NC Penguin

A good old British pantomime is quite a joy at Christmas but the US lacks these really.

Which traditional pantomimes would be suitable for a US audience? Let's face it. Men in drag is quite commonplace in pantomimes in the UK but I can't really see US male celebrities donning a wig and some lippie as well as a gown. Actually, I can imagine some actors and celebrities doing just that...

English Muffin

Peter Pan? I don't think there are any 'dames' in that one?

joto

It's a shame, but, Pantomimes would never get by the PC police here. The kids would need to go to therapy for the rest of their lives seeing all that cross dressing and "boobs" as big as footballs.

Gingerert

The last two pantomimes I saw in the UK were of Snow White. The first one had Fenella Fielding as the wicked queen and she was quite off her trolley. She'd wander on, say a line or two, then wander off again unexpectedly. At one point somebody grabbed her arm to stop her exiting the stage when she wasn't supposed to!

She did say a few classic lines from "Carry On Screaming" though, which was ace.

The second Snow White production was a big one in Blackpool and I had food poisoning the ENTIRE time. Me, my mum and my sister just sat there groaning and running for the loo while everyone else danced and sang along.

In hindesight, I'm not sure which panto was a more hilarious experience!

penguinsix

Actually, I'm not sure the whole concept would play that well here. Christmas is still a pretty reverent holiday to many.

notacrime

We went to the pantomine in Edinburgh last year. My wife had never been to one, and I hadn't been since I was small. I had high hopes, but it was really, really awful.

Duncan Roberts

I love panto and really miss it. I was thinking about if it would do well here the other day and came to the conclusion it wouldn't. There are a number of Americans, some reasonably big names, that do panto in the UK so I don't think it would be a problem getting people to star in them. Getting people to watch would be the problem. On one hand you have the crowd that will get all uppity about it not being PC and on the other hand you have to explain it to people so they want to go. I know every conversation I've ever had with an American trying to describe panto always ends with "No really, it's lots of fun!"

SagenOnion

I seem to remember that in British Panto the role of Peter Pan was usually played by a female.

Lord Lionheart

Oh no it's not

A veritable Peter Panties if you will


Exit stage left..................................

Rete

You are talking about a play that is acted out without a spoken word, right?

There have been many movies where men have dressed as women and women as men so that argument is out the window.

Makes me think of those painted faces that do skits on the street. Have never found them funny or interesting.

Duncan Roberts

No. Nicked from wikipedia.

The form has a number of conventions, some of which have changed or weakened a little over the years, and by no means all of which are obligatory.

* The leading male juvenile character (the "principal boy") - traditionally played by a young woman, and usually in tight-fitting male garments (such as breeches) that make her female charms evident.
* An older woman (the pantomime dame - often the hero's mother) is usually played by a man in drag.
* Risqué double entendre, often wringing innuendo out of perfectly innocent phrases. This is, in theory, over the heads of the children in the audience.
* Audience participation, including calls of "look behind you!" (or "he's behind you!"), and "Oh, yes it is!" or "Oh, no it isn't!" The audience is always encouraged to "Boo" the villain, and "Awwwww" the poor victims, such as the rejected dame, who usually fancies the prince.
* A song combining a well-known tune with re-written lyrics. The audience is encouraged to sing the song; often one half of the audience is challenged to sing "their" chorus louder than the other half.
* The animal, played by an actor in "animal skin" or animal costume. It is often a pantomime horse or cow, played by two actors in a single costume, one as the head and front legs, the other as the body and back legs.
* The good fairy always enters from stage right and the evil villain enters from stage left. In Commedia Dell 'Arte the right side of the stage symbolized Heaven and the left side symbolized Hell.
* The members of the cast throw out sweets to the children in the audience (although in some cases this is not possible due to health and safety restrictions).
* Sometimes the story villain will squirt members of the audience with water guns or pretend to throw a bucket of "water" at the audience that is actually full of streamers
* A slapstick comedy routine may be performed, often a decorating or baking scene, with humour based around throwing messy substances. Until the 20th century, British pantomimes were often concluded with a harlequinade, a free-standing entertainment of slapstick. Nowadays the slapstick is more or less incorporated into the main body of the show, as opposed to being a separate piece at the end of the evening.

Rete

Gotcha. Sounds like a vaudeville show or a silent movie. I'm sure that I have seen this portrayed in a movie at one time as it sounds very familiar.

Thanks, Duncan

Bob

closest thing over here i've seen would be the nutcracker...hardly panto fare, but not bad...

It is weird not seeing the ads for the holiday panto though...

NC Penguin

Nutcracker, the ballet? The only similarity between that and pantomime is that there's men in tights but I don't think Nutcracker has bawdy humor and double entendres unless I'm missing something.

With pantos, there's audience participation and that's a lot of fun.

Kaffy Mintcake

While the topic and execution I'm sure are quite different, I'm reminded of what I've heard it's like to go to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I've always wanted to and have never been.