1951-12-15 — Page 17

STAGE

MANAGER

MOTHER,

GOOSE

STACE MANAGER

THE CHINA MAIL, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1951.

ALADDIN and Co. WARM UP

STAGE MANAGER

AND

EACH of the boxes contains the essence of a pantomiing--the wurds the muse, dom- Fans for production ant lighting. The. will be on

j'alace their way from the Theatre, London, To Hentres le tue preventer

AT THE THEATRICAL COSTUMIERS hampers of pantomime dresses are prepared for amuteur as well as professional productions. Rarely provided ay the costumer dressing the show are the Principal Girl's tights Tradition

has it that she provides them hersel

MME. BECKER Tcho nas Jeen making theatrical cas- umer 25 years, consulta designer Slade Lucas.

...But the pantomime demons will go short of sulphur

ver Britain, pan- houses in provincial towns, for Brst nights of runs that one tire rehearsals in Church halls and may stretch

A

LI

now

stairs

rooms

of public

made for a party,

it.

of

and popular conception of a com- scenery. The reason for this is

the world shortage of sulphur mid- generally it is reckoned to have poser. from

tour or Ove years' service, with Mr Mann was at work on the pantomime demous might note have begun. From assembly-roums, they will winter into late spring.

alterations, one expert told me. opening chorus of a pantomime until Christmas,

It would be mistake, Mme. Becker, who is of Rus- in go on every day

for one of a group of eight his We found one rehearsal in cavernous norning - emplo And 300-odd Cinderellas. however, to suppose that sian origin and has cut and fitted firm was producing. In the past progress. It was Emil Littler's dresses for pantomime for 25 he has been responsible not only Aladdin at the London Casino. theatres and in cold up- Aladdins, Humpty Dumptys pantomime consists only of

years, hus six women working for providing music but for Mr Littler and a covey of ex- will be ready the people seen across the for her, and and the rest

in the 10 days supervising production up and perts were in the upper gallery footlights the principal before our call they had made down the country. He reckoned of the theatre planning Intricate boys in their tights (fish- 11 costumes.

that the opening chorus would detaus of pre.entation, Cleaners net mesh, now costing about

with polish and mops and pails we e bury among the tiers 43 a pair), dames in their

cmpty eats (63) cleaner receive, two front stalls, compli- mentary, during the run of the pontomime). On the stage 28 have taken bam half an hour to girls in practice costume of black write if he were ever left with pants and white tops groupe an uninterrupted half hour: as (und a pluno to learn the words it was, with telephones pro- of a chorus song.

on his desk, it took When they went away,

young man took over on the stage. Someone in the orchestra was a

The

WARDROBE MISTRESSES Mergut Martin and Bee Laurence put final touches to redhead Jean Carson's blue semina Aladdin rostume reuty for the ⚫stitis photographer.

feather beas and the ubiquitous chorus.

Ry the end of the week

ing

by ROBERT KINGSLEY

who once

a

the oustumiers must have Ju the wig rearlent of an- their costumes ready for other ostamer, M. Harold P. despatch to the theatres, Long, unrester and make-up and in one firm near Covent tid, was at work on a tower-

Ugly Sister wig--green with minent Garden Market we watched a crison tow, that would take longer. The finishing touches being three to four hours to (On- Mr Mann, put to costumes for a Man- plete. it was made of hair from

the

of yakts, Besides Mr pierrot on Shanklin pier, has it out on a gramophone record. chester Old King Cole.

Long, two colleagues worked at been in pantomime for 15 years, pirouetted with skill in outdoor

and he said that two-thirds of shoes. silver white courtiers'

in his firm's shows The Seugner, Mr Slade Lucas, made from floss, a by-product the music

woellen industry. The would be original, the other 110 designs for this of the

third consisting of currently watching

hair most readily avaliable, Mr Mme. the heal of the depart Long sail was oriental human popular songs.

she supervised Anal hair: "The peasants sell it," he a lemon-yellow dress said.

a hu

suv

Banker

Details DI

wigs

emply

young

men danced

and

Someone said in the that's theatre: "Surely an old needle, isn't it, all those A new needle was scratches?" fitted and the young man resum- We called at a scene-painter's ed his pirouettes. studio in a side street near Then he went away We went next to the fourth Drury Lane, a lofty building girls came back, and at the end "I always make the principal floor of a theatre to meet a man

with walls of whitewashed brick, of the afternoon the cleaners girl's dresses very young and who made musi: for panto-

where 25 men were working scrubbed the stage for the even- simple the very thing that Jac- mimes Mi Hastings Mann, who aftd the dungarees of everyone ing's shows.

doing now for is called Bill by his friends and were doppled with vari-colour- who, ir o business-sult and eà paint. There we learnt that

The magic of pantomime An evening dress for a panto- horn-rimmed spectacles, looks there is, at present, some diffi- might seem

far away, but it mime will cost just as much as more like a city man than the culty in getting blue paints for was in the making.

as the principal girl. He said:

*

ques Futl every say wear,"

Z

and the

DANCING GIRLS relax in the stalls between numbers. Gloria George, of Chelsea, nearest camera, understudies the parts of Boy, Girl and Fatry in Aladdin Paddy Kirshner, next to her, comes from Rhodesia, lives with her grandparents.

Pictures by Victor Drees

MR HASTINGS MANNLworks on the arguing chorus of a provincial pantomime. The management he works for pro- duecs eight pantomimes, which will involve nearly 3,000 pagez of music.

VIGNETTES OF LIFE

ANYTHING ELSE I CAN

DO F' YOU FOLKS?

MORE HEATS

Eight More Shopping Days

"OH, DEAR?

OK,DEAR.

Hy KEMP STARLETT

LIMITED YOUR FOLKS HERE FOR CHRISTMAS...AND HOW MY FOLKS WANT IS TO COME

TO THEM.

WHAT ON EARTI SHALL WE DOS

THINK FAST!*

NOTICE HOW POLITE THE JANITOR..

HAS BEEN THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS?

I WISH YOU'D

MAKE UP YOUR MIND - IF ANY—

AND QUIT MAUL-

ING THE GOODS!*

BUT SOME OF THE SALES-FOLKS... AS POLITE AS A CHIMPANZEE WITH A

TOOTH-ACHE.

'GO'WAY, YA LITTLE PEST, OR I'LL .....

A

BIG F-F- FAREA

"THE SANTAS ARE GETTING AS EDGEY AS A HEV RAZOR. BLADE HEL

AO NGH

EVER NOTICE HOW A LITTLE STROLL ALWAYS TAKES IN SOME OF THE MOST EXPEN - SIVE SHOW-WINDOWS IN TOWN >

COPE. 195E BY GENERAL FEATURES 'CORF, TM-WORND RIGHTS RESERVED.

MISTLETOE MISTER P

TULNY FIR

CENTS*

THE OPTIMIST

GIFTS... AND HOW TO MAKE FIFTY BUCKS' WORTH LOOK LIKE 200, AREA'T THE ONLY CHRISTMAS PROBLEMS: KEEPING TWO FAMILIES HAPPY KEEPS YOU AS AGITATED AS CONFETTI IN A HIGH WIND.

LE GAVE ME A FIFTY-CENT TIS LAST YEAR AND THATS ALL HE'LL GET FROM ME

THIS YEAR!

THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

RAVE WE

GOT ANY INK ERADICATORS

WE COULD USE COME O

THOSE OLD YOU CARDSY."

WE NEED EKIT MORE

CHRISTMAS EVE

TRAT CARD PROBLEM AGAIN. ÞERSISTENT AS A GRASS TIRE.

SHALL WE SELD MARY A TEN CENT

CARD OR A

NICKEL ONES