August is over! It’s almost time for the Halls to re-open - Croydon Blog 7 - August 2019

August has been another busy month in the world of Cinderella at Fairfield Halls, Croydon. Most people have been enjoying their summer holidays but not so for the team working on the show! The temperature has been rising in the design studios and workshops across the country.

Things are progressing well over at Fairfield Halls. Work is almost complete, and the seats are all fitted back in the Phoenix Concert Hall, where we will be performing. There are painters and decorators everywhere. The venue is well on track for its re-opening in just 2 weeks’ time!

The Halls are re-emerging from behind the hoardings! Source https://twitter.com/ErmerlindaJ/status/1162748360631246849

The first piece of panto related news to announce is that we welcome Nina Dunn on board as our Video Designer Nina is a really exciting appointment for us. Nina has worked on some amazing theatrical productions recently including 9 to 5 at the Savoy Theatre and the tour of In The Night Garden. This is the first panto that Nina has worked on and the first time that Imagine have included so much video content into one of their shows. The ideas being discussed are really exciting and we can’t wait to see the finished product. Nina is working very closely with the designer Mark Walters to ensure that the A/V content of the show has the right feel and style to the rest of the show. Having video content in the show has certainly got the creative juices flowing within the creative team.

L-R Nina Dunn (Video Designer), Laura Taylor (Imagine Theatre), Will Brenton (Script Writer) and Steve Boden (Imagine Theatre) met in London recently to talk through how the scripting will integrate with the set and all the other exciting things we have up our sleeves!

The second big piece of news to share with you is that the script is well under way and our writer is confirmed. This is the last part of the project to fall into place.

We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Will Brenton on board as the writer of Cinderella. We’ve not said much yet about the technology integration within the show, but with his experience in theatre, arena shows, TV and panto script writing, Will became the obvious choice. Will has written many pantos for us and also directed and is currently working as a director on the TV show Emmerdale. We’re looking forward to receiving his first draft of this new version of the show.

The set build is well under way. The newly created Imagine Theatre Scenic Workshops, overseen by Dave Edmunds our Head of Operations, are working their magic to bring Mark Walter’s beautiful set designs to life. Imagine has always been able to build scenic elements - we’ve now just made the set up a little bigger. Things are progressing along well with the build, and we should have some photos to share with you soon but in the mean time there’s a sneak peak below. It’s possibly one of the most complex builds we’ve ever undertaken or worked on, whilst also being deceptively simple in its look. We can’t wait to share it with you!

A sneaky peak of some of the design currently being built, waiting to be painted and then used for… well we can’t tell you just yet! . We can’t tell you how beautiful the overall design is. It literally takes our breath away every single time we see it.

Dawn Outhwaite, Head of Wardrobe for Imagine Theatre, is overseeing the costume makes. Mark Walters costume designs compliment the set beautifully. We have a whole team working with Dawn to bring Mark’s vision to life. Dawn recently went fabric shopping with Mark, our designer. Here’s an idea of some of the fabric colours they chose, and she and the team are now working with.

The fabrics are so colourful and vibrant. We can’t wait to see them made up into the costumes.

So, we move onwards into September, and the venue is almost ready for its handover, the gala re-opening with Dame Judi Dench on Monday 16th September. It really is all go in Croydon!