The Babes Party!

A tradition that goes way way back- The Babes Party as it is known in Pantoland- this is when both sets of “babes” or “Juves” or “Juveniles” have a farewell party that they host for the cast. This year the pupils of the Mayhew School also had their own “Secret Santa” as well.

Loads of food and all the company attended in The Royal Room, which is next to the historic Theatre Royal here. To access it you had to cross the public foyer- a reason why I’m in full costume! I’d not like to bump into tonight’s audience in an old dressing gown and no wig but a face covererd in make up!

It really is now very cold outside! The weather has changed and the streets are icy. I was grateful for the duvet and furry blanket after the party to curl up and snooze until the half hour call.

Damian has been working hard on another tradition backstage here at the Derngate- The walls are painted to represent shows that have been presented here, and the cast sign them. Our “Jack & The Beanstalk” section of wall has been painted by Damian in green and gold, and sits beneath last year’s “Cinderella” signatures. We’ll have a signing ceremony tomorrow and become a little piece of Derngate history.

Lovely to see Chris Covington in to watch the show tonight. Chris created UV (Black light) puppet specialities for pantomimes and children’s shows around the country for many years. I was glad the tradition of using UV remains in our show for the Beanstalk transformation end of Act One.

A very perky audience tonight. Big laughs, much applause that added three minutes to our running time. It was the audience, honest! Not us!

Dressing rooms all look very bare, and you can really tell that the run is about to come to an end. We’ve been blessed here in our Northampton Pantoland- genuinely a delightful company and crew, and we’ve all enjoyed each others company throughout a really lovely season.