Robinson Crusoe

02 Dec 07

At last - Photographs and a review here.

The Colouring competion has been judged and some of the 40 entrants can be viewed here.

The de-rig was completed by 12:30 - many thanks to those who turned out to help.

The Finale of the Pantomime, Robinson Crusoe and the Pirates has been captured on Video.

25 Nov 07

All Aboard the Dancing Dolphin!

Week One of the Panto has proved a roaring success with near full houses and more mini-pirates than Banbury has seen since Canal Day.

The Cast and Crew are enjoying a well-deserved rest until next Wednesday having sang, danced, grrr’d and grinned their way through the first four shows.

Rumour has it, Local MP Tony Baldry enjoyed Friday’s perforrmance - maybe all the boo-ing and hissing put him in mind of Parliament?

Kieron is currently housed up in an MI5 Safe House - being protected from those mini-pirate mums’ whose offspring weren’t Best Dressed Pirate winners.

Tickets are still available (although Thursday is sold out).

10 Oct 07

On 17 Nov 10:30 Blackbeard & Patch & other members of the cast will be welcoming Santa Claus into Debenhams’ Banbury store. Collections will also made for NSPCC

27 Oct 07

Activities in panto land are moving quickly!! Today we had our photos taken by The Banbury Guardian. We positioned ourselves casually outside the Mill, but frightened a few unsuspecting shoppers with our slightly garish costumes and odd expressions!! Still never mind – All publicity is good publicity – or so they say! Ticket sales are going very well, with some seats still available for the Friday Nights.

The whole of Act 1 was run on Wednesday complete with chorus, principals ,songs & dances! No mean feat believe me! And it didn’t take over 3 hours!! (The director’s been having nightmares about the length of Act 1!) so no drastic cuts just yet!

12 Oct 07

We are now moving into the realms of Act 2!! And with that comes the introduction of 3 new characters to join our merry band! Mike masquerading as King Kong! Doing a wonderful Impression of a silverback gorilla (its not supposed to be that scary Mike, it’s a panto)

Dave Robinson as Man Friday, who worryingly had learnt all his words before the first Rehearsal! Well done Dave!

And Yoni, full of strange gyrations and weird screams! (you’ll have to wait & see!)

Onwards and upwards!!....

29 Sep 07

We’re well into rehearsals now and the director is getting worried that everyone is going to peak too soon!!! The chorus have learnt nearly all their songs, and some of the principals are Already putting their books down as words begin to be learnt! – no doubt this is the calm before the storm!!

We all spent one lovely, cold rehearsal in the car park last week, when John the caretaker forgot to come and let us in!!

The security light proved an excellent spotlight, apart from the fact that we had to keep jumping up and down as it’s movement activated!!!

Blackbeard & Hawk are very excited by their ‘sound around’ swords!! They make extremely realistic clashing sounds when whizzed around in combat! (I’m just worried that it will end in tears!)

More news soon….

17 Sep 07
First week of Rehearsals!!

We began the week with a spirited read through of the panto. Everyone was busy polishing up their west country accents ( some seemed to be slipping from Torquay to Harrogate and back via Newcastle though!).

It gave every one a chance to try out different characterisations and generally have a laugh whilst getting to know the plot,( a good one for the director too!!)

This was followed on Wednesday by a fabulously ‘lusty’ chorus learning 5 new songs amazingly quickly! We have a wide range of age groups and experience in our chorus and it is very rewarding for me to see the whole spectrum of talent and enthusiasm working so well together.

We finished the week by ‘cracking on’ with blocking part of Act One and all I will say is that,. Clare’s bottom appears to be taking on a life of its own! Of that, more later!!!

All in all, a rollicking good start to this years panto!

Don’t forget to start booking tickets – they’re selling fast!

30 Jul 07

There are still a number of Chorus places to be filled by 11 to 16 year old people.

If you are interested please contact Liz Riley

8 Jul 07

Robinson Crusoe and the Pirates has now been cast.

28 Jun 07

Tremendous support has been given at the auditions for Robinson Crusoe & the Pirates. Liz will be in touch with those who were successful very soon.

20 Jun 07

Robinson Crusoe
& the Pirates

Auditions are being held next Tuesday & Wednesday (26/27 June).

12 Jun 07

A packed Tuesday night session had great fun helping Liz decide on which Panto

And the winner is ...

ROBINSON CRUSOE AND THE PIRATES

by Paul Reakes

PANTOMIME

In a break with tradition the decision with regards to which pantomime we open next season with will be made in conjunction with the membership on Tues 12 June where Liz Riley will introduce the membership to “Robinson Crusoe and the Pirates by Paul Reakes and “The Wonderful Story of Mother Goose” by Norman Robbins.

Traditional or contemporary?

You decide!