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Post by basdfg on Jun 28, 2020 22:46:27 GMT
Has Cinderella been officially postponed/cancelled/anything yet? I wouldn't be surprised if the Gillian Lynne ends up being the theatre which ALW's Palladium test is rolled out first to if it's a success due to it being a more modern building so Cinderella may go ahead as planned. Would he want a big new project to be linked to it.
One big problem is the self isolation rules - currently holiday companies are plaining on refusing to give refunds if two days before you get asked to go into isolation. Unless theatres did allow the entire party to then get a refund/swap, plenty of people would not risk buying tickets only to lose them.
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Post by partytentdown on Jun 29, 2020 15:48:46 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2020 16:37:29 GMT
What is happening with contracts for long running shows which have probably expired during lockdown? Would an actor be expected to return to the role, expect to return to the role if they had say 3 months left on their deal when the theatres went dark? I also wondered this. Also are actors in long running shows self employed or contracted to show? I'd always thought latter. Phantom cast change for example is October time. Would they be on furlough up until then and then let go? Or as they had 6 months left when lockdown came in, would they still have that whenever it re-opens? Will be interesting to see who the cast are for the long runners when they come back! |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2020 16:39:35 GMT
Has Cinderella been officially postponed/cancelled/anything yet? I wouldn't be surprised if the Gillian Lynne ends up being the theatre which ALW's Palladium test is rolled out first to if it's a success due to it being a more modern building so Cinderella may go ahead as planned. I was also wondering if that could be the case! Though I think the Lynne also needed building work so not sure if that's been going ahead? But the building and common areas are spacious (well, in comparison to other West End theatres!) and the air con is good with a spacious auditorium. Perhaps a modicum safer?! |
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Post by Jon on Jun 29, 2020 16:48:15 GMT
I was also wondering if that could be the case! Though I think the Lynne also needed building work so not sure if that's been going ahead? But the building and common areas are spacious (well, in comparison to other West End theatres!) and the air con is good with a spacious auditorium. Perhaps a modicum safer?! I'm sure that refurb work could coincide with making the theatre Covid proof. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2020 16:50:38 GMT
I was also wondering if that could be the case! Though I think the Lynne also needed building work so not sure if that's been going ahead? But the building and common areas are spacious (well, in comparison to other West End theatres!) and the air con is good with a spacious auditorium. Perhaps a modicum safer?! I'm sure that refurb work could coincide with making the theatre Covid proof. Am keeping everything crossed!!! |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jun 29, 2020 21:08:05 GMT
Cinderella won’t open this year.
There is no getting around the fact that theatres won’t be open until 2021. Social distancing is to going anywhere anytime soon.
They won’t (and can’t) open a new expensive musical with 50%capacity., or worse.
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Post by xanady on Jun 30, 2020 15:55:09 GMT
...and so it begins...Norwich Theatre Royals Panto has been cancelled....losing Panto’s will be an unprecedented disaster for regional theatres as some make an incredible 70% of annual revenue during the season....am currently giving every penny I can spare to theatre ‘causes’ but this feels like an haemorrhage that is out of control...
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Post by talkingheads on Jun 30, 2020 16:07:31 GMT
...and so it begins...Norwich Theatre Royals Panto has been cancelled....losing Panto’s will be an unprecedented disaster for regional theatres as some make an incredible 70% of annual revenue during the season....am currently giving every penny I can spare to theatre ‘causes’ but this feels like an haemorrhage that is out of control... I've given what I can but it feels so hopeless. My fifteen quid is nothing compared to the investment the Government needs to get up and running now. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2020 0:15:59 GMT
People are saying 2021 but when next year. January and February is the main winter months and we know about the mortality rates then. So is that out. Factor in older theatre goers plus those with health issues would they risk it.
Maybe we do all need to go vegan given where all these outbreaks seem to be happening.
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Post by xanady on Jul 1, 2020 9:13:42 GMT
Mike Harrison from Qdos says that his company will have to make their own decisions on the 34 panto’s planned for this year very soon.Final decision to be made on 3 August by Qdos,if the government doesn’t provide any clarity on the issue...don’t hold your breath!
Panto is often the first taste of live theatre for the little un’s so if the entire Panto season is abandoned,this may affect future audience-going.
Also amateur theatres are closed which causes a major loss for local communities in terms of perhaps a first-ever taste of being a live stage performer as well as social inter-action with friends,developing confidence,team-work and other incredibly important life-skills.Not to mention the missing audience with their revenue!
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Post by talkingheads on Jul 1, 2020 9:29:38 GMT
Mike Harrison from Qdos says that his company will have to make their own decisions on the 34 panto’s planned for this year very soon.Final decision to be made on 3 August by Qdos,if the government doesn’t provide any clarity on the issue...don’t hold your breath! Panto is often the first taste of live theatre for the little un’s so if the entire Panto season is abandoned,this may affect future audience-going. Also amateur theatres are closed which causes a major loss for local communities in terms of perhaps a first-ever taste of being a live stage performer as well as social inter-action with friends,developing confidence,team-work and other incredibly important life-skills.Not to mention the missing audience with their revenue! Extremely worrying. That is the first concrete date I've seen in terms of anything happening with theatre and it makes absolute sense. My guess is that they want to set a deadline so that the Government has something to work towards, not that I can see them doing anything. |
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Post by hulmeman on Jul 1, 2020 10:45:12 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2020 12:18:36 GMT
I would have thought Pantos could hold back a bit from early August the rehearsal period for the shows aren't huge and often costumes are in situ. A lot of principal casting has been done. Scripts need to be written and updated but with the amount of comic performers not working these could be done fairly quickly.
For a show opening early December or late November a decision needs to be made sooner than one opening nearer Xmas but theatre's may be reluctant to announce any cancellations too quickly given they probably have advance bookings money in the bank.
Could a pared down panto be run with less ensemble the Palladium had something like 16 dancers and Birmingham Hippodrome had about 10. Could more sequenced music from an MD's keyboard be used instead of a full live band. This would sadly reduce job opportunities for working performers and musicians but you could make decent savings there to make half capacity audiences more cost effective.
The bigger issue would be would the stars accept less money and a lot might be on percentages too.
Also just looking down the It's Behind You website casting in QDOS shows alone a lot of their stars are in the over 70's or near to that age bracket or well over - May McFetteridge, Billy Pearce, Allan Stewart, Biggins, Cannon and Ball (Tommy Cannon is 82 now), Clive Webb, Paul Chuckle, Berwick Kaler. May and Biggins are both larger guys who play Dames and will have loads of costume changes. Berwick and Allan also play Dames so that involves the quick changes to. In other productions Keith Simmons, John Challis, Brian Capron spring to mind. This is with minimal casting only announced. Throw in the likes of Craig and Shirley from Strictly they have big money TV jobs would they want to risk a tiring panto run. I'll even mention Clive Rowe although he is only 56, he is a large BAME male in his 50's so could be seen as being in a higher risk group and doing lots of quick changes across a tiring panto run might not appeal to him.
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Post by talkingheads on Jul 1, 2020 13:22:46 GMT
I would have thought Pantos could hold back a bit from early August the rehearsal period for the shows aren't huge and often costumes are in situ. A lot of principal casting has been done. Scripts need to be written and updated but with the amount of comic performers not working these could be done fairly quickly. For a show opening early December or late November a decision needs to be made sooner than one opening nearer Xmas but theatre's may be reluctant to announce any cancellations too quickly given they probably have advance bookings money in the bank. Could a pared down panto be run with less ensemble the Palladium had something like 16 dancers and Birmingham Hippodrome had about 10. Could more sequenced music from an MD's keyboard be used instead of a full live band. This would sadly reduce job opportunities for working performers and musicians but you could make decent savings there to make half capacity audiences more cost effective. The bigger issue would be would the stars accept less money and a lot might be on percentages too. Also just looking down the It's Behind You website casting in QDOS shows alone a lot of their stars are in the over 70's or near to that age bracket or well over - May McFetteridge, Billy Pearce, Allan Stewart, Biggins, Cannon and Ball (Tommy Cannon is 82 now), Clive Webb, Paul Chuckle, Berwick Kaler. May and Biggins are both larger guys who play Dames and will have loads of costume changes. Berwick and Allan also play Dames so that involves the quick changes to. In other productions Keith Simmons, John Challis, Brian Capron spring to mind. This is with minimal casting only announced. Throw in the likes of Craig and Shirley from Strictly they have big money TV jobs would they want to risk a tiring panto run. I'll even mention Clive Rowe although he is only 56, he is a large BAME male in his 50's so could be seen as being in a higher risk group and doing lots of quick changes across a tiring panto run might not appeal to him. I think the problem is that with the amount of money that needs to be spent on panto, they can no longer guarantee the audience numbers to make it viable, given that people either won't buy tickets or the situation by December could have changed and people will need refunds etc, the books just won't balance. And can you imagine if a single person in a panto cast or crew showed symptoms, the entire production would need to be shut down. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2020 15:39:24 GMT
I think the problem is that with the amount of money that needs to be spent on panto, they can no longer guarantee the audience numbers to make it viable, given that people either won't buy tickets or the situation by December could have changed and people will need refunds etc, the books just won't balance. And can you imagine if a single person in a panto cast or crew showed symptoms, the entire production would need to be shut down. Excellent point. How many times do we hear about panto performers with colds, coughs etc. It could be something minor but could they take the risk. Throw in the juvenile casts often 2 or even 3 groups and things can spread. Only last year at the Wolverhampton panto Jeffrey Holland was very croaky as he was recovering from a cough which he referenced in the show. Something like that could halt a production potentially. QDOS could potentially test performers as they would surely have the means to buy in tests but to undertake full cast tests across 30 odd venues several times in a run would mount up lets say 500 performers times 4 tests is 2,000 tests before you factor in band, crew, theatre staff. Could theatres look to book comedians or comedy performers to do seasonal ones. One of two people on stage wouldn't cost a lot at at 50% capacity and could turn a decent profit. Even single, double or small cast plays might be able to be run. Something like "Art" sprang to mind. I don't know what the exact social distancing in that is but I think it could work from what I remember. |
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Post by couldileaveyou on Jul 2, 2020 11:29:50 GMT
With the exception of Sister Act and I guess Hairspray, most starry productions have still unspecified dates. It doesn't really tell us anything we didn't know before but it's still good to hear
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Post by stevej678 on Jul 3, 2020 9:30:42 GMT
Another panto that won't be happening this year.
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Post by talkingheads on Jul 3, 2020 10:33:55 GMT
The Lowry have rescheduled their Christmas show:
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Post by stevej678 on Jul 3, 2020 11:13:34 GMT
The Lowry have rescheduled their Christmas show: I wonder if The Lowry might move the Christmas run of Six from the Quays Theatre to the Lyric Theatre with a socially distanced audience, now that their largest auditorium is scheduled to be empty for that period. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2020 19:54:04 GMT
Another panto that won't be happening this year. Major QDOS cancellation. I guess Birmingham Hippodrome will be next. |
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Post by princeton on Jul 3, 2020 21:09:22 GMT
I think that this year the Wolverhampton Grand was actually going to do an in-house production which may be one reason why they have decided to cancel - as presumably they would have had to invest more money up front than if it was a QDOS production (as had been the norm there for a long time). |
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Post by stevej678 on Jul 3, 2020 21:17:29 GMT
I think that this year the Wolverhampton Grand was actually going to do an in-house production which may be one reason why they have decided to cancel - as presumably they would have had to invest more money up front than if it was a QDOS production (as had been the norm there for a long time). Yes, the statement on the theatre's website about cancellation says that it would have been the first in-house panto for more than three decades. www.grandtheatre.co.uk/2020/07/03/grand-pantomime/ |
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Post by xanady on Jul 4, 2020 9:10:34 GMT
^The ‘lead-in’ to a Panto production takes a very long time and Qdos’s decision on August 3rd would be a very tight deadline as it is.
In terms of my two amateur Panto’s going ahead, on admittedly a minuscule scale compared to Qdos’s mammoth operation,I reckon we have a 1% chance of going ahead.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2020 13:44:54 GMT
^The ‘lead-in’ to a Panto production takes a very long time and Qdos’s decision on August 3rd would be a very tight deadline as it is. In terms of my two amateur Panto’s going ahead, on admittedly a minuscule scale compared to Qdos’s mammoth operation,I reckon we have a 1% chance of going ahead. Pantos effectively work year on year so start the planning as soon as one year is finished. Often the next year's pantos are announced when the current year ones open especially with returning stars. Principle casting can also be in place early with top names having agreed where they will be a few years in advance. Years back in the late 1990's I think a TV programme followed the casting and rehearsal process of Paul Elliott's pantos ( now QDOS) and he is was discussing possibly with the great Danny La Rue that he wanted him to do somewhere like Plymouth that year and Danny said he'd do it provided Paul guaranteed that next year he would be somewhere like Wimbledon or Woking so Danny would be local and could presumably get home each night. Scripts are often recycled and sets are mainly in storage but the casting process would take a while and top stars would need to know what is happening. I know Matt Slack has said he is always thinking and planning what he can do each year so is effectively writing his scripts on going. Other script writers will be looking to polish their scripts for local markets and all the logistics need to be booked. So decisions do need to be made. Do we think shows will just be pushed back a year or some may have different shows than those planned for this year. Also if we do lose a year then will the older performers return. They will be another year older and we don't know how many were thinking this year may be a swansong. |
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