The Christmas Pantomime colour lithograph bookcover, 1890

Pantomime (informally, panto) refers to a theatrical genre, traditionally found in Great Britain, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Ireland, which is usually performed around the Christmas and New Year holiday season. Cover, Pantomime F. Warne & Co. ... Cover, Pantomime F. Warne & Co. ... Lithography is a method for printing on a smooth surface, as well as a method of manufacturing semiconductor and MEMS devices. ...

History

The performance of pantomime originates at its earliest in ancient Greece, but exploded in popularity during the reign of Augustus in ancient Rome. The name is taken from a single masked dancer called Pantomimus. The style and content of modern pantomime has very clear and strong links with the Commedia dell'arte, a form of popular theatre that arose in Italy in the early middle ages, and which reached England by the 16th century. A "comedy of professional artists" traveling from province to province in Italy and then France, they improvised and told stories which told lessons to the crowd and changed the main character depending on where they were performing. The great clown Grimaldi transformed the format. Each story had the same fixed characters: the lovers, father, servants (one being crafty and the other stupid), etc. These roles/characters can be found in today's pantomimes. The Temple to Athena, the Parthenon Ancient Greece is a period in Greek history that lasted for around three thousand years. ... For other uses, see Augustus (disambiguation). ... Area under Roman control  Roman Republic  Roman Empire  Western Empire  Eastern Empire Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a city-state founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... Karel Dujardins set his closely-observed scene of a travelling troupes makeshift stage against idealized ruins in the Roman Campagna: dated 1657 (Louvre Museum) Commedia dellarte (Italian: play of professional artists also interpreted as comedy of humors), also known as Extemporal Comedy, was a popular form of improvisational... Joseph Grimaldi or Iron Legs (December 18, 1779 - May 31, 1837), the most celebrated of English clowns, was born in London, the son of an Italian actor. ...

The gender role reversal resembles the old festival of Twelfth Night, a combination of Epiphany and midwinter feast, when it was customary for the natural order of things to be reversed. This tradition can be traced back to pre-Christian European festivals such as Samhain and Saturnalia. A bagpiper in Scottish military clan-uniform. ... Twelfth Night is a holiday in some branches of Christianity marking the coming of the Epiphany, or Twelfth Day, and is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as the evening of the 5 January, preceding Twelfth Day, the eve of the Epiphany. In some traditions it is taken to mean... This article is about the Christian feast. ... This article is about the Celtic holiday. ... Saturnalia is the feast at which the Romans commemorated the dedication of the temple of the god Saturn, which took place on 17 December. ...

In Restoration England, a pantomime was considered a low form of opera, rather like the Commedia dell'arte but without Harlequin (rather like the French Vaudeville). In 1717, actor and manager John Rich introduced Harlequin to the British stage under the name of "Lun" (for "lunatic") and began performing wildly popular pantomimes. These pantomimes gradually became more topical and comic, often involving as many special theatrical effects as possible. Colley Cibber and his colleagues competed with Rich and produced their own pantomimes, and pantomime was a substantial (if decried) subgenre in Augustan drama. This form had virtually died out by the end of the 19th century. King Charles II, the first monarch to rule after the English Restoration. ... The New Opera in Oslo, Norway The Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy. ... Arlecchino (also known as Harlequin in English, Arlequin in French) is the most popular of the zanni or comic servant characters from the Italian Commedia dellArte. ... Vaudeville is a style of multi-act theatre which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s. ... John Rich (1682 - 1761) was an important theater manager in 18th century London. ... Colley Cibber, actor, playwright, Poet Laureate, first British actor-manager, and head Dunce of Alexander Popes Dunciad. ... Augustan drama can refer to the dramas of Ancient Rome during the reign of Caesar Augustus, but it most commonly refers to the plays of Great Britain in the early 18th century, a subset of 18th-century Augustan literature. ...

Pantomime traditions and conventions

Traditionally performed at Christmas, with family audiences consisting mainly of children and parents, British pantomime is now a popular form of theatre, incorporating song, dance, buffoonery, slapstick, in-jokes, audience participation and mild sexual innuendo (but to the innocent everything is pure). Plots are often loosely based on traditional children's stories, the most popular titles being: Christmas is an annual holiday that marks the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. ...

• Aladdin (sometimes combined with Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves)
• Babes in the Wood (often combined with Robin Hood)
• Beauty and the Beast
• Cinderella, the most popular of all pantomimes and first shown in 1870 in Covent Garden, London
• Dick Whittington, first staged as a pantomime in 1814 based on a seventeenth century play.
• Goldilocks and the Three Bears
• Jack and the Beanstalk
• Mother Goose
• Peter Pan
• Puss in Boots
• Sleeping Beauty
• Snow White

The form has a number of conventions, some of which have changed or weakened a little over the years. Aladdin in the Magic Garden, an illustration by Max Liebert from Ludwig Fuldas Aladdin und die Wunderlampe Aladdin (a corruption of the Arabic name , Arabic: علاء الدين literally nobility of faith) is one of the tales with a Syrian origin[1] in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, and... The adventure tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves was added to the traditional collection of The Book of One Thousand and One Nights by its European transcriber, Antoine Galland, an 18th-century French orientalist who had heard it in oral form from a Maronite story-teller from Aleppo. ... Babes in the Wood is a traditional childrens tale, as well as a popular pantomime subject. ... Robin Hood memorial statue in Nottingham. ... Illustration by Warwick Goble Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairy tale (type 425C -- search for a lost husband -- in the Aarne-Thompson classification). ... Gustave Dorés illustration for Cendrillon For other uses, see Cinderella (disambiguation). ... Covent Garden is a district in central London and within the easterly bounds of the City of Westminster. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Dick Whittington is a character in British pantomime, very loosely based on the real-life Richard Whittington. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into The Three Bears. ... Illustration by Arthur Rackham from a 1918 English Fairy Tales, by Flora Annie Steel Jack and the Beanstalk is an English fairy tale, closely associated with the tale of Jack the Giant Killer. ... A page from a late 17th century handwritten and illustrated version of Charles Perraults Contes de ma mère lOye (Mother Goose Tales) depicting Puss in Boots. ... Statue of Peter Pan in Bowring Park, St. ... Gustave Dor s 19th century engraving of le chat bott Puss in Boots is a European folktale collected by Charles Perrault in his Contes de ma m re lOye (Mother Goose Tales), and earlier in 1634, by Giambattista Basile as Gagliuso. ... Sir Edward Burne-Jones painted The Sleeping Beauty. ... Snow White in her coffin, Theodor Hosemann, 1867. ...

• The leading male character (the "principal boy") - sometimes played by a young woman.
• An older woman (the pantomime dame) is usually played by a man in drag.
• Risqué double entendre, often wringing innuendo out of perfectly innocent phrases.
• 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.
• 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 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 the right side of the stage and the evil villain enters from the 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

In pantomime, the principal boy role is the young male protagonist of the play, traditionally played by a young actress in boys clothes. ... A pantomime dame is a traditional character in British Panto. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... An audience is the/a group of people who participate in and experience or encounter a work of art, literature, theatre, music or academics in any medium. ... Parody of Star Wars: Episode 1 Parody music, or musical parody, involves changing or recycling existing musical ideas or lyrics - or copying the peculiar style of a composer or artist, or even a general style of music. ... A pantomime horse (there are also pantomime cows and other animals) is a theatrical representation of a horse or other ungulate by two actors in a single costume who cooperate and synchronize their movements. ...

Guest celebrity in pantomime

Another contemporary pantomime tradition is the celebrity guest star, a practice that dates back to the late 19th century, when Augustus Harris, proprietor of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, hired well-known variety artistes for his pantomimes. Sir Augustus Henry Glossop Harris (1852-1896) was an actor, impresario, and dramatist. ... Drury Lane is a street in the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. ...

Until the decline of the British music hall tradition by the late 1950s, many popular artists played in pantomimes across the country. Nowadays, a pantomime occasionally pulls off a coup by engaging a guest star with an unquestionable thespian reputation, as was the case with the Christmas 2004 production of Aladdin that featured Sir Ian McKellen as Widow Twankey, which he reprised in the 2005 production at the Old Vic theatre in London. Music Hall is a form of British theatrical entertainment which reached its peak of popularity between 1850 and 1960. ... Sir Ian Murray McKellen CBE, (born May 25, 1939) is a veteran English stage and screen actor, the recipient of a Tony Award and two Oscar nominations. ... Widow Twankey is a character in the pantomime Aladdin. ... The exterior of the Old Vic from the corner of Baylis Road and Waterloo Road. ... Serge Sudeikins poster for the Bat Theatre (1922). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

As well as being an actor in the Shakespearean tradition, McKellen had become hugely famous with children as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and Magneto in X-Men. "At least we can tell our grandchildren that we saw McKellen's Twankey and it was huge," said Michael Billington, theatre critic of The Guardian, December 20, 2004, entering into the pantomime spirit. However in modern times, the value of these celebrities in provincial pantomime, either as actors or attractions, is sometimes questionable with erstwhile soap stars, comedians or sportsmen reviving a declining public career. Shakespeare redirects here. ... For other uses, see Gandalf (disambiguation). ... The Lord of the Rings film trilogy comprises three live action fantasy epic films; The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). ... Magneto is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. ... The X-Men are a group of comic book superheroes featured in Marvel Comics. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For Philippine soap opera, see Teleserye. ...

Modern revival of the tradition

One of the most popular and critically acclaimed (not to mention commercially successful) pantomimes in recent years has been the one at the York Theatre Royal. It features no guest celebrities, but rather a regular cast headed by Berwick Kaler, who has played the dame there for 27 years and has built up a devoted fan-base. Kaler has been credited with reviving a dying tradition. Tickets go on sale April 1; in 2005 the first buyer turned up at 3am. Well before the opening they had sold 30,000 of the 50,000 seats, something that many celebrity-centred pantomimes could only dream of. In a 2004 interview, Kaler said: York is a city in North Yorkshire, England, at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss. ... Berwick Kaler (born 1947) is a British actor most famous for playing the dame in the York Theatre Royals annual pantomime, which he also writes and directs. ...

"The panto has been said to be dying for years. Well, some of them deserve to die. These are the ones that flout tradition by casting a young man as principal boy, or by diminishing the role of the dame, sometimes writing her out altogether. Having cast clapped-out TV stars to draw the audiences, these pseudo-pantos make no further effort. They just don't try. I dive into a tank of water every year. Who wants to do that?" ^[1]

Pantomime in Australia

Pantomimes in Australia at Christmas have also always been very popular, and professional productions often feature celebrities. During the 1950s, a Christmas Cinderella pantomime in Sydney featured Danny Kaye as Buttons. There are also radio pantomimes at Christmas which are featured on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The Sydney Opera House on Sydney Harbour Sydney (pronounced ) is the most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of over 4,200,000 people, and 151,920, in the city limits. ... Kaye entertaining U.S. troops at Sasebo, Japan, 25 Oct 1945 David Daniel Kaminsky, known as Danny Kaye (January 18, 1913 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, singer and comedian. ... Buttons Buttons is the name of a character in a Cinderella pantomime. ... The Australian Broadcasting Corporation or ABC (formerly the Australian Broadcasting Commission) is Australias national non-profit public broadcaster. ...

Pantomime in Canada

The Millennium Players in Maple Ridge, British Columbia offer a yearly traditional Christmas pantomime in December at The ACT Theatre. Past productions have included Cinderella (2003), Little Red Riding Hood (2004), Jack and The Beanstalk (2005) and Aladdin and His Magic Lamp (2006). Location of Maple Ridge, British Columbia Maple Ridge is a District Municipality in British Columbia, located east of Vancouver on the Fraser River. ...

In Fall 2006, "Broadway Across Canada" presented the Ross Petty Production of Aladdin in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, Saskatoon and Ottawa starring Bret "The Hitman" Hart as the genie, from a Dora Mavor Moore Award-winning script written by David Finley^[2]. Bret Sergeant Hart (born July 2, 1957 in Calgary, Alberta) is a Canadian former professional wrestler, and part of the famous Hart wrestling family. ...

The Kingston Meistersingers ^[3] presented an original pantomime production of Cinderella, written by Richard Linley, at l'Octave Theatre in Kingston, Ontario, in late November 2006. Gustave Dorés illustration for Cendrillon For other uses, see Cinderella (disambiguation). ...

Peel Pantomime Players^[4] Canada's oldest continually operating pantomime group, celebrating its 36th year in 2006, brought Norman Robbins Rumpelstiltzkin to the stage at the Lester B. Pearson Theatre in Brampton, Ontario, in late November and early December 2006. Nickname: Flower City Location in the Region of Peel, in the Province of Ontario Coordinates: Country  Canada Province  Ontario Region Peel Incorporation 1853 (village)   1873 (town)   1974 (city) Government  - Mayor Susan Fennell  - Governing Body Brampton City Council (click for members)  - MPs Navdeep Bains, Colleen Beaumier, Ruby Dhalla, Gurbax Malhi  - MPPs...

SMP Dramatic Society in North Vancouver, B.C., has presented a pantomime every January for more than 10 years now, with its most recent production being Robin Hood and the Singing Nun written by Stuart Ardern scheduled for mid-January 2007.

The NAGs Players have performed pantomimes at the Tranzac Club in Toronto every February since the 1970s. Recent productions include Snow White and the Several Dwarfs, Hansel and Gretel McKenzie, Eh? - A Canadian Panto, and The Emperor's New Clothes.

Pantomime in the United States of America

Pantomime, as described in this article is not commonly performed in the United States of America, as a consequence, the word "pantomime" is more commonly understood to refer to the art of mime, as practised by Marcel Marceau or Mummenschanz and is often assumed to be a solo performance seen as often on street corners as on stage. This article is about Mime as an art form. ... Marcel Mangel (born March 22, 1923; Strasbourg, France), better known by his stage name Marcel Marceau, is a well-known mime, among the most popular representatives of this art form world-wide. ... Mummenschanz is a unique Swiss pantomime troupe who perform a surreal mask and prop oriented style. ... Busking with Beer Bottles in Sydney, Australia Busking is the practice of performing in public places to receive donations of money. ...

The Shoestring Shakespeare Company, a troupe based in San Antonio, Texas, puts on a pantomime every year.

The Hideout Players in Chicago presented their first annual Christmas pirate panto in December 2006 entitled "Catfish Girl and her adventures amongst mermaids and pyrates". It featured a pantomime whale/duck named "Moby Duck" and starred Jon Langford as Mrs Hammerhead (pantomime dame), Kelly Hogan as Cap'n Skate and Janet Bean as the Queen of the Mermaids. Jon Langford is a Welsh-born musician and artist who is based in Chicago. ...

The Eastern Michigan University Theater Department began producing a Christmas pantomime in 2005 with Pinocchio and then revived the tradition this year with a version of Treasure Island.

Shakespeare Santa Cruz has presented several pantomimes during its winter season including Cinderella, The Princess and the Pea, Gretel and Hansel, and the 2006 world premiere of Sleeping Beauty by Kate Hawley, directed by SSC artistic director Paul Whitworth. ^[5]

In New York City, Pantomonium Productions presents holiday pantomimes annually. This non-profit company brings children and families together with a diverse cast of arts professionals and volunteers to create a uniquely American interpretation of this British tradition. Each summer, children collaborate with teachers and composers to write words and music that become part of the annual production. The majority of tickets are donated to disadvantaged children and families through partnerships with social service organizations.^[6]

Pantomime in the UK

The Pantomime first arrived in England as entr'actes between opera pieces, eventually evolving into separate shows. The Lincoln's Inn Field Theatre and the Drury Lane Theatre were the first to stage pantomimes, creating high competition between them to create the more elaborate show. As manager of Drury Lane in the 1870s, Augustus Harris is now considered the father of modern pantomime. The New Wimbledon Theatre in London is considered to be the "home of London pantomime". Entracte is French for between the acts. It can have the meaning of a pause between two parts of a stage production, synonym to intermission, but is more often used to indicate that part of a theatre production that is performed between acts as an intermezzo or interlude. ... The interior of the third and largest theatre to stand at Drury Lane, c. ... Sir Augustus Henry Glossop Harris (1852-1896) was an actor, impresario, and dramatist. ... New Wimbledon Theatre The New Wimbledon Theatre is situated on The Broadway, Wimbledon, London. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

Popularity

Actor Cary Grant, in spite of decades spent in the United States, rarely missed an opportunity to see an English pantomime, which he had loved as a boy in his native Britain. Archibald Alexander Leach (January 18, 1904 – November 29, 1986), better known by his screen name, Cary Grant, was an British film actor. ...

References

1. ^ [1] Rhoda Koenig, "Berwick Kaler: Grand old dame of York", interviewed in The Independent, 30 December 2004
2. ^ David Finley
3. ^ The Kingston Meistersingers
4. ^ Peel Pantomime Players
5. ^ Shakespeare Santa Cruz
6. ^ Pantomonium Productions

• Ellacott, Nigel and Peter Robin. The Magic of Pantomime August 2000. QDOS Entertainment. 14 Nov. 2004 http://www.its-behind-you.com/.
• Ostergaard, Erik. Erik Ostergaard-Pantomime. 1997-2004. 14 Nov.2004. <http://www.danbbs.dk/~erikoest/panto.htm>>
• Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition
• British Pantomime Performance (Millie Taylor), Intellect Books (2007)

External links

• The origins of pantomime stories
• The Magic of Pantomime
• Write a Brilliant Pantomime
• Broadway Across Canada
• Pantomime In the 1940s & 1950s
• Pantomime economics of fifty years ago
• Pantomime Concepts & Workshops
• Chispa Mime info-Directory-workshops