Plenty of Pantomime still going on in South London, with Sleeping Beauty in Bromley, Cinderella in Catford and Mother Goose in Greenwich this year. Here's a couple of historical references:
At Christmas 1852 the Crystal Palace was still under construction at the top of Sydenham Hill (it opened there in June 1854). A preview of its attractitions was though included in the 1852 Christmas panto at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane which featured scenes set in 'The New Crystal Palace and Gardens at Sydenham'. There were fairies representing 'Art, Science, Concord, Progress, Peace, Invention, Wealth, Health, Success, Happiness, Industry and Plenty' and an Imp announced:
'Behold my treasures here, there's nought forbid in 'em,
And all will be revelaed though now it's hid in 'em' [Sydenham, gettit?]
In 1881 the pantomime at the Surrey Theatre, Blackfriars Road, featured music hall star the 'Great' G.H. Macdermott singing the lines: 'Whenever I sees a copper, I always tells a whopper'.
Source: 'Oh, yes it is - a history of pantomime' by Gerald Frow (BBC, 1985).
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1 comment:
thoroughly recommend Mother Goose at Greenwich Theatre, on till 3 Jan. Brilliant script, dame and musicians (live).
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