What Does a Panto Company Do Throughout the Year - July

Continuing our blog of what a pantomime company does ‘for the rest of the year’ here is a brief overview of what the Imagine team have been up to during July.

It may be summer but there has been no break in the panto preparations for the Imagine team.

Louise Redmond, Head of Casting, has been overseeing a number of successful audition days for principal performers. We have been fortunate to have some very talented performers through the doors so far this season. For those interested in performing in our adult ensemble we will be holding auditions in September and further information on the roles available and how to submit will appear on Spotlight and our website within the next few weeks.

With the majority of the principal casting now finalised the marketing team and the wardrobe team have been busy with photoshoots with three being held in July and more planned for late August.

The marketing team are also working on announcing some more of the star casting, with artwork being created for social media and print and press releases being written. Recently announced have been Joe McFadden, Suzanne Shaw, La Voix and Suzanne Shaw for High Wycombe and Matt Terry for The Lyceum Theatre in Crewe.

As well as prepping for photoshoots there have been wigs and fake boobs galore in the office as the wardrobe team have been inviting some of our panto dames in for costume fittings.

Meanwhile the stores team are continuing their work on the sets. Anna has been creating some prosc surrounds for the Cinderella set that will be going to Crewe this year and also took advantage of a rare dry day to unroll the slosh cloths in the car park for a clean. Meanwhile Glyn and Adam have been in the deepest depths of the warehouse working on LED nodes and LED pixel tape for our sets and Ruth has been prepping company manager boxes.

Our Artistic Director Eric Potts is on the revision stage of the scripting process, tightening them so they don’t over-run, consulting with musical directors on song choices as well as liaising with magic consultants over illusions for some of the shows.

The recruitment drive for show staff is also underway and we are recruiting for numerous stage management and wardrobe roles for the forthcoming panto season. If you would be interested in working with the Imagine team then we would love to hear from you and more information can be found on our website.

If you are interested in a further look behind the scenes check out the fortnightly Just Imagine Podcast which as well as interviews with the members of the Imagine HQ team includes guest interviews from the wide range of people we work with each year.