Robinson Q&A

Next up for the panto Q&A / drawing challenge is Andrew who plays our hero Robinson Crusoe.

Q: Who's the naughtiest in rehearsals? 

A: I think by a unanimous vote, Stewart our director wins that title. 

Q: If you created your own pasty what flavour would it be? 

A: Love my biscuits so I'd have to say a cookie pasty

Q: If you were stranded on a desert island whats the one thing you could't live without?

A: I've got a massive sweet tooth so an unlimited supply of cakes and pastries. 

If you've got a question for our cast drop us an email - blog@hallforcornwall.org.uk

A fun-packed summer season at HfC

Friends of Hall for Cornwall have already received the summer brochure but Stage Door is happy to reveal a selection of the highlights that await when the season goes on general sale this Friday.

We have some world class drama coming to Hall for Cornwall this season, with Simon Callow’s one man show Dr Marigold and Mr Chops with us between 6th and 10th September.  Later in the season we have The Madness of George III, with David Haig taking the lead role.

If you’re a fan of West End musicals, the season leaves you spoilt for choice with such shows as Dreamboats and Petticoats and Blood Brothers (both on sale now)  Looking further ahead, we have Buddy between October 3rd and 8th.

Families have much to look forward to as well, with our summer “pop musical” The GoGoGo Show offering a summer holiday treat between the 5th and 7th August.  Everyone’s favourite builder (Bob the Builder) will bring his stage show to Truro on the 1st and 2nd October.  In the meantime, for our youngest audience members, why not come along to Alice on June 19th?  This magical show has been created especially for an audience of five years and below (plus their grown-ups!). Tickets cost just £2 per child (plus theatre fund). Accompanying adults pay £1 plus theatre Fund.

Hall for Cornwall continues to offer some fantastic dance with Shaun Parker and Company bringing “Happy As Larry” to Hall for Cornwall on 27th and 28th September.  Keep an eye out for several local dance shows this season as well from Jason Thomas, Pamela Darlington and Cornwall Dance and Drama.

 Music continues to be an important part of the programme with, among others, Rick Wakeman, Marc Almond, Gilbert and Sullivan, Halle Youth Orchestra, Noah and the Whale and the (official) Glenn Millar Orchestra covering a wide range of genres and styles.

So whatever your preference, we look forward to seeing you at Hall for Cornwall this summer. Are you a Friend of Hall for Cornwall? click HERE to book today.

It's Panto Time! (Oh, yes it is!)

Hall for Cornwall’s pantomime, Sleeping Beauty is now well underway.  It’s a particularly special time of year for everyone who works at Hall for Cornwall because we see so many family groups.  Pantomime is often the first exposure to theatre for children and it certainly delivers!  Baddies you can boo, outrageous and funny characters, music, dance, colour and a happy ending. What more could you want?

This year we have plenty to keep everyone happy.  Of course, the Princess falls in love, and marries, her handsome Prince, but we also have the very talented double act of Richard Allen (Nurse Maivis) and Tweedy (pretty much playing Tweedy!) providing lots of laughs.

You couldn’t really wish for a nastier Carabosse then Julie Hobbs who manages to be utterly evil without being so scary the children will get upset!  With Cameron and Clegg, her “boys” she seeks to gain Beauty’s grace and good-looks for herself but she is consistently out manoeuvred by Fairy Crystal (Mary Woodvine) who is always one step ahead.

And if all those aren’t enough, there’s even a frog and a dragon!  Sleeping Beauty runs until January 3rd 2011.  There are a variety of show times during the run to suit all diaries and bed-times!

Decking the Hall

As panto approaches, Hall for Cornwall is in a festive mood.  We are particularly grateful to the students of Devoran and Penair schools who have worked hard to turn our bar area into Sleeping Beauty's Castle, trapped behind a wall of vines. Two Year 9 art classes were "volunteered" for the project by their teacher.  The first produced printed banners using themes and script extracts from the panto, whilst the second class supported the primary age children from Devoran to produce some really nice relief stone window frames and the vines/flowers that intertwine around them.

The artwork produced was combined with sections of the Really Long Scarf and some artistic input from our own staff here at HfC to produce some festive displays in the Trelawney Bar which will be enjoyed by thousands of people over the run of the panto.

 

Sleeping Beauty opens this Friday at 7.00pm and runs until the 3rd January 2011.  If you want to test your skill and reflexes, why not play our online Sleeping Beauty game?  Forward it to a friend after you have played and you could win Free Tickets!

Anyone Can Write performances this eveining

This evening sees the work of several local writers premiere on the stage at Hall for Cornwall.  The six plays selected from nearly 40 submitted have been handed to a small cast of professional actors under the expert directing team of Tim Brinkman and Anna Coombes.  This promises to be a great evening that celebrates Cornish writing talent, with live music and a series of short plays covering many subjects.  Tickets cost just £6 (Concessions £5) and can be bought on the door from Box Office or online (Click HERE).

A Night Less Ordinary - Room on the Broom

A group of our younger visitors recently came to Hall for Cornwall with their parents uner the A Night Less Ordinary scheme funded by the Arts Council. After seeing Room on the Broom, they went round to stage door to meet the cast for a quick chat and a few photographs.

This was a great experience for these young people and we would like to thank the cast of Room on the Broom for their time.

Dame Trott's makeover - the movie!

Professional makeover for Dame Trott!

"Some people think you're scary..." goes one of the lines in a song about our pantomime dame this year.  Actually, she's not as bad as some I've come across - and played opposite - but its certainly fair to say that where makeup is concerned Dame Trott does not subscribe to the "less is more" school of beautification!

This is understandable in many ways as when you see her choice of wardrobe, not to mention hair dye palette, "understated" is not a word in her vocabulary.  Perhaps this is why Jack and Simon's father "whoever he is" ran away?  Or perhaps it was her cavalier approach to post-milking and mucking-out hygeine. Whatever the cause, the lovely people at Debenhams in Truro offered to help her out with a professional makeover this morning!

Catherine drew the very short straw of turning our Dame into a Belle and though it was a challenge calculated to test the most professional of beauticians, it's fair to say that she did an excellent job!  After some initial skepticism, Dame Trott herself seemed well pleased.

Whether this new, chic look is kept or whether she reverts to her old habits remains to be seen - you'll have to come and see the panto!

Pictures from top: (Original style, makeover x2, not too sure, final result!)

Win the last of Jack's Cows!

"Take a bit of panto land home with you!"

Most of you will have seen Jack's herd of cows around Cornwall this summer.  Most of the herd have now found new homes but the final, and possibly most "Cornish" of the lot, is up for grabs in Jack's Cow Raffle.  Tickets cost just 50p with money going to Hall for Cornwall's "Loved to bits" fund.

"Travel the Milky Way" features a cleverly painted map of cornwall with milking stools indicating the county's dairy herds.  It was designed by Tracy Sheffield who works in our Box Office.

This cow is not small - so the winner will need a large garden or, if they're feeling particularly generous, a VERY large conservatory!  On the plus-side she's remarkably well behaved for a cow and very low maintenance.  No chewed plants - guaranteed.  Sadly, though, if you're hoping to use her as an alternative to mowing the lawn you are destined to be disappointed.

Tickets are obtainable from the Box Office and we are also selling them during late night shopping evenings.

Christopher Timothy very kindly helped launch the cow raffle during his time at Hall for Cornwall with Grapes of Wrath.

Dame Trott & Simon

Introducing Jack, Simon and Dame Trott!

The Saintly One Productions have been working with Hall for Cornwall to produce a series of small comedy shorts to publicise Jack and the Beanstalk.

The interprid two man film crew assembled at St Michaels Mount to to film and produce various segments including a trailer which can be seen on the Hall for Cornwall website and on facebook. The crew consisted of Falmouth University broadcasting student Andrew Cook and Truro College sound engineering student Karl Apsitis.

The short films were made during breaks in filming the main trailer and show some of the panto cast members having some unscripted fun with their characters (these are not scenes from the actual pantomime).  They serve as a fun introduction to our talented cast and some of the colourful members of "Landsend-ia".

Our First Set of Facebook Winners!

We are pleased to announce that the first facebook pantomime picture is fully tagged and we have seven lucky winners with free tickets to see Jack and the Beanstalk at Hall for Cornwall.

We'll be running another compatition very soon for tickets to see the pantomime on the night of the 19th December.  Keep an eye out on our facebook page for a chance to win!

The first set of winners were:

Lucy Ahmed, Nettie Edney, William Folkes, Emily Lentz, Arwen Folkes, Penny Weston & Kirsty Bowers

Congratulations to them!

Behind the scenes - panto report!

Rehearsals for Jack and the Beanstalk are now in full swing and I was lucky enough this morning to be able to watch a full run through of Act 1 of what promises to be a very entertaining family show.

I'm not going to give too much away but I can promise you that the show is very entertaining with some great musical numbers from the cast.  A few topical, and local, jokes have been seemlessly worked in to firmly place the show in Cornwall but this is fairytale land at its best.

It is very encouraging to see the entire act running through non-stop, complete with music.  It's possible to get a good sense of how the show is going to look on opening night now though rehearsals don't start here at Hall for Cornwall until early next week.

It's fair to say that 98% percent of this morning's run-through went smoothly.  This type of rehearsal quickly highlights issues for the director and stage crew to iron out and there were a couple of these that will be worked on.  A quick costume-change, for instance, that saw an entire scene acted by a headless-cow!

Beyond such practical matters, though, the rehearsals are now at a stage where the director can get a sense for the overall shape of the performance and begin to fine-tune all aspects of the audience experience.  It's impressive to see how much is already in place, in terms of dance routines, songs, lines and delivery but the process is far from over and a lot of work will go in to the final run-up to opening night.

Speaking to Richard, who plays Dame Trott, it seems that the cast are very much enjoying the experience so far.  There is certainly a lot of energy, and laughter, going into the business of getting Jack and the Beanstalk to the stage.

I asked Richard about the stage here at Hall for Cornwall - specifically how it compared with other performance spaces he'd performed in.

"It's huge," he replied. "You do cover the stage as you would in a smaller venue but you have to speed up a bit!"  Richard also explained that Hall for Cornwall is, despite its stage size, a fairly intimate venue for performances. "You feel quite intimate with the audience. You can see all the way to the back."  This type of connection is particularly helpful for panto where audience interaction is very much part of the performance.

We'll be visiting the cast in rehearsal again next week as they have their first session here on site, complete with the set.

Facebook Panto Picture Promotions coming soon! Win Free Tickets!

As it's a giving time of year, we've decided to give away some Free Panto Tickets! We'll be posting Panto Pictures from time to time on the Hall for Cornwall Facebook Page (not the group page, sorry!).  Tag the cast members (and the cow if you're especially keen) with your name and we'll give you a ticket to see the panto.  We'll give notice ahead of time when the competition will run, what the pic will be and we'll tell you which date tickets will be for.

RULES:

1. You can only tag yourself, not your friends.
2. Ticket can only be issued to the named winner.
3. Only one tag per character in the picture will be eligible to win a ticket.
4. You can only successfully tag one picture, one time during the course of the Facebook Panto Picture Promotions. You can enter a tag as often as you like!
   
5. This competition is not open to Hall for Cornwall employees or their families.
6. Tickets offered for stated night only. We cannot substitute prizes.
7. To avoid confusion with the actors and their identities, all tags will be removed once the promotion period has passed.
8. The decision of Hall for Cornwall in declaring/allocating winners is final.

LOOK OUT FOR THIS PICTURE!

This will be the first Promotion Picture available for tagging. Keep a watchful eye on our Facebook page - it will be appearing very soon! This will be to win a ticket for the 14th December evening performance.

Bingo Bells and Panto Cows make for an interesting evening in Truro!

The reindeer parade and late night shopping was an unmissable opportunity to get our Jack and the Beanstalk panto cast members out and about. The event was also the ideal time to launch "Jack's Bell Bingo" and the cast quickly got stuck into the job of handing out numbered bells to just about anyone who caught their eye!

The bells were a huge hit and Victoria Square was quickly ringing to the sound of countless tiny bells - a sound that followed along the route of the parade as we had a massive 650 bells to give out during the evening.   Each bell has a corresponding numbered envelope which can be obtained from Box Office by bringing your bell in.  Prizes include drinks and food from our restaurant and coffee shop, posters and panto tickets.

After the parade hopeful youngsters were turning up at the Box Office, bells in hand, to see what they had won.  Though many bells remain as yet un-redeemed (we assume because the children wouldn't give them to Mum or Dad to read the instructions!) we had quite a few lucky winners with tickets, posters and other prizes being claimed.

Whilst the title of last night's event was "Reindeer Parade", an unexpected appearance by our panto cow, Daisy, temporarily upstaged the reindeer when she made a brief appearance at the start of the parade.  She even walked some of the route before it all became a bit much for her poor hooves and she made her way back to the stable to rest.

All of the panto characters, and especially Daisy, proved popular with the crowd and many photos were snapped.  The cast did an incredible job with handing out bells and fliers in what was the first of no doubt many public appearances ahead of opening night.  The event was a great success in raising awareness of the panto at Hall for Cornwall and it's nice to think of all those Christmas trees out there that will have an HfC bell hanging on them this December!

Further bell hand-outs are expected between now and Christmas so keep an eye and ear out for them at future late night shopping evenings.

It's not too late to redeem your Bingo Bell by bringing it into the Box Office.

All youngsters GET TO KEEP THEIR BELL regardless of whether it is a winning bell or not.  All bells offer a small complimentary prize so please do pop along with them if you haven't already.  Please note, though, that only bells with their valid number can be accepted as without them we cannot verify which envelope belongs to that bell.

Public Notice:

We received special permission to allow Dame Trot into a public place from her "sheltered home for the excitable"on the understanding she was properly chaparoned!  She was returned home after the event, took her medication, and had a settled night.

Jack and the Beanstalk Panto gets underway!

With panto season nearly upon us, staff at Hall for Cornwall took the opportunity to properly welcome the cast of Jack and the Beanstalk to the theatre ahead of the first script read-through this morning.  Most of the theatre departments were represented at a short informal reception held in the Stars Restaurant allowing us all to meet the cast and the production crew ahead of a busy schedule of rehearsals and a packed 3 weeks of performances.  The cast seemed to be looking forward to the challenge and getting their teeth into a script packed with gags and larger-then-life characters.

We're welcoming back a few familiar faces and some local actors this year and Stage Door blog will be meeting and talking to most of them in the run-up to opening night.  In fact, Stage Door will be following the panto cast closely as they prepare for an exciting season, with regular updates on rehearsals and all the other preparations that go into staging your annual panto.

In the meantime, why not test your wit and reflexes with our Jack's Catch the Coins game? Click HERE to play.

Pictures: Staff and panto cast mix at the reception. Aftwerwards the cast get down to business with a first read-through of this year's script.