Doughnuts and Coffee and Soup! Oh My!

Being happy is of the utmost importance. Success in anything is through happiness.

{Maharishi Mahesh Yogi} 

Well here we are again.  First day of the first week of the process!  It's fantastic to be back in the space, and seeing all those familiar faces.  Laughter, chatter and plenty of hugs and kisses are obligatory before we get down to work.

I must point out that despite my prior ecxitement, because of my chattering, I did miss out on the main doughnut selection process.  No gooey, messy ball of cream for me... I had to make do with a plain old Jam Dog-nut!  Although... considering that I've been living off soup and vegetables for the past couple of weeks... I need to fit into Jamie's costumes remember... a bit of sugar was welcomed!

The first read through went fantastically.  There was lots of laughter from around the table and chemistry was already clear between certain characters. Josie Lawrence (our evil Queen) and Kit (her Henchman) really brought the script to life.  Having a shared history in improv and comedy - I think the Guildford audience are in for a real treat.  They bounced off each other perfectly - and it was only the read through.

I'm really excited to work on the scenes with PG and Ray.  We have a few extra little surprises for the audience this year.  We've taken everything that people love about the Arnaud pantomime and squeezed as much of that in as we can.  Hopefully a laugh a minute and very messy!

I won't go into how 'the actor' feels on these first days... I've mentioned this in the past, but what I will say is that the group feels very tight this year.  There's no one slipping off into the shadows... everyone is mucking in together - all of which helps create this family feel, on and off stage. 

It's great, of course to have Gerry Tebbutt and Jill Francis at the helm again.  You can tell everyone feels in safe hands.  I should point out also that this is Gerry's 40th pantomime, so of course a very special one for him and so too for us, as he is so respected by all the familiar faces and ensemble. 

Finally a little note on the aforementioned ensemble.  I say this every year I know, but we seem to have a really strong tam this year!!  The guys and girls are all delightful and full of character, which again adds to the atmosphere in th rehearsal room. The singing that I've heard sounds wonderful and the dancing looks very slick!  A credit to the good work going on at PPA.

SO... that's it!  We're off!  Back into the panto swing of things - and I couldn't be happier!

Tata for now.

JB x