What Does a Panto Company Do Throughout the Year - June

Continuing our blog of what a pantomime company does ‘for the rest of the year’ here is a brief overview of what the Imagine team have been up to during June.

As we hit the half-way point of the year June has been an exceptionally busy month for the Imagine team.

This month has seen Junior Ensemble auditions begin with Louise travelling to Rotherham, Hastings and Reading to audition 9 to 16 year olds. She has seen some very talented young performers in all the venues and has faced some challenges selecting the final teams for each production. Following on from the auditions Beth in child licensing has then been sending out all of the paperwork needed to get the Junior Ensemble licensed for the panto.

June has also seen photoshoots for Halifax, Stafford and Reading take place and we have been delighted to be able announce our castings for Stafford and Halifax as well with The Conjurors appearing at the Victoria Theatre in Halifax and CBBC legend Mark Rhodes taking on the comic role in Beauty and the Beast at The Gatehouse in Stafford.

This month we were also able to announce that this Christmas we will be working with Trafalgar Theatres on Treasure Island at The Pavilion, Glasgow. The Pavilion has recently become part of the Trafalgar Theatres portfolio and we were delighted to be invited to be a part of such an iconic panto.

Casting was opened for our English and Welsh pantomimes and the casting team are currently working through more than 3500 submissions to select those we would like to see at our auditions in July.

The hot weather has allowed Anna and Jayson to work on their set builds and maintenance out in the sunshine and the wardrobe team have also been taking advantage of the good weather to air dry some of the costumes. Adam has also been hard at work drafting and cutting out patterns for Ugly Sister costumes and the wardrobe team have had a number of dames visiting the building for their costume fittings.

As we wave goodbye to June and enter the second half of the year it is now just 122 days until our first pantomime goes into rehearsal!

If you are interested in a further look behind the scenes check out the fortnightly Just Imagine Podcast which as well as interviews with the members of the Imagine HQ team includes guest interviews from the wide range of people we work with each year.