The showman behind pantomimes around the country has warned that unless the Government is clearer about how theatres can reopen, the season will be cancelled.
Michael Harrison, who controls his own production company and is co-owner of Qdos Entertainment (the UK’s biggest panto producers), said many regional theatres — including some in Greater London — depend on profits from their Xmas shows to sustain them throughout the year.
‘Many theatres receive no Government subsidy. Pantomime is their subsidy. But the clock is ticking and unless there is a clear road map as to how we can reopen safely and practically, I’m afraid the pantomime season as we know it will be cancelled,’ Harrison, who directed the spectacular pantos at the London Palladium, told me yesterday.
Treasured: Clive Rowe in a Hackney panto. The showman behind pantomimes around the country has warned that unless the Government is clearer about how theatres can reopen, the season will be cancelled
Such a calamity would bring about ‘the loss of thousands of jobs — and millions of pounds to the treasury’. When I observed that, because of its popularity, panto is like our national theatre, he agreed.
‘To the masses, pantomime is the national theatre. Of course, the National Theatre itself is vitally important. But the other national theatre, as in the theatre that happens in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Sheffield, Newcastle, Nottingham, the Hackney Empire, Wimbledon … all the way around the country … is pantomime,’ he insisted. It isn’t to be sneezed at.
‘The biggest arts talents in the land were all taken to a panto as kids,’ Harrison said.
But the panto community needs clarity, so it can plan for December.
‘The Government’s keeping us in the dark and that’s not helpful. We need to have clear guidelines for the theatre industry now,’ he added.
Ominously, he said that unless Government provides answers soon, ‘theatres just won’t be able to open for Christmas’.
The London Palladium is pictured above. Michael Harrison said many regional theatres — including some in Greater London — depend on profits from their Xmas shows to sustain them throughout the year
No time to snooze, Sleepless In Seattle could be a wake-up call
Sleepless In Seattle could be the wake-up call we’ve been waiting for. A musical version of Nora Ephron’s classic 1993 romantic film, which starred Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, will run at the cavernous — and well ventilated — Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre in NW London from August 25, pending Government permissions.
Producer Michael Rose said the show would abide by Government health and safety protocols.
NHS and care workers are invited to attend a free gala performance at the theatre, run by Tris Baker and Oliver Royds, on August 27. The show was days away from beginning previews back in March when entertainment venues were shut down.
The 1,200-seat auditorium will operate under the 1m distancing rule to be introduced next month.
Hopeful: Walsh and McGuiness at an earlier read through. NHS and care workers are invited to attend a free gala performance at the theatre, run by Tris Baker and Oliver Royds, on August 27
Ticket prices will start at £15. ‘None of it will probably make economic sense, but on this occasion we just want to be a glimmer of light in the dark,’ Rose told me. The producer stressed that ‘we would never move forward without putting the health and safety of audiences and our company first and foremost’.
He said that the Troubadour had enough space to ensure people can be physically distanced.
Even so, a few actors’ representatives are requesting detailed information about their clients’ safety.
The cast is led by Jay McGuiness, as widowed architect Sam Baldwin whose eight-year-old son Jonah calls a late-night radio talk-show psychiatrist to discuss his dad’s loneliness, and try to find him a new love.
Kimberley Walsh will play Annie Reed, a journalist listening in from New York, 3,000 miles away.
Sleepless In Seattle could be the wake-up call we’ve been waiting for. It is a musical version of Nora Ephron’s classic 1993 romantic film, starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, pictured above
The show, with a cast of 18, plus 12-piece jazz orchestra, will hold technical rehearsals on gifted designer Morgan Large’s set from early August.
Sleepless In Seattle was originally staged at the Pasadena Playhouse in California several years ago. It was a hot mess.
Rose was asked to work on it; just about everything from the original model was scrapped, and fresh talent brought in to create a new book (Michael Burdette) and new music and lyrics (British songwriters Robert Scott and Brendan Cull).
Rose said NHS and care workers can apply for tickets via [email protected]. Please include a photo scan of your proof of work identity. For more details visit: sleeplessthemusical.com.
You just can’t stop the beat, so the Hairspray musical, starring Michael Ball, has its eye on new dates next year.
Producer Adam Spiegel said the show will now begin at the London Coliseum on April 22, 2021, for a trim 19-week run.
Existing ticket holders have priority to change their seats until July 26. New purchases can be made from July 27. Check hairspraythemusical.co.uk for details.
I adored D.W Young’s documentary The Booksellers, which focuses on the rare book sellers and collectors who attend the annual Antiquarian Book Fair held in New York’s Park Avenue Armory.
This rare treat of a film is available for download on demand on Curzon Home Cinema from Monday.
Watch out for…
Robert Lindsay, Michael Palin and Joanna Lumley, who will star in a lockdown reading of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot.
Actually, Lindsay told me that the production, in aid of The Royal Theatrical Fund (of which he is president), is being called A Bit Of Waiting For Godot.
Lindsay added that he and Palin ‘had been talking for a while about possibly doing it in the West End’.
‘And then, when the lockdown happened, we chatted about how to raise some money to help individual theatres.’
Ms Lumley will narrate the piece, available to view on Sunday between 7pm and 8pm. Details about how to purchase the £35 tickets can be found via rb.gy/suvjb6 and from rtflockdown.com.
Lindsay said he’s grateful to the Beckett estate for giving the go ahead.
Robert Lindsay, Michael Palin and Joanna Lumley, who will star in a lockdown reading of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot