Looking Back: Disappearing into the land of magical make believe with local theatre
One of the nicest things about Christmas is the visit to a pantomime. When my sister and I were small, my father, being of a theatrical bent, took us to the pantomime at both the Lyceum and Empire Theatres where one of my all-abiding memories is of the flying ballet high above us in the stalls.
When my own children were young there was one professional pantomime at the Crucible which had opened in 1971 after the closure of Sheffield Playhouse, with the Lyceum re-opening again after renovation some years later. Bobby Knutt was the pantomime king, appearing on the stage shouting ‘Eyup kids’ to which we replied ‘Eyup Knutty!’ Who remembers the real railway engine coming onto the stage during the production of ‘The Railway Children’
Although I say professional, that could be said without reservation about the pantomimes produced by the Manor Operatic Society featuring one of the best dames in the business, the much-lamented Brian Platts, but who are still carrying on his great legacy.
Back in the 1800s it had become the vogue for women to take on the roles of principal boy.
Victorian and Edwardian audiences were not used to viewing the legs of females or many naked legs generally, and so it provided much interest at a time when ladies were corseted and covered. Even piano legs were cloaked for modesty’s sake! The principal boy retained a degree of femininity but with much slapping of her thighs to draw attention to her legs.
The end for principal boys may have been around 1957 when Norman Wisdom played the principal boys role in Aladdin at the London Palladium, with Cilla Black playing the same role in 1971.
We are so lucky now to have such diverse productions here in Sheffield. The Christmas show at the Crucible, ‘A Christmas Carol’ is theatre at its finest and should encourage everyone to read Dickens, whilst the panto at the Lyceum had been described as the best yet and I heartily agree!
I’d hate the simplicity of panto to disappear. The magic of childhood lasts for a very short time, and like Father Christmas, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny it should be preserved for as long as possible. Oh, yes it should!!