Let's start at the very beginning...

Once again there is a flurry of activity around the fact that the 'working man' is getting lost in our industry. Times are changing and not for the better (they cry). Bring back rep (they cry). However isn't the current noise coming from the people that are the elite or at least have become the elite? The ones that have made it in our industry? Isn't it something like 2% of performers actually make a living out of being a performer? I mean great that they're shouting, and using their position to make some noise, but is that all it is? Noise?

What happened to the drama college that was going to be funded by actors, where all the fees were going to be covered by the professionals? That was 'launched' with panache and then fell by the wayside (unless I've missed something?)

Shall we start at the beginning of the cycle as opposed to jumping to the middle. The 'working man' can't even afford to go to the theatre to get inspired to even think of it as a career at the moment. So is this just the elite shouting to the elite anyway?

Since 2010 The MTA has run a scheme whereby any local children can come and watch our panto on a pay what you can arrangement.  When we were at the Drill Hall, you won't be surprised to hear that the two schools that took us up on the deal, could pay a fair rate.  In subsequent years we've been in less affluent areas so the pay what you can rate has gotten considerably lower.  Then in 2014 we did our first panto in what was then going to be our 'new home' down at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre in Tottenham.

Thanks to the combined efforts of local schools, us and indeed BGAC, in the first year alone we played to over 1000 children.  A lot of whom had NEVER been to the theatre before.  It was the most humbling thing ever to watch their amazement at the 'magic' of a simple mirror ball.  They didn't mind that we didn't have a fancy all singing, all dancing set...they loved just being entertained by the simple magic of theatre.

Last year we extended the scheme and played to over 1500 children.  Again their faces were a joy to watch (in fact I had to work hard to remember that I was supposed to be watching the show, not watching the joy on the children's faces).  After each show we arranged a meet and greet with the cast, and the children were ecstatic. Even the older 'cool kids' visually got excited by 'meeting the stars'.  Let's keep it real here - the stars were just our 2nd years. . . having the time of their lives being idolised by all the kids, and learning themselves the importance that panto has not just for our industry, but also in our society.

The trouble is though, that shows and hiring theatres cost money.  In a 2 week run we don't stand a chance of recouping our losses. However part of our students' fees go towards funding 4 shows a year for them, so in a way each show is subsidised.  In a bid to extend the scheme even further this year we've started to fund raise. Obviously we're looking for commercial sponsors(so if you're a Tottenham based firm and fancy helping out this Christmas, please do get in touch). So we're trying a 'buy a child a seat' crowdfunding scheme https://www.gofundme.com/24vga64

I'm aware that something similar was tried recently for Dougal Irvine's The Busker's Opera down at The Park theatre, although I missed if they managed to raise the money or not. I hope so as it was a great idea.

I'd love to take the credit for the fund raiser, however it was our Health and Welfare Consultant, Angie Peake who thought of it and decided to give it a go.  She did the usual sum of 'if all of my friends on FB sponsored just one seat we'd raise X amount of money' Of course in reality this just doesn't happen for a multitude of reasons I suspect. That said we've already funded 30 places, which is nearly a class coming to see the panto this year, that maybe wouldn't normally afford to even contemplate a theatre visit.

We're aiming to get 2000 children in this year...so the race is on to find the extra money that this will cost us.  We'll do it though...because it's important.

Then what if one child loves what they see and decides to 'give it a go' themselves? What then? Well I hate to say it, but we're back in the realms of the haves and haves not. How do they afford to go to classes? What schemes are there in the local community to fund children slowly building aspirations?

The thing is though, we're not just talking about theatre, which let's face it has always been elite? Why are we pretending that this is new? When I was training it was elite...but the 'working classes' will always find a way to help their children out of their rut. That's just what we do!   If your child wants to study ANYTHING in HE the working classes are priced out of the market. So who's going to build the social housing of the future? Will it be some upper class architect with a social conscience, trying to make amends for their own family's wealth? Shouldn't it be designed by the people who understand the needs of the community, the people that were brought up in that environment?

Of course architects don't generally 'have a public voice', so we don't keep reading in the papers what they're saying about the future of their industry.  So we're back to so called celebrities, using their platform to voice their concerns and rattle a few cages.

My TL is engulfed with people Sharing or RT'ing' these worthy statements - but what do YOU do to change things? It's easy to click and 'share'. It's easy to write a rousing comment to go with the 'share', but what do you actually DO to make a difference?

The reality is, probably nothing. You want the answer to come from the government. It's THEIR fault that we're in this situation, so THEY should do something about it.

The trouble is....they won't.

Whichever government it is...they won't.

If socialism is ever to work as anything more than just some rabble rousing rhetoric, then each of us will have to make different choices. Don't have your Starbucks tomorrow and donate that money to a more worthy cause. Don't have that pint after the show, and donate the money to a worthy cause.  The thing is, we could ALL do our bit but our apathy or introverted thinking means that we won't(and I'm not exempt from this argument. I could make different choices too).

So next time you click 'Share' or RT an amazing speech, hold up a mirror and ask yourself if you could do something different...just once? If you're not sure what to do...then do remember that this appeal will be running for months: https://www.gofundme.com/24vga64

I Believe in Once Upon A Time

On Wednesday, The MTA opened a new production of my version of Cinderella, as ever with my pantos with a book by Daniel O'Brien. Commissioned originally for the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds, back in my pre-MTA days(2007), and then revived in 2010. In fact it was the first panto that The MTA ever produced (when we were doing our productions in the Drill Hall). Fast forward 5 years and with another year group with a rubbish gender balance, I've found myself revisiting the show for a 3rd time. 3 versions, all with very different directors (and companies I should say)...resulting in yet another adaptation of the original.  This year's director, the rather splendid Howard Samuels, who has directed The MTA panto for the last 3 years, agreed that we should revisit Cinders, much, I should say, to my relief at the time, as I just fancied a few months off writing (having written 5 pantos and 6 full length musicals in 6 years, I fancied a breather).  Of course that didn't happen as Howard always works hard to ensure that all of our MTA students get a good show (not just the Principles)...however in this instance that meant that I had to write an additional 7 songs. So not quite the breather that I was hoping for.  That said, as ever, he was right, and the show is all the better for the addition of that material.

My very first professional job out of college was a panto - The Wizard of Oz which played at the Roses theatre in Tewkesbury.  Back then I seriously thought that I'd hit the big time, as I'd graduated in the August and it was the first time that I would be receiving a salary for being a MD.  I then spent over a decade in panto wilderness, as I took over the musical reins of The Steam Industry and of course Christmas was the time that we were producing the infamous, and critically acclaimed BAC musicals.  In fact during that time I could often be heard saying that I was glad to be doing a Christmas show, but not a panto.

Then fast forward to 2005, and I found myself back in panto land, this time persuaded by a mate who was producing, directing and staring in his own panto down in Hounslow.  By the 2nd performance I had remembered what was so special about panto - the excitement on the children's faces, as the most simplest of theatrical tricks, enthralled them into the trap that is theatre.  A quick dip back into the ocean of the Christmas musical (curtesy of the UK tour of Annie), before I found myself in 2007 writing the music for my first panto.

I constantly preach to my students that there is never any need to be unemployed at Christmas time, there are just so many shows going on up and down the country.  Of course some are better than others, but whether you're appearing in a huge QDOS spectacular, or touring the local care homes delivering your panto...Christmas is the time where there is potentially work for everyone. I've been a professional musician since 1989...and have worked every single Christmas (much to my partner's annoyance some time)

Sadly though there is still a snobbery about panto in this country, even though it is an English institution.  Performers who will do anything rather than having to do a panto.  I have strong memories of one, rather famous celebrity, telling me, on a daily basis that they were too good for panto, and indeed too good for that particular town, and really, they should be in the West End for Christmas.  I remember thinking at the time, that with that attitude they didn't deserve to be in the West End full stop!

Actors moan about the schedule. Performers are like owls...we come into our own in the dark.  9 or 10am shows are a killer.  Then there's the fact that instead of working for our regular 3 hour day, come panto time, we might have to do a 9 hour day.  Let's ignore the fact that there are plenty of people that would kill to do a 9 hour day...but performers are a funny breed, they moan when they're working and they moan when they're not.

When I opened The MTA, I was adamant that my graduates would not only be taught how to perform in the panto tradition, but also that they would appreciate...ideally even revere panto and all that it stood for.  The dream was always to build up the number of performances so that they would have a little insight into the gruelling schedule that most modern production company demand from their performers at Christmas.  This year I'm thrilled to say that we're up to 19 performances.  As I write this my 2nd years have just done their first 3 show day...with another 2 lined up.  So 9 performances in 3 days just like....panto!  They will learn how to land the lines for a school audience, then change the show and its nuances for the adult audiences later on in the day. They've already learnt that feeling of the show coming down and arriving back into the dressing room to hear their DSM call the half.

Before every MTA panto season starts I literally preach to the students the responsibility they have, to ensure that every child (and every child within each adult), leaves that auditorium feeling some Christmas magic.  We have the potential to make a 'dream come true'.  Whether the theatre is filled to the brim with just over 200 screaming school children, or whether there are 10 brave souls that have opted to give us their money in their search for entertainment we have a professional obligation to deliver the goods.

After each show they can chose to keep the magic alive a bit longer by their characters meeting the children.  As with all of my MTA decisions....it was based on a bad experience - this one was based around the well known performer who was headlining a panto that I was involved in, who turned down a young girl's request to have her photo taken with the 'star'.  In that instant a dream could have come true...but instead the performer turned around to the family and told them that it was their 'down time' and they preferred not to be interrupted.

We don't really do hard work in theatre...I'm sorry but we don't.  Speak to manual labourers, breaking their backs for hours on end for peanuts, or speak to the professionals saving lives hour after hour. We just sing, dance and act a bit for a limited number of hours per day.  We do this (mostly) because we love it.  That's not hard work people...that's a bloody privilege. I used to see my parents coming home from work (both of whom had hard, working class jobs)...both knackered from the rigours of their day.  They never moaned, they just got on with it, as they needed to pay the bills, and they chose to pay for my brothers and myself to have a certain sort of life.  Part of that life for me, was to take me to the theatre...to see the annual Swansea panto (which back then played from November through to March).  My mum very often would have put in overtime to have saved up to take me to see this 'magical world'.

Every time I see the audience arriving in a theatre I wonder what sacrifices have been made to enable that particular bum to go on that particular seat. Sure there are people that can just afford it, but not all.  The MTA's panto does a pay what you can rate for every local school child, to ensure that every child in our area at least has the opportunity to see 'the magic'.

So I attempt to teach my graduates to appreciate the art form, to stay true to the magic, as children are so precious, what an amazing gift to give them, and finally regardless of how many people are sat in that audience...you give them 150% because you don't know what sacrifices they've made to get themselves there.  I guess in other words, I'm attempting to put out a generation of performers that will change the lives of the next generation of theatre goers.

We have no fancy sets, no amazing tricks, we have talent and we have imagination, and judging by the children's faces when they eventually get to actually meet our cast at the end of the show, that is still as magical today as it was 40 years ago when I was growing up.  As a trainer of professional performers, I have an obligation to remind them of their responsibility.  At Christmas, more than any other time, we can all make magic, so let's revel in that and not moan or belittle that gift eh?