of my trousers, so they would have to go, but I had to work by feel and I couldn't get the safety-pin open. Tugging hard, the braces finally came off, just as the lights came up. *whew*

After the show, we were relieved that we had a complete performance under our belts, costume changes and all. Tomorrow we start for real!

First Dress - Misery, a new definition

Being in a very large tent in the middle of a chilly December at 11pm wearing an Arabian dancing girl costume, żaqqek barra, with no heating. I think that this was the worst Panto experience until now – freezing our arses off during the first dress rehearsal.

We looked enviously at the director, crew, and miscellaneous Panto people, all wearing nice warm jackets, and looked longingly at the empty heating ducts running overhead, but no, our request for the heat to be turned on was denied. This was a new experience for me, standing on stage and shivering, one I hope not to repeat.

The chorus girls especially were very glad to change into the next costume, which is by contrast very warm and not revealing at all.

I was also using dress rehearsal to get used to navigating the backstage area in dim light with no spectacles on. Rather than leaving them backstage (which would be a problem anyway because sometimes I exit on the opposite side of the stage than I enter on) I decided to leave them in my dressing-room. I had a few hairy moments because there are wires snaking all over the place, and crossing from one side of the stage to another involves a huge detour because there is a projector set up to project onto the backdrop from quite a distance behind the stage, and we must avoid the cone of projection. Well, I survived and learned how to get around well enough.

Dress rehearsal was also our chance to get used to having all our costumes in our possession and organising our dressing rooms. We are fourteen girls and thirteen boys in chorus, split between four dressing rooms. In our room there are seven girls, sixty-nine costumes and no rails to hang stuff on. Luckily for us, some of the chorus boys are very practical and handy with whatever they find lying around – they rigged improvised railings for themselves using lengths of pipe and cable ties, and then very kindly came over and rigged two pipes for us too.

It took ages to get the costumes organised, especially since each is comprised of a minimum of three pieces, and in some cases up to six or seven. I'm terrified of going out on stage missing bits of costume, so I made a chart showing all the components of each costume and taped it up in my section. I use it when I'm getting dressed for each scene, and as a last-minute checklist before I go out on stage. It's right next to a list of all the scenes in the show, which is very handy for figuring out which costume comes next, and how much time we have to change into it.

Next up is a dress rehearsal but with a small audience, which should be exciting.

Gone with the wind (not)

It's Wednesday night and the much-debated hurricane-speed winds haven't arrived yet. It's freezing cold in the tent, but that's the same as it was yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. Very much looking forward to whenever the heating is going to be turned on.

We are doing technicals, which is when the sound is checked for all the scenes and dances, and ditto for the lights. The sound was done two days ago, so we're just finishing off the lighting. It takes ages to set just one scene, because the director is putting in lots of light changes. Once again, a case of pain-in-the-neck-now-but-will-look-great-later.

If you're on stage for a scene during tech, then it's long and boring, but the nice thing is that you also get long breaks during the scenes you're not in. I have figured out a way to lie down and have a nap – takes three or four seats, depending on whether I curl up or stretch out. The sides of the seat curve up a bit, so I get plastic digging into my ribs, but it's worth it to have a little pseudo-nap every now and then. Really helps me to keep going through the night without getting too tired or cranky.

When the house lights are up, or there's enough light coming off the stage, then I'm reading Arthur C. Clarke's Tales of Ten Worlds, which is vintage science fiction of the best kind. If the lights are down and it's too dark to read, then I blog on my laptop and don't surf the internet, and the rest of the time I either take a nap or chat with my friends. Occasionally, in the wee sma's, when it gets too cold to do anything except sit quietly and conserve body heat, I contemplate life, the universe, and everything, but I haven't come up with any profound thoughts yet.

Right now I'm not feeling too cold. I've removed my gloves because we just teched our most vigorous dance number and that warmed me right up. I'm wearing two pairs of trousers, two long-sleeved tops, a scarf, and my Panto zipper, which is a fleece jacket that zips up and proclaims me as a member of the 'Sinbad (the tailor)' cast. Actually the cold brings back childhood memories of going camping with the Girl Guides, which involved a lot of freezing too. The difference is that since then, I have discovered the wonder that is fleece. I love fleece. It keeps me warm. If I were the President of Malta I would institute a national holiday in honour of fleece. Which I'm sure has a lot to do with why I'm not the President.

Coming together

At the MFCC, the crew is basically building a theatre around a stage inside a tent.

The orchestra pit has been constructed, and access to the stage from various points. The framework inside the tent is handy for hanging things from (like lighting rigs), but additional framework was needed to form the wings where the sets, props and actors are kept until needed. The seating had to be constructed too – that's where I'm sitting right now. The seats are all right, and I'm pleased that there's decent legroom.

The whole thing is really taking shape – what a difference to how it looked a couple of days ago!

Although I got to see a lot of the sets and props while they were being made in the clubhouse back in Santa Venera, the final assembly is only being done now, and I'm having lots of 'aaaah!' moments as I see bits and pieces put together to form something big and incredible.

Right now we're having a lighting rehearsal. The opening scene looks absolutely spectacular. Seeing the main elements together with the lighting and the special effects (even without the costumes, sets and music) is already magical. This is going to be a great show!

Interview: Clive

Name: Clive Piscopo
Panto Role: Chorus member
Non-Panto Role: Teacher of English language and literature, and writer

How did you come to be in the theatre scene?
It started at school concerts, if you can count them. I remember going to Catechism classes at age ten, and I was cast as a drug dealer for a performance. I don't know what the teacher saw in me, because I was always a bit of a quiet boy, but this might explain why I have been fascinated with evil characters from an early age! After I finished my second degree, I felt it was time to get back to theatre, so I started again by debuting on the Manoel theatre stage in 'Caravaggio l-Inkjesta'. I haven't stopped since!

How about Panto, how did you come to be involved in it?
I got involved almost straight away, I auditioned while we were already rehearsing Caravaggio. I wanted to experience musical theatre, so I emailed Alan Montanaro, and he suggested that I audition for Panto because they needed chorus boys. I did, and was chosen, so I got to be in last year's Panto, 'Pirates of the Mediterranean'.

What is your favourite genre in theatre?
Rather than a genre, I like good plays and good theatre. I've always thought that a good play touches the mind and/or the heart, and should be both enjoyable and challenging.

What has been your most embarrassing theatrical moment so far?
I nearly fell down the steps during a Panto walkdown last year. Then of course there's this year's embarrassing costumes...

What has been your best theatrical experience?
Whenever I have learned something new, and thus hopefully moved forward in becoming a better actor.

And what has been your worst theatrical experience?
I have to mention my horrible nerves when I'm about to go on stage! They disappear once I get on stage, but just before I go on it's terrible.

And finally, what has been your most special theatrical experience?
It was the performance of a school play. I had had a story on my mind for five years, and it was a huge relief to finally write it, direct it, act in it, and be able to talk about it. It was a very personal story and the performance seemed to have touched many people in many different ways. Since I believe that a good play touches the mind or heart, that made it all very rewarding.

If you could play any role at all, in any production, what would it be?
I've never really thought about it, but now that I think about it, I would love to play a fully-fledged baddie in a Panto, because I love playing. I'd love to play a manically evil character because that would be so very different to my own personality. Aside from that, I would like to go for challenging and unusual roles, for example Poor Tom in King Lear. Maybe one day even King Lear himself, when I grow old and have a white beard! I really love the scene when he goes mad on the heath – it's so deep and profound, and he finds himself in his madness.

If you could give one piece of advice to a person thinking about getting involved in the world of theatre, what would it be?
Well I'm still just starting out myself! But I would probably say, keep your feet on the ground and enjoy it. Also, be humble, because I believe that you have to be very close to people if you want to then act their emotions on stage. As performers we channel many emotions that we get from real life, so we shouldn't get a diva complex just because we get to be on stage!

Say something nice about someone else in the cast.
I really admire those people - all my fellow cast members - who don't let it go to their heads, and remain humble as performers, and stay sincere.


And finally... what's a phrase that will now forever remind you of this year's Panto?
Jaqaw I has a maħta?

In the tent/theatre

Today we got to move into the theatre as a cast. The backstage guys moved in a few days ago and began installing everything and building the on-stage constructions, so we stayed out of their way. Today though, we are in there too.

I would be blogging this live but the only connection available is provided by GoMobile, who charge an exorbitant 3 Euros an hour for the use of their hotspots (I pay that much for a week of internet access at home). Yeah, right. So I will be writing at the MFCC but uploading at home, thank-you very much.

We got to Ta' Qali early today, because we were scheduled to perform a dance number as part of the programme of events for the Christmas Village. The weather was relatively nice – a little chilly, but no rain and no wind to speak of. Our challenge was dancing on a very small stage with lots of microphone wires trailing across it, but we managed OK. I messed up one of my spins because I was distracted trying to find a space on the stage that wasn't full of other chorus members, and then trying to make sure I wasn't masking the people dancing upstage of me, but my partner was great and he adapted his move to cover my mistake. Then a little later I stumbled because I was right at the back and had to circle around my partner – and circled right into piles of cables! But as I staggered forward I recovered my balance and it didn't matter because the stage was so crowded I don't think that anyone could really see me all the way back there.

After the performance (which was fun) we handed out some promotional material and then went off to a restaurant in Mosta. It's a sports-bar type of place, with a massive projection playing football matches. I imagine that we will be seeing more of it since it's so close. The chicken wings look really good, think I'll try those next time.

Anyway, now we're in the tent/theatre. The stage is BIG! The massive, massive scenery is on it but the stage isn't crowded at all! Right now the cast is getting used to the stage, people are being called up in groups to get used to various features and functions but it's not our turn yet. So we are sitting around, talking, doing puzzles, not surfing the internet, and freezing because the heating isn't on tonight. The experienced performers are saying that's it's still warmer than the Manoel, which is a consolation. There will be heating during performances, so we are looking forward to that.

Excuse me, I'm being called to the stage...

OK, I'm back again. The director took us though a few scenes briefly, to check that the blocking still worked on such a big stage. He is satisfied, so we are free again. I've taken the opportunity to go put leggings on under my trousers, and footsies on over my socks, and now I'm actually feeling quite toasty. One does what one must to keep comfy.

Costume parade

Today we spent the early afternoon trying on almost every costume in the show – and with a cast of around forty people, that's a lot of costumes!

I am pleased with our chorus costumes – the one that exposes my belly is actually surprisingly flattering, and the one that's incredibly short is quite alright too (the tights help, heheh). The rest of the costumes are also comfortable, which is really nice and much appreciated. One of my costumes needs some minor tweaking, that's all. I haven't had made-to-measure clothes since my mother used to make my dresses as a kid, it's nice because everything fits well everywhere (and can be altered if it doesn't).

I have an emergency kit – white elastic and black elastic (tan elastic not available), and lots of different sizes of safety pins, and some needles and thread – but it looks like it won't be required.

The dame's costumes are INCREDIBLE, and the costumes for the other principal characters are also fantastic. I don't think I have ever seen so many sequins and so much glitter, and sparkly material and lots of other things that I'm not allowed to talk about before the show opens *grin*. I can't wait to see them all on stage, it's going to look great.

I have been warned by fellow chorus members who have been in Panto before that the costume changes between scenes will be madness. I guess that part of the problem is that if you have fourteen female chorus members, then that's fourteen look-alike costumes, which means fourteen skirts, fourteen tops, fourteen sets of peripheral costume bits and pieces, twenty-eight shoes... and there's several sets of costumes!

The main characters have troubles of their own, as their costumes are usually more elaborate (and uncomfortable!) than ours - and the dame is in a class of her own, with big dresses, big wigs, big everything. But it's all worth it in the end because a stage full of costume-clad actors is quite a sight. Come and see for yourself - tickets from http://www.pantomalta.com.

On the importance of looking one's best.

One day last week we worked for ages on just one dance. It's a song which, prior to Panto, I really liked. I liked it so much that I used to occasionally look it up on YouTube to watch. However if I hear it one more time, I just may commit a crime.

In this accursed number, the boys and the girls dance separately the whole time, which is unusual for us. The nice thing is that while the boys were being drilled mercilessly by Miss Alison, us girls got some girl time.

Talk turned to looking one's best on stage, as some of us don't have much experience and were asking questions.

At MADC there's always people available to apply make-up onto actors (even during the One-Acts when there's three plays a night!) But because there's so many people in the cast of the Panto, the chorus has to apply its own make-up as it would take too long to do everyone. So during our girl time last week, we got advice from someone who often does make-up for stage productions. She told us what to put on our faces, and very nicely agreed to hold a tutorial session for us girls, like the one usually held for the boys. Yes, girls wear make-up on a daily basis anyway, but some of us, like me, wear little or no make-up and therefore don't really know what to do - and even people who do wear make-up regularly presumably don't go out in 'stage make-up' (Directions: apply twice as much as normal).

I do actually own a basic set of make-up which I barely use but I'm lacking blusher so I had better go buy some.

After the make-up advice, we got some some of a different sort. Being on stage is fun, fun, fun, if you like performing, but the down-side is that... well... thousands of people will be LOOKING at you. And if you're a girl, you have skirts and dresses as costumes, which means that your legs will be on display, which means that all those people will be LOOKING at your legs. There's not much you can do about the shape of your legs, but there is something you can do about their colour. This is a subject of special concern to those of us whose limbs don't get out in the sun much, pasty-white appendages on stage, yuck. So we sat and listened avidly as our Panto veteran inducted us into the secrets of... tights!

Consequence of which, I bought four pairs of tights today. It took me ages to figure out all the ones that M&S have, I mean honestly. The lady at the counter was very helpful in explaining the difference between 'light support' tights and 'body shaper' tights (one pulls your tummy and thighs in a little, the other pulls your tummy and thighs in a lot, three guesses as to which I got). Still took me a while to figure out the handy-dandy size-and-weight charts on the back of the box. Also, did you know that the denier is 'a unit of measure for the linear mass density of fibres'? Neither did I. I love wikipedia.

Well, now I am all set in the tights department, and I'm all ready to learn how to apply stage make-up. I am very bad at doing eyeliner because I hate having stuff near my eyeballs, but I can do mascara now like nobody's business. Let me know if you have suggestions re: blusher.

Interview: Zepp

Name: Zepp Micallef
Panto Role: Chorus
Non-Panto Role: Maths Teacher

How did you come to be in the theatre scene?
I was always interested in theatre at school – I took part in plays and in the 6th form soiree. Later, some friends invited me to take part in Mamma Mia put on by De La Salle – I was one of the fathers – and that's how I got into theatre.

How about Panto, how did you come to be involved in it?
Some friends of mine from Voices were going to audition for Panto, and they invited me to go along and audition too.

What is your favourite genre in theatre?
Musicals because I love singing, and comedies because they're hilarious!



What has been your most embarrassing theatrical moment so far?
When I missed a cue and was late getting onto the stage!

What has been your most special theatrical experience?
In Voices there is a one-year voice scholarship, the Louis Naudi scholarship, offered each year to a choir member nominated by other choir-members for commitment, altruism and so on. One year I was nominated and shortlisted, I auditioned, and then later I found out that I won! For me that was a very special experience.

And what has been your worst theatrical experience?
Nothing really comes to mind!

And finally, what has been your best special theatrical experience?
Any time an audience gave a show a standing ovation!

If you could play any role at all, in any production, what would it be?
Anything would do, as long as I feel comfortable in the role!

If you could give one piece of advice to a person thinking about getting involved in the world of theatre, what would it be?
If you have a dream, whatever it is, believe in yourself and go for it!

Say something nice about someone else in the cast.
I think the chorus is great - we all clicked and I think that's nice. Well, I think that all of us are getting along well, the chorus, the mains, the backstage crew - I think all of us have become one big family!

And finally... what's a phrase that will now forever remind you of this year's Panto?
Salam everybody!

Public holiday... means extra rehearsal time...

We are currently in the middle of Orchestra Rehearsal. This means that instead of spending the rehearsal singing with our Maestro Paul Abela on piano, the Maestro is instead directing the orchestra musicians, who have brought in their instruments and set up in our rehearsal space.

The collection is impressive - saxaphones, brass, drums, guitars, keyboards. It's so cool to be singing to a live band, and I especially like the sound of the brass. Although today is a public holiday, it's not a day of rest for us Panto people - music rehearsal with the orchestra all afternoon, and dance rehearsal with Miss Alison all evening. At least this part, the music, is fun.

The dance rehearsals aren't fun any more because their nature has changed - instead of learning new routines, which is usually fun, instead we are 'cleaning', which means going over the same routines over and over and over again. The reason for cleaning is that when you have twenty-eight people who are all supposed to be doing the same moves at the same time, and one of them is doing something slightly different, then that twenty-eighth person sticks out like a sore thumb.

So in cleaning, Miss Alison checks that every single body/hand/foot/head is exactly where it needs to be, how it needs to be, when it needs to be. And then she points out which of them are not, and we do that piece over and over again until everyone has it right. And then, when everyone finally has it right, we do the next sixteen counts... tedius and time-consuming and BORING. But, necessary. It's this horrible cleaning process that will ensure that we look tight on the stage and not at all sloppy (the curse of ensemble dancing). So, although no-one enjoys it, we do it anyway as an investment in making this the best show possible.

Ah, I see the orchestra is back from their break. Off to sing some more.

An unexpected present

Today's rehearsal was brilliant.

Mostly we did scenes involving the mains (the actors who have big parts) so us chorus got to take it easy, aaaaaaand... chorus got to go home early! We were so excited you'd have thought Christmas had come early (well I suppose you could see we were given a gift of unexpected free time).

The party animals immediately made arrangements to go clubbing or whatever it is young people call it these days. Call me old and boring, but I prefer to go home. (cue shouts of "You're old and boring!" from the wings).

So, since I found myself home with a spare hour and some spare energy, I set about attending to my neglected housewifely duties - I tackled the pending washing-up, hung up the load of laundry that I did early this morning before leaving for work, and put away the groceries that we bought last week-end. So domestic.

Now, feeling unusually virtuous, I am in bed with a laptop and two puzzled cats who are surprised that I came home so long before midnight. Aaaaaaah.


Today, right before we performed the last number in rehearsal, the director gave us a pep talk. Well, really he just warned us that these last couple of weeks before the show opens are going to be pretty hard, especially when we get to move into the MFCC in Ta' Qali and all the sets have to be installed (they are MASSIVE!). But even so, he still managed to make us feel excited about it - our hard work is paying off, the show is taking shape, and we are looking forward to having fun on that stage!

Today I learnt a new phrase - 'Costume Parade'. I asked one of my fellow chorus girls what it meant, because she's been in Panto before. She explained that it is part of the technical rehearsals - they kit out everyone in the costumes for each scene, and check everyone's placement on the stage, and the effect of the lighting. This is to make sure that there aren't any horrible colour clashes and so on. A good idea, but I'm not looking forward to the technicals because from my limited past experience, they mean hours of standing on the stage, unable to move around, while the light technicians work their magic. But hey, it's all part of the process!

Time to turn in... tomorrow's rehearsal schedule calls for much chorus involvement, and it's going to be a late night.

Interview: Marvic

Name: Marvic Okoh
Panto role: Assistant Stage Manager
Non-Panto Role: PSD teacher and mummy to Sam

How did you get into theatre?
A friend of mine was in a show, and I went to help with a quick costume change. Someone in the show fell sick and I was literally dumped on stage! I tripped and nearly choked... it was a non-speaking part, in a comedy, and I managed to do it. Eventually I was given a main part in the next show. After being on stage, later I shifted to working backstage because it gives me more satisfaction (but more responsibility!).

And then how did you get into Panto?
Lino knew me through theatre elsewhere, and he contacted me and asked me to be the ASM for a Panto, because I had already been doing ASM for several years in other shows. This will be my fifth Panto!

Why do you keep coming back to Panto?
Because it's fun!

What has been your best experience in theatre?
I don't have just one best experience, because every show has something that makes it great, each one is an experience!

What about your worst theatrical experience?
That would be Sound of Music – it was my first show as an ASM, and one night I opened the curtain for the curtain call with the actors still up on the mountain! Well, they were up still up there because of a technical problem, but it was still a bad experience for me.

How about your most embarrassing theatrical experience?
During last year's Panto, Pirates of the Mediterranean, I was really sick just before the show opened. On the first night, I signed myself out of hospital and cued the show while throwing up in the box...

And how about your most special experience in theatre?
That was also in last year's Panto. I was cuing the flying scene and it was magical to watch!

This is your chance to say something nice about someone in the cast or crew:
The backstage crew are great! They are always so helpful and they're a really good team!

What is a phrase that will, now and forever, always remind you of this Panto?
The chain call is NOT WORKING!

If you could give advice to someone just starting out in theatre, what would it be?
Never give up, always keep trying – you never know when it will be your turn!

Anything you'd like to add?
Come and watch us!!!

Panto Pandemic

Last week the cast and chorus one by one succumbed to coughs, colds, influenza and variants thereof. At its peak we had about a quarter of the chorus on the sick list, but anyone still upright dragged themselves to rehearsals anyway.

In amongst the usual detritus littering the side of the rehearsal room (bags, scarves, jackets, bottles of water, mugs of tea) there now appeared cough drops and paracetmol, while in between scenes we passed around tissues and swapped medicine recommendations.

Now it looks like most of us are recovered, or nearly so - *whew*. I still have an annoying cough but my nose no longer runs like it's training for the London marathon. Mind you, as one of the Panto veterans wisely said, better to get sick now than during the run! Because, of course, the show must go on regardless (and the costumes don't have pockets for tissues).

Sinbad The Tailor - On Tour

Today was our first-ever performance as the Panto cast.

We visited two events – the World Children's Day celebration at Ta' Qali, and the San Anton School Christmas Market. In both cases, we performed one of the dance numbers from Panto, gave out leaflets, smiled at small children and generally promoted the show (Panto at MFCC! Bigger and better! Parking no problem!).

We started off by mustering at the clubhouse to change into our costumes and go through the routine one last time (although I think it is more or less second nature by now). The MADC very kindly laid on a coach for us to travel in, to save hassle with parking multiple cars at each destination, and we promptly began calling it the Tour Bus (a feeling much enhanced when the Chairperson handed around Panto posters and masking tape for us to fill the windows with!). Filing onto it felt a bit surreal because as another chorus member put it, it was like being back in school again and going on an outing.





We set off in high spirits, singing Panto songs and improvising on football cheers. One of our number used to be an air steward so he gave us the safety speech over the coach's PA system, and our new MADC chairperson acted as tour guide, pointing out the traffic camera, orange tree and other features of the Attard main road.








To make absolutely certain we wouldn't be late, we actually arrived in Ta' Qali quite early. We didn't need to change or do make-up because we'd already done all that back at the clubhouse, so we used to time to walk around and mingle with all the families out for the day, and distribute leaflets. After an impromptu dance session next to the DJ (gathered quite a crowd!) we headed back to the amphitheatre.





The facilities there were surprisingly good – several toilets, showers even, and lots of lockers to stash our stuff in. The stage was a bit challenging though – our dance routine had been choreographed for three or four entrances and we only had two – two very narrow ones at the top of garigores! There wasn't anywhere to leave our shoes and socks (we were performing barefoot) or anything else for that matter. We lined the stairwell with our footwear, and I stuffed my spectacles into one of my shoes and hoped fervently that no-one would step on them.

In this particular routine, I kick everything off by going out there by myself, and then the stage sort of explodes with colour as everyone else comes on. We carefully arranged ourselves on the stairs in order of entrance, with me at the front of the line on our side of the stage. When I heard my cue (well actually I didn't hear my cue because it's hard to hear it out-of-doors but anyway) I step-ball-change'd my way onto the stage – and promptly fell over because I hadn't realised that there was a step DOWN onto the stage... well I managed to recover with just a stumble so it worked out all right.

The rest of the routine is a bit of a blur – when you're on stage it's as though everything condenses, your world consists of the familiar moves and your body takes over on autopilot. Your mind gets to focus on the two big things – one is smiling, and the other is making sure you get to where you need to be! Actually at one point my smile turned into giggles because of the big fixed grin on the face of my dance partner, who knows full well that on stage you smile, smile, smile, but that was OK too.

We had been worried about dancing barefoot on the outdoor stage, but it was OK – there wasn't any sharp debris on the ground. The only thing we really didn't like was being out on such a cold and windy day (gusts up to 28 km/hour!) in Panto costumes which are designed for visibility but most definitely not to protect the wearer from the elements. During the actual dancing we're too busy moving to feel cold, but right before and right after were rather... chilly. Talk about suffering for your art.

The casts of the two other big Christmas shows who will be our main competition for audiences were also there to perform at Children's Day, but since they were scheduled quite some time before and after us, I didn't get to see their numbers. I'm told by someone who was there for all three performances that our was the best, but then again my source is admittedly biased in our favour *grin*. Still, encouraging to hear!





After Ta' Qali, we headed off to San Anton School, which was a completely different experience. This time we were indoors (yay!) but we were dancing in a very, very small space surrounded on three sides by onlookers pressing in and on the fourth by a big display including breakable *meep* items. There wasn't enough space to do all our moves but we improvised and danced very close to each other. At one point I was supposed to circle around my dance partner but he quickly warned me that there wasn't much space behind him – I realised that in order to do the move, I'd have to wade through the display... so I spun around on the spot instead.


On the way back home, we were a subdued lot, worn out from the afternoon's excitement, but it was a good kind of subdued - we performed well in both venues although the conditions were less than ideal, and I think we enjoyed the experience.

Back at the clubrooms, we piled out and the chorus members went off to change while the cast who hadn't been in costume prepared tea and coffee and went out to get pizza and pastizzi for everyone. We sat on chairs, benches and stools that had been pulled into a rough oval, surrounded by scenery, sipping our hot drinks and soft drinks, and it was then that I had a real feeling of camaraderie. Everyone had tried very hard, everyone had done well, and we had performed as a team, both those of us on stage and those who helped get us there.

So, final verdict, a good afternoon.


Tomorrow starts the final push up to opening night which is just under four weeks away. The frequency and duration of rehearsals have been increased, and we are all dreading production week, but performing today has provided some encouragement because we saw what happens as a result of our hard work in the rehearsals.

Roll on tomorrow...

Interview: Sharon

Name: Sharon Attard
Panto Role: Chorus Girl number five
Non-Panto Role: Professional Blondie

So, how did you get into theatre in the first place?
It was just for the fun of it – I was at a weekend retreat in 2002, and someone else was planning on auditioning for the MADC One-Acts. They were leaving in the middle of the retreat to go audition, and I tagged along. I had never performed in theatre before!

And Panto? How did that come about?
It was a bit later – I had just done the One-Acts in 2004. I had been in a two-hander so I had quite a good part, and I did well. So I decided that I wanted to do more that year. It had been on my mind for a couple of years to try for Panto but I had other things going on and I knew I couldn't make the big commitment that Panto requires. But that year I was on a gap year, so I had time, and I was interested in the story of Snow White, and I knew that Steve Casaletto would be directing the Panto and I liked him as a director. So I decided to try for Panto! I ended up having a second audition and I got the part of the Swedish dwarf, and it was lots of fun.





What do you like most about Panto?
The fact I end up losing weight in rehearsals because they're so active! Panto is exhausting but lots of fun, you get to hang out with lots of cool people, and it's fun to be on stage and perform.

What do you hate about Panto?
It's very time consuming, and you rarely ever have a moment to yourself!

What has been your best ever theatre moment?
Well for me it was 2004 in general, because I had both the One-Acts and Panto and I was lucky enough to be with really nice people doing it all.

So what was your worst ever theatre moment?
That was in the Snow White Panto! I was very sick during one performance, and me and all the dwarves got involved in a conversation backstage. We were so into our conversation that we missed our cue and left people hanging on stage! We got a bollocking afterwards, quite rightly.

So what has been your most embarrassing theatre moment?
My most embarrassing event happened on stage during Snow White – I got my heel caught in the trap door so I was in a dance routing, trying to look like I was dancing but in reality I was trying to get free!

And what has been your most special theatre moment?
When Panto was over! We spent the last few performances all dying for it to be over, because we wanted our personal lives back, but then when Panto really was over, it was really emotional. I wasn't expecting it to get as emotional as I did at all, but when you spend two to three months seeing the same people every single day, then when you go back to your normal life you miss them!






What is one phrase which will now and forever always remind you of this Panto?
Ħaqq it-tiģieģ bil-kulur!

What is something special about you that no-one else knows?
I played in the pool with Pierce Brosnan's son when we were both two years old!

If you could play any role at all in any performance, what would it be?
I would want it to be in Panto because it's fun, you can have a laugh with it. It would probably be fun to play one of the evil henchmen, because you can go all out and really exaggerate with the facial expressions, tone and everything. Panto is the one place you can really do that without worrying that you will be over the top!

If you could give a piece of advice to someone just starting out in theatre, what would it be?
Modesty has no place in Panto (or theatre in general), not when you get involved in productions where you have to wear sequinned hotpants!

Panto Dictionary

Panto - short for Pantomime, a musical theatre show performed during the Christmas season.

Musical Theatre - a form of theatre combining drama, song and dance.

Dance - to move the body rhythmically to music.

Floorwork - dance performed sitting, lying or kneeling.

Bruises - injuries to underlying tissue not involving breaking of the skin.

*groan* - noise made by a chorus member approximately two days after a dance rehearsal involving floorwork.

Cast I'm-starving-let's-go-eat outing

After most rehearsals, most of the chorus/cast/etc goes out somewhere. I don't usually go (it's not a terribly good idea when you have to get up at 6am the next day) but last night I tagged along.

The eatery of choice was Fra Giuseppe, and the decision took a surprisingly short time to make (usually there's at least twenty minutes involving a litany of restaurants and 'But I don't like it there' and 'But their food isn't very good' before anything approaching a consensus can be reached).


We all were rather... ripe... after a very energetic dance rehearsal, but we were able to sit outside so it didn't matter. As more of our number trickled in, we had to keep commandeering more tables and chairs, but eventually all twenty-plus of us were seated.

Most people had ftira or wraps, and the food looked quite good. I didn't eat because I'd just eaten before rehearsal and wasn't hungry, but all reports were good so I'd like to try it some other time.


The undisputed highlight of the evening was the chocolate fondue which one of our number ordered. It came with four skewers, a plate full of marshmallows, and a small bowl of chopped nuts. Pretty soon, skewers were being passed around the table, and the fondue was a big hit. A certain member of the chorus (who shall remain nameless) even dispensed with the skewers entirely but then discovered that hot melted chocolate can burn fingers.

I have made a pact with a fellow chorus girl (who also abstained from the nutty chocolate-dipped marshmallow confections) that once the Panto is over and all threats of revealing costumes are behind us, we will go back to Fra Giuseppe and over-indulge in chocolate fondue. Roll on January!


The nice thing about going out with a bunch of musical theatre performers is that there's often free entertainment provided by your dinner companions. Last night we were treated to an acapella concert by three of the guys. They started off with some good old-fashioned bop-she-wop, then headed into eighties pop, and wound up doing techno.

We finished off the evening by serenading the neighbours with a song from a musical (ain't gonna say which song because all Panto content is top-secret because of The Competition) and then we dispersed.

All in all, a nice relaxed evening, thoroughly deserved after all the energy we expended hurling ourselves around the dance floor.


I'm off to dream of chocolate-dipped marshmallows.

Interview: Maxine

Name: Maxine Calleja Urry
Panto Role: Chorus
Non-Panto Role: Disaffected Student

How did you come to be in the theatre scene?
Well it started when I was nine years old. Edward Mercieca from Fagin's Drama School was on the lookout for new students, and he was friends with my uncle.

And after that?
About a year later, I started going to Stagecoach Theatre Arts School. It was my idea, no-one pushed me. In the meantime I had tried all kinds of things – horseriding, pottery, arts and crafts – but nothing 'stuck'. Drama kind of stuck - it was lots of fun. I was actually very, very shy and introverted when I was younger (cue snorts from Maxine's friends). No, it's true! But drama helped me with that!

How about Panto, how did you come to be involved in it?
I had always wanted to be in the Panto, ever since I watched my first one - Sinbad the Sailor. I was very young, about five years old, but I remember being scared out of my wits, terrified I'd get eaten. I remember walking out of the theatre afterwards thinking, “Good, I didn't get eaten!”.
I've watched every single MADC Panto since then, and once I began going to drama school I started to think, “I could be on stage doing that!”. Actually I went to audition when I was thirteen years old, only to find out that was too young so I had to go back home!

What is your favourite genre in theatre?
It's definitely musicals, they're my comfort zone. I was brought up listening to musicals such as Jesus Christ Superstar, and I love to sing, so I feel more comfortable with musicals than with straight plays. I love being in Panto because it's a good experience, the people are so much fun, and it's a nice thing to do over Christmas. And you get to scare kiddies!

What has been your most embarassing theatrical moment so far?
When I was twelve years old, I was singing with the school choir on stage, and I had a solo. Half-way through my solo, I forgot all the lyrics! I just stood there gaping like a goldfish, like a deer caught in headlights! Mind you, that was the last time I ever completely forgot my lines... it was the last time I ever fatally fluffed, knock on wood. *raps on the parquet floor*

What has been your best theatrical experience so far?
So far the best was the first main part I ever got in a big show. I was fifteen years old and Stagecoach were putting on a production of Bugsy Malone. I auditioned but I never expected I'd get a main part, I never thought I'd be good enough and I was expecting to be in the chorus. So when I got the letter telling me I had been chosen as the leading lady, I was really surprised as well as excited. It feels even better when you don't see these things coming!

And what has been your worst theatrical experience?
The worst was the first time I was ever turned down for a show I had auditioned for. I was thirteen or fourteen, and I don't even remember what show it was, but I remember getting the rejection letter and being completely broken up about it.

And finally, what has been your most special theatrical experience?
That during rehearsals for last year's Panto, I started going out with my boyfriend, Nathan! We would go around Valletta during the breaks between morning rehearsals and evening rehearsals. It was romance at the Manoel! Now Panto reminds me of that and just makes everything even more special.

If you could play any role at all, in any production, what would it be?
I would love to play Elphaba in Wicked! It's my dream role, if only I could sing it! Otherwise I would like to play Cathy in 'The Last Five Years'. These are both strong leading women with strong voices and interesting roles instead of just being damsels in distress!

If you could give one piece of advice to a person thinking about getting involved in the world of theatre, what would it be?
Enthusiasm! If you try hard enough at it, you will get there eventually. You might not be the best but at least you can be the best that you can be. There's no point in giving up because you're not the best in the cast. Really it's more about the people you'll meet than about the roles you'll get! Also, be very, very humble because if you're very full of yourself then when you lose a role it hurts more.

Say something nice about someone else in the cast.
I love my boyfriend Nathan!

And lastly... what's a phrase that will now forever remind you of this year's Panto?
Ħaqq it-tiġieġ bil-kulur!

Panto Diary Interviews

I'd like to conduct and publish a series of interviews with members of the Panto cast and crew because, although this blog is about my experiences in the Panto, it doesn't have to be ONLY about me.

So tonight I'll post the first one, and the second should be ready in a couple of days. If you're at all involved in the Panto and would like to be interviewed, let me know. Otherwise I shall be asking/cornering random people as and when opportunity presents itself.

So you can start thinking of witty and interesting things to say from now... (just kidding!)

The long way home.

Besides offering me opportunity for performance through song, dance and drama, and also the chance to forge new friendships, the Panto is also causing me to become more familiar with the geography of the Hamrun-Santa Venera area.

I used to live up in Mrieħel as a child, but then we moved and I've never really had cause to spend much time up in that neck of the woods. Now, however, I am heading there most nights in the week, usually by bus.

The Hamrun main road looks interesting – lots of shops, which is handy with Christmas coming up. I plan to explore it more in the coming weeks as I have some time to kill between work and rehearsals. I shall work my way along the road, a section at a time.

I've also discovered a DVD shop near the clubrooms, and subscribed to it. This week I found out that they have some classic musical films so I shall work my way through them. Doris Day, Judy Garland, aaah...

Just opposite the DVD shop there's a music shop that I had never been to before – Barbara's. I've already bought a set of drum brushes (hopefully I will figure out how to use them) and I have my eye on a shoulder rest but the shop owner was very dubious that I would be able to figure out a way to attach one to my electric violin. I'm not very good at violin yet, and I've been making do with a bandanna I nicked off my sister, so I've been trying to get hold of a shoulder rest because it should help with my technique (and Lord knows I need all the help I can get). So yes, plenty of retail opportunity over there by the Sta Venera pjazza.


Yesterday after dance rehearsal I got a lot better acquainted with the local geography.

Usually I get the bus to just before the Fleur De Lys roundabout and then walk down to the Santa Venera Pjazza, but I imagine that I should be able to get off at an earlier bus stop and take a more direct route. The thing is, I don't know the way through the side streets from the main road to the Pjazza. So my plan was to go to rehearsal on Saturday afternoon like I usually do, but then afterwards attempt to head out the main road more directly, to find out which way to go.

So, that's what I did. After Miss Alison was finished with us (and nearly finished us) I walked from the Pjazza to Barbara's music shop (which is on a corner) and I headed down the left-hand road. I walked down it, looking out for the Hamrun-Santa Venera main road. After a little bit, I saw a busy road a few blocks to the left. It was in the wrong direction but I investigated it anyway. It turned out to be the main road that runs by St. Philip's Hospital. Not the road I was looking for.

I backtracked and continued on my way.


I walked and walked and walked and walked... it was back streets all the way, and I had no idea where I was. Eventually I found myself by Centro Casalinga. I definitely took a wrong turn somewhere. I took the opportunity to look around the Lidl over there, but they didn't have any wellington boots.

From there, I turned right and walked a little more. In the distance I saw the back of a statue of a saint high up in the air, floodlit and presumably on the top of a church. I figured that civilisation (or that part of it which I was in search of) lay over there. Finally I ended up somewhere more or less familiar. I was pretty sure that I was in Hamrun, and that it wasn't far from the Floriana-Marsa main road, from where I could get a bus straight home instead of getting one towards Valletta first. So since there wasn't far to go, and since it was downhill, I decided to keep walking instead of getting on a bus from where I was.

So I walked some more, and finally I did unequivocally recognise where I was.

Blata l-Bajda.

Great.


I was at the roundabout just downhill from the Maria Regina school. Fine, I turned right and slogged uphill past the football club until I reached the Hamrun main road, the road I had been in search of all this time.

I was right at the end of Hamrun, all I needed to do was to get to the Floriana-Marsa road and cross it.

I spotted an alley leading downhill which probably led to that road. I peered cautiously down it, looking for dark shadows that could be hiding potential muggers, but although it looked less than salubrious, it was decently lit and completely deserted.

So that's how I got to the Floriana-Marsa road, but I was still on the wrong side of it and I didn't fancy taking my life into my hands to cross it. No worries, I thought, there's a set of traffic lights just a little ways down the road. A little ways, hah.

Well I did eventually get there, I crossed the road and got to my bus stop. Total time spent walking – one hour.

Not the quickest way to get home, but good for burning a few calories I suppose.


Next time, I think I'll turn right at Barbara's.

No matter what discipline or what sort of show you're working on, some rehearsals are fun and some are not.

The ones where it takes forever to get even a little bit done because you have to thrash out things in minute detail definitely fall into the 'not fun' category.

We had one of those this week, and the misery was compounded by the knowledge that we were going to have to do it all over again when we finally move into the actual performance space, because a lot of the thrashing out was to do with space. Let's face it, where are you going to find a rehearsal space the size of the stage at the MFCC in Ta' Qali? It's enormous!

Anyway, although the actual rehearsal was tedious, the evening wasn't a total loss – us chorus people had an extra-long break time while the principals were taken through their paces, and I had a fun time chatting with two of my friends.


Funny that, when I talk to people who have done Panto before, they all say the same thing – it's exhausting but fun, especially because of the friends you make in the cast.

OK, I'm cheating a little bit here because these two friends were ALREADY my friends before Panto, but I AM making new ones too, honest!

Because of being in a large group of people most nights for rehearsal, I think I have done more socialising in the last three weeks than I have in the last twelve months. My mother would be so proud.

That poor woman spent most of my teenage years worrying about my complete lack of inclination to be at all sociable. Don't worry Ma, I have been practising my social skills. I'm still not very good at mingling, I'm afraid, but my small talk is definitely improving.

Also, although I'm really bad at names and faces, I can now name almost all the girls in the chorus, and almost half of the boys. Big improvement, hux?


I'm currently sitting in the MADC clubrooms, blogging and enjoying the atmosphere. Downstairs, MADC members are poring over seating plans for the MFCC tent and buying tickets for the Panto, someone (probably Lino) is using power tools to build part of the set, and up here a talented young man is making his way from classical music to bouncy show tunes via some blues and jazz on the piano which Maestro Paul will shortly be using to take us through our paces. I'm keeping an ear out because very shortly a couple of dozen performers will come pouring through the door, ready for another evening of song and dance. Energy everywhere, the vital ingredient to theatrical magic that makes up a special show like the Panto!

Scuse me, got to go warm up my voice...

Panto Blurb

As the owner of a small business on the verge of bankruptcy, Sinbad the tailor certainly didn't need the additional hassle of going on a quest to save the world (and the beautiful princess Shanti). However, encouraged by his tomboyish friend Tamala and aided by an unlikely collection of allies, Sinbad sets off on his journey and discovers along the way that sometimes heroes can be found in the most unlikely places.


Book online - MADC.biz

Oops...

Today at rehearsal two people came up to me and said they enjoyed reading this blog... I guess the cat is out of the bag!

Well, it had to happen eventually I suppose. *waves to fellow Panto people*

Oh, look... it's my bellybutton.

Every year the MADC does publicity for the Panto, but this year it's even more important since we're MOVING to a different location - the MFCC tent in Ta' Qali.

The publicity photo shoot was, um, interesting.


Us female chorus members got to wear costumes that, on par with Panto standard, revealed our midriffs. Mine hasn't seen the light of day since I was eight years old, so I was worried that the photographer would have a problem with the glare...

Let me just say that some women look great with their midriffs exposed, but I am most certainly not one of them, which is why I don't wear bikinis. I have neither the figure nor the tan, and a year of marriage (and my husband's cooking) has added several kilos. To add further to my humiliation, one of the ladies doing wardrobe walked by while I was looking despairingly in the mirror while in costume, patted me on the belly and said, "Well, this [the costume] will help you get rid of that [my belly]". Niiiiiiice. I can't tell you what that did for my self-esteem.

All of the girls in the chorus, even the skinny ones, were self-consciously holding their arms over their tummies while we were standing around waiting for our turn in front of the camera, because there were lots of people around - the male chorus members, the main actors, the lights/camera/wardrobe/makeup people and so on. But, eventually you kind of get to a place of, hey, they've all seen my tummy by now, might as well give up.

Eventually it was all over, and it was such a relief to put a T-shirt on and once again conceal my bellybutton and associated wobbly bits. Maybe I should have chosen a less... revealing... hobby.

Pass the anti-bacterial lozenges, please.

Well it turned out that my sore throat wasn't really due to the singing rehearsal - it was a precursor to a nasty cold. By the time the next singing rehearsal rolled around, I couldn't speak in more than a croak, but I went anyway. I can still follow without singing, and let's face it, if this happened during the run then I'd still have to go on stage and convincingly fake it!

Luckily enough, the medicines I invested in to see my through my cold worked, and since it didn't hurt I did sing, albeit slightly more husky and with less volume than usual.

The singing for Panto is coming along really well - Maestro Paul is putting together lots of voices in harmony lines that sound amazing together. Apparently half this year's Panto cast was also in Voices, so that probably helps, lol.

Up in the rafters

Singing rehearsal today, with our Maestro Paul Abela.

I don't officially know whether I am alto, soprano, etc. One singing teacher said I was an alto, another said I was a soprano. I dunno. No-one ever took the time to really check my range. So when the Maestro told us to group ourselves by voice, I consulted with a fellow chorus member who has sung with me before, and decided to go with the average, i.e. declare myself a mezzo.

Maybe I should have classified myself as an alto instead, because our Maestro had the mezzo section singing ridiculously high, lol. I enjoyed the singing, but with all the voices going on I'm having trouble picking out my starting note. I guess I need to sit down and figure it out. For now I can get help by listening to the other people standing next to me singing the same voice, but, erm, I won't be able to do that when we're all spread out over the stage and dancing (especially since most of the time I'm dancing with a bass!).

My throat hurts a bit now, because I pushed it too much trying to belt the high bits. Note to self: try not to kill voice.

That wasn't so bad now was it?

The rest of rehearsals this week weren't so bad compared to our marathon first rehearsal, and we also had a couple of days off, so all in all it wasn't too tiring.

I was checking the rehearsal schedule against the script just now, looking for days where the schedule calls for scenes that don't involve us hard-working members of the chorus - i.e. hopefully a day off *grin*.


At odd hours of the day I find myself going over our dance routines in my head - makes me look silly when I do it in public, but I know from experience that it's the only way I'll remember everything from week to week. It means that I have less chance of looking silly during rehearsal (as happened yesterday) when the entire chorus freezes but I, in my own little world, whirl off towards centre stage.

Well, here comes another week, let's see how this one goes.

First Rehearsal

So I survived my first Panto rehearsal, and what a rehearsal it was.


We went on until quite late, and all these rehearsals (if they all run this late) present a problem, as I desperately needed to do a load of laundry but at this rate I'm only home between 11:30pm and 7am. However putting the washing machine on at 11:30pm would be an extremely antisocial act. So instead I decided to be only slightly antisocial and put it on at 6:15am this morning, so the quick-wash cycle would be done in time for me to hang up the washing before dashing off to work. I can see that I'm going to have to be super-organised with respect to housework.


Last night we started off blocking our first scene with the director, Frederick Testa. Well actually it was more than blocking because we got to a reasonable level with it. It's always cool to see a scene being built up and watch the cast go from a bunch of people standing around to a group of people working together to give a performance.

Since we were doing a crowd scene, there were various lines to be said by random chorus members. As Frederick was handing these lines out to people, I was trying to write who was saying what in the margin of my script, but I had to give up after the third person because so far I only know the names of a few people. I imagine this will change fairly soon as it looks like we are all going to be spending a LOT of time together!


After blocking, we had a dance session with our choreographer, who is Alison White, and it was insane. Insane as in, we did a lot very quickly! I've seen Miss Alison in action before, when I was a student at the Alison White School of Dance about ten years ago. She didn't actually teach me, but I was in a school show where she was choreographing some massive dance numbers. She had a huge stage to fill (the MCC, which besides being very big has multiple entrances all over the auditorium), and lots of classes (ranging from four-year-olds to twenty-plus-year-olds), some of which she wasn't even teaching.

Our classes only came together for the first time a few days before the big show, and it was incredible to see how everything slotted together like a great big animated jigsaw!

Well Alison kept us on the hop last night and I'm looking forward to seeing how all the dances turn out. Like most dance/singing/acting teachers who find themselves working with musical theatre performers, she is being very accomodating of the fact that she is working with a group with very mixed abilities, including people who are either not very gifted in the area of physical movement (like me) or who have never danced before. We don't get yelled at for poor technique (yet?!) or for making mistakes, but we ARE expected to put a lot of energy into it.

In the course of the rehearsal, I stepped on one of my dance partners' feet, and I think I accidentally gouged a chunk out of one of his fingers with my fingernail, although I keep them fairly short. But then I got an elbow in the ribs from someone else while doing a double spin elsewhere on the dancefloor, so I guess it all evens out in the end. It's just a fleshwound.


At one point there was an announcement where we were given an injunction to keep all show content secret, so as not to give away surprises (mostly because this year we have COMPETITION). Never fear, I shall blog with the utmost discretion.

So I am absolutely not going to tell you about the bit where *sounds of a stuggle, and possibly of a body being dragged away from keyboard*.

And so it starts.

Today we had an information meeting about Panto and rehearsals.

I got a huge shock when I heard how many rehearsals we'll be having, and how late they'll be finishing - don't ask me when I'm going to get to do the laundry! Should be fun though, if I survive it *grin*

Tomorrow we dive into Act One. Enter the villagers, stage left.

Rehearsals (dum dum dum)

I got an email saying that rehearsals are starting soon... I'm excited but rather nervous because I don't know what it will be like and, well, what if I'm not good enough?

Mostly I'm concerned because I'm not very physically fit right now - a bit overweight and not in terribly great shape. I've been meaning to do something about it but summer was just too hot for exercise. Maybe the thought of being on stage in potentially embarrassing costumes will provide the needed impetus. We'll see.

Guess what?

I spent all last week waiting to hear from the MADC about whether I got in to the Panto or not, but I never got a message. Through Facebook I could see that other people had been told they got in, so I figured I hadn't heard anything because I hadn't been chosen, so I was quite disappointed.

But then yesterday I found out that I did get in after all :-)

So I'm very excited and I spent all yesterday evening reminding Mike and my parents (we were visiting) that I'm going to be in the Panto, heheheh.


No idea what I was cast as, I'm assuming Chorus, which is cool because everyone knows that the Chorus is the most important part of the Panto *grin*


So now I'm waiting to hear when rehearsals start, and looking forward to the whole thing because I've never been in such a big show before.

P.S. I'm going to be in the Panto!

Audition's over

I auditioned for Panto today at the MADC clubrooms in Santa Venera.

I rented Sinbad the Sailor on DVD, but I don't know how much good that did me since the Panto is Sinbad the Tailor...

Before we got started with the auditions this afternoon, Alan Montanaro gave a little speech about how although we were moving from the Manoel Theatre to the MFCC this year, the good side was that there is a lot of scope for creative use of space (and special effects!) at the MFCC which will be really cool. He was very positive about it, and I was glad to hear what he had to say because I've been quite apprehensive about the move and possible loss of audiences.


I arrived for the audition a little early, which meant that I was one of the first to go up. Aaaggrrrh! On the other hand, it meant I'd get things out of the way faster.

While waiting to be called for the singing and acting auditions, we got started learning the choreography for the dance audition from this year's choreographer, Justin Roy Barker. It was a high-energy routine, which at 2pm in the middle of July in Malta can be a bit taxing... the dancers were covered with sweat, the floor was covered with spilt water, and a jolly good time was had by all *grin*. The dancing was fun though, once I managed to remember what came after what!


I thought I did OK in my auditions - I wasn't exactly spectacular but I didn't completely mess up. So now I just have to wait and see if I was good enough to make it in, and if yes, if I got a particular role, or as a member of a chorus.

I was a bit presumptuous and in the boxes for "Roles Preferred" I put down two leading roles, but I figured that in theatre you have to put yourself forward a bit *grin*. To be honest I would still be happy to be in the chorus, Panto is Panto! Actually I think that if I don't get in the cast at all, I'd still like to help out in some other capacity, we'll see how it works out.


Wesley said that we should be informed of the outcome some time next week, so at least there's not that long to wait.

*fidgets*

Why I want to be in the Panto

I've always loved the Panto, and re-discovered it four years ago. I watched it thinking "wow!". The following year I watched it thinking "Hmmm, I wonder if I could do that?" but had too much going on in the next two years to even try. Finally this year I'm going to go audition and give it a shot.

I can remember seeing Edward Mercieca on stage when I was about six years old, as the evil wizard in the Panto - he had a glowing plasma ball and he was really scary, and what better childhood memory could you ask for?

The traditions are a big part of the magic - the throwing of sweets to the audience, the humiliation of an adult male audience member, the kids on stage trying to remember what they got for Christmas, the Dame, the principal boy, booing the baddies, "look behind you!", the audience sing-song at the end, "Be nice to each other!" - there's just so many! Spotting them in the Panto is like recognising an old friend in a crowd.

Then of course there's the fact that it's just plain FUN. The political satire, the not-so-subtle cultural and societal commentary, the singing and dancing, the daft henchmen, the evil baddie, the Dame, the Dame, the Dame, it's just a great show.


So, will this be the year that I get to be IN the Panto? The audition dates have been announced as being the 12th and 13th of July (I found out via Facebook because I let my MADC subscription lapse!) and I'm wondering what song to sing that would convince anyone watching that I should be in the cast *grin*

I'm sorry that the show has been moved to Ta' Qali this year, because for me (and I guess for most) the Pantomime and the Manoel Theatre go together and I've never performed at the Manoel before. But hey, at least I'd be spared having to use the Manoel's dressing rooms!


I really hope this will work out, being in the Panto would be so cool...