It’s Panto time again - oh yes it is!
And this year it’s a FADS in-house creation: ‘Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs’. In a nutshell, it’s fairytale meets the X Factor….
Brief overview: The Prince’s 21st birthday is being marked with a party and a singing contest. Everyone in the village seems to be in hock to the local lupine moneylender, the Prince has a dual identity, the forest fairy’s lost her magic powers and the outlandish village barmaid’s numpty grandson has a constant stream of sketchy toilets to clean. We’ve got singing pigs dodging their debts, a lovely red-caped young lady who doesn’t realise what a star she is and a down-on-his-luck music agent desperate to sign The Next Big Thing. Want to know how is all hangs together? Hop on board!
(FADS members can access the full script via the members' page of the website.)
Auditions are going to be held on Tuesday 21st August at 7:30pm in the Menzies Hall. We’ve got 10 principal parts, 3 smaller adult parts, 2 little soloist moments and at least 7 children’s roles, plus the chorus – so the more, the merrier!
I'll pull out a few scenes to give all the main characters (see below) an airing and there will also be a bit of singing, so bring your finest voice if you’d like to go for a solo part. It’ll all be very casual, no practising in advance required.
Children (primary school age) don’t need to come to this audition – we’ll have a casting at a later date (TBC) – but if you have children that would like to be involved, please email me their names and ages.
Important note: You MUST be a fully-paid up FADS member to audition, so if you haven’t already completed a membership form for 2018-19, you can download it here . There will be a member of the committee at the audition to collect forms and cheques (or you can make an online bank transfer in advance).
If there are any parts you’re particularly keen on, pop me an email before the audition, otherwise there’ll be plenty of opportunity to try out for a few different ones. And if you’d like to take part but can’t make the 21st, again, just email me and we’ll sort something out for another time.
Future date-wise, I’ve booked the hall for a full read through of the script on Tuesday 28th Aug, 7:30pm, then rehearsals will start in early September on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, as usual. The performance dates will be pretty much the same as last year:
Thurs 29th & Fri 30th Nov – 7:30pm
Sat 1st Dec – 2:00pm and 7:30pm
Thurs 6th & Fri 7th Dec – 7:30pm
Sat 8th Dec – 2:00pm and 7:30pm.
Can’t wait to see you all and get casting!
Principal characters
Red Riding Hood (our Heroine)
A lovely girl with the voice of an angel, but a bit shy. Only sings in the forest, where nobody can hear her. Lives in the village and rents rooms to the Three Pigs. They’re in a spot of financial bother so aren’t paying her any rent, but she doesn’t have the heart to see them on the street.
Margarita Pracagran-Tippletaker (The Dame)
A global sensation, in her day, for all the wrong reasons. Owns the village pub/club, ‘Grandma’s House’, which she runs with her grandson, Toddy. Fancies Hammy like mad.
Prince John / Lumberjack John (our Hero)
Nice boy with good values who finds royal life a bit high-pressure, so moonlights incognito as a lumberjack, allowing him to get back to nature in the woods. Falls in love with Red, obviously.
Toddy Tippletaker (our Numpty)
A total softie and thick as a roll of Bounce. Helps his grandmother run her pub, where he’s in charge of keeping the toilets clear. Good friends with Red, John and Hollyfern.
Gruff Fortune (our Baddie)
Gruff the wolf is the local dodgy money lender. He stupidly lent The Three Pigs a load of money a couple of years ago and he hasn’t had a penny of it back. When he went to their houses last year to try to get some from them, a huffing/puffing incident ended with him getting a poke in the eye, so he now wears an eyepatch. He has absolutely no good qualities.
Hollyfern (our Fairy)
Sweet thing, but no magic powers since Gruff snapped her wand in a fit of temper. She lives in the forest, but flits about between everyone, trying to be helpful and warn people about Gruff.
Hammy Davis Jr. (The Dame’s love interest)
Low-grade music impresario who’s down on his luck and looking for a brilliant new act to sign. The only half-decent act he has on his books is The Three Little Pigs. He’s what Simon Cowell would be, if he were porkier.
The Three Little Pigs
Their career hasn’t taken off like Hammy promised it would, so they’re earning nothing and have burnt through all the money they borrowed from Gruff ages ago. Are in a financial pickle so had to give up their homes and are now living with Red, who hasn’t the heart to charge them rent. Constantly in fear of Gruff finding them again.