Comments on: London Pantomime Has New Villain: Bankers!

By: SnarkiChildOfLoki

SnarkiChildOfLoki — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:21:49 +0000

There are at least two theaters running Pantos in the Philly area: one is a “traditional”, small production. Another is a mix of British panto with Broadway (both in production values and overall tone).

I think the British empire is trying to make a comeback….first the Pythons, then the Pantos, then…insidious bahstards, eh?

By: percyprune

percyprune — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 17:26:56 +0000

A Londoner writes.

The correct headline for this should be:

“Oh No He Isn’t!” “Oh Yes He Is!”

Given that Dick Whittington is about London’s first lord mayor, it’s appropriate that a banker be a villain. A nice change from the recent trend of replacing characters with other cultural icons. In recent years we have seen Aladdin’s genie replaced by Spiderman, much to my confusion.

By: T-Bear

T-Bear — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:50:55 +0000

Going to Dublin to catch the Panto (3 or 4 different companies playing different Theatres) ~~was~~is de-rigueur for all the cultchies at christmastime even these days. The U.S. is the poorer for the absence of the Panto. Probably the closest form was the vaudevillian theatre.

(cultchies = country folk)

By: TobyWollin

TobyWollin — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:42:24 +0000

new thread upstairs, folks.

By: TobyWollin

TobyWollin — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:40:25 +0000

Well, for those of us who are addicts of Monte Python, the pantomime horse and the pantomime Princess Margaret are things that were funny, just on their face, but had no cultural meaning for US. In the UK, however, it was a whole different matter entirely.

By: T-Bear

T-Bear — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:38:06 +0000

Another place, another time, when people actually spoke to one another, went to the pub, sang and danced and did their best to entertain each other. That is four generations or more ago, something that is reportable in FoxFire, there is no living recall of those times. Even the family and neighbors gathered about the radio on a Sunday to listen to Amos n Andy or Charly McCarthy, such evening is no longer a living recall. Only in the home islands is the Panto still revered, as it should be as a cultural institution that brought people together, to enjoy the company, and share their piece of holiday happiness with each other. What a loss the colonialists enjoy. ;-(

By: demi

demi — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:27:15 +0000

A little satire goes a long way.
In a nut shell, there’s a very good article in the Detroit Free Press, If I had the Floor at the auto rescue talks by Mitch Albom who says
You’ve already given hundreds of billions to banking and finance companies — and hardly demanded anything. Yet you balk at the very idea of giving $25 billion to the Detroit Three. Heck, you shoveled that exact amount to Citigroup — $25 billion — just weeks ago, and that place is about to crumble anyhow.
Full article here: http://www.freep.com/article/2.....371/?imw=Y

Does the word “hypocrisy” ring a bell?

By: TobyWollin

TobyWollin — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:26:07 +0000

I’m note sure we can really understand the whole cultural tradition of “Christmas Pantomime”. When my mom was a nurse in Glasgow during the war, she played the role of the genie in Aladin for the wounded soldiers and sailors. They would go without a lot of stuff during the war, but to not have a ‘panto’ at Christmas would have been the end of the world.

By: T-Bear

T-Bear — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:15:09 +0000

There’s a king rat in the Nutcracker Ballet as well, IIRC.