DOES PANTO EXIST IN AMERICA

[Daniel3]

Posted: 12/27/04 at 9:13pm

does it?

[Plum]

Posted: 12/27/04 at 9:14pm

As in pantomime?

[Daniel3]

Posted: 12/27/04 at 9:17pm

yer, with fat men in drag and stuff?

[Plum]

Posted: 12/27/04 at 9:19pm

Chances are it exists somewhere, but I don't know about it. Sorry I can't really be of use.

In the future, could you please avoid the all-caps subject header? It seems like you're yelling.

[Daniel3]

Posted: 12/27/04 at 9:22pm

i am yelling,

i just wondered if pantomime was a part of the theatre christmas season

[Plum]

Posted: 12/27/04 at 9:23pm

Oh. Well, if you are yelling I guess it's fair for me to be annoyed by it.

If no one can answer you you can try Googling it.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 12/27/04 at 9:39pm

America doesn't have a Panto tradition in the way that the Brits do. I guess panto does sort of exist here in a very different form on the fringes and in amateur theatre -- there are times I've seen individual acts in christmas pageants, in avant garde downtown theatre, in dance and variety shows that remind me of what the Brits would call Panto, but it's somewhat rare that you would ever see an entire evening of "performance" here (for lack of a better term) that could really be termed Panto.

Funny thing, the only times I can remember regularly seeing something sort of spiritually akin to panto was back in the 80s and 90s at certain performance-oriented gay bars/clubs (The Pyramid Club, Boy Bar) where they aspired to put on shows far more ambitious than just having a bunch of drag queens get up and lip-synch, and instead created evenings which involved "performance artists" in fully staged sketches and pantomimes, often political in nature, but still a bit campy and funny and extremely entertaining. They're hard to describe, but were not disimilar to what the Brits call panto (I remember speaking to Brits who saw those shows who described them as "panto on acid").

Updated On: 12/28/04 at 09:39 PM

[wildcat]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 12:45am

I think the Mayfair Music Hall in Santa Monica, Cal. was the last bastion of panto in the States, but it was never a popular art form in America, although you could hardly call it art in the UK anymore. It occasionally still does well in pub theatres in Australia at Christmastime but, as Margo points out, relying more on the drag show element and certainly aimed at adults.

[paradox_error]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 6:53am

I've been in several Pantomimes in Australia, and they go over very well. They aren't quite the real british thing, but they are still great!
Any panto is better than no panto!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 9:49am

The closest I've seen to panto in the US are the old 19th-century melodramas that many amateur and community theatres perform as an annual summer event. Usually, they boo the villain, sigh for the heroine and cheer the hero. Between each act are the oleos (old-fashioned sing-a-longs) and popcorn is given to the audience to throw at the villain.

[wildcat]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 9:56am

Sorry, Matt. The principal boy must be played by a girl, the Dame must be played by a man, the sidekick or best friend (i.e. "Buttons" in CINDERELLA) is the comedian and there has to be a childrens' ballet or chorus. Also there are set pieces like "the cooking scene" where flour ends up everywhere, and audience participation along the lines of, "Now children, if you see ANYONE try to steal my aspidistra, I want you all to call out....WIDOW TWANKEY!!!!"

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 10:33am

I didn't say melodrama WAS panto, but that it was the closest thing to panto in US theatre.

[DBillyP]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 11:30am

Theatre Britain in Dallas, TX does holiday panto.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 2:07pm

most productions of Peter pan still maintain the watered down panto-esque tradions of Peter Pan

[Daniel3]

Posted: 12/28/04 at 2:44pm

just peter pan?

I dont think its as big in big london shows but every theatre in England has a panto over December of a fairy tale with modern songs, camp cheesy dance rutines, a "blue" dame and all sorts of glitter