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I just happened to look in the newspaper archive which happened to be one a month before Christmas in 1988 - funnily enough, I saw Snow White with school that year, but it was in October. I looked at the regional listings and it was so fascinating to see familiar names listed back then - some still with us while others sadly not. In recent years, I have started my "PantoGraphs" project (Pantomine, meets Autograph, geddit?) and in the past decade or so, spent a bit more on the stamps not used on posting Christmas cards or charity dinations, and posting an autograph book to a number of theatres around the country, either locally or outside the city's main Post Office. Since the 2010s I have been limited to Reality TV stars; boybands such as Blue and Diversity (Antony Costa was brilliant!); local weathermen and the odd person who looks familiar but cannot put the name to the face. But back in the mid to late 1980s, we had proper "TV-am sofa guest" entertainer celebrities and anyone who was known to everyone. It was the case in the mid to late 1980s, and Here are a few examples:
Lorraine Chase and Jeffrey Holland were appearing in Aladdin at Fairfield Halls in Croydon - closer to Heathrow rather than Luton Airport, methinks. In Bromley, Kent, the Churchill Theatre was offering Babes in the Wood, starring Barbara Windsor (who seemed to be perfect for such a panto role - the show almost described Babs to a T!); Nicholas Parsons and Roland Rat. I assume that the Cinderella panto that Jim Davidson starred as Buttons in at the Dominican Theatre was an adults-only one; still, we had Davo's friend Jess Conrad, George Sewell (who I mostly think of being a Lionel Blair stooge on Give is A Clue); and Burton Joyce's own Sherrie Hewson. Oh, and Roger Kitter as well. The Richmond Theatre (the one in Surrey, not the one in Sunak's back yard) had Dick Whittington starring Bernie Winters (was Schnorbitz involved I wonder?) and Su Pollard. The Beck Theatre in Hayes had Jack in the Beanstalk starring Charlie Drake, Lynda Baron, Jack Smethurst and Sally Thomsett - I had booked to see something at the Beck in Hayes in 2018, but as it was within the M25 I got lost and never arrived to see it! Another Jack and the Beanstalk panto, this time at the Lewisham Theatre, had Keith Chegwin, Geoff Capes (no doubt he played the Giant), Hillary O'Neill and some Mr Men (who sadly, their "biographer" Roger Hargreaves sadly passed away in 1988 aged 53). Lulu and Christopher Timothy were the main stars of Peter Pan - the Musical at the Wimbledon Theatre.
Ted Rogers' producers Yorkshire TV had consigned any new series of 3-2-1, not into Dusty Bin but into an actual dustbin, and although he hosted one more Christmas special as well as an Olympics special earlier on in the year, that was it. However, Rogers and Bin had time for panto at Brighton's Theatre Royal, which also starred Bill Owen having the first sip of his Winter Wine for 1988, and amazingly, South Today's main female anchor, Sally Taylor. Crossroads finished almost for good in April that year, and one of their stars was Paul "Benny" Henry; he was appeareing at the Marlow Theatre in Canterbury in Dick Whittington (never been to that theatre as it means having to go through London, but they really help you get the autographs of the stars if you contact them!) In Crawley, Stu Francis was crushing grapes with one of the Nolan Sisters in Cinderella, while Norman Wisdom and Linda Lusardi was doing the same pantomime in Dartford.
The Congress Theatre in Eastbourne was where I started my theatre musical tradition on my birthday, and many years berfore that, the annual pantomime had Ken Goodwin still doing active panto duty, also for Cinderella, and former That's Life! Nancy Bill Buckley also starred. One theatre which also has great service when it came to getting autographs of their panto stars is the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford (they interrupted the rehearsals of Shane Lynch out of Boyzone in 2010 to sign a picture that I posted to them - I assume that he appeared as the title role of Sleeping Beauty). In 1988 they had Mike Yarwood at a time when his TV shows started to peter out (which probably meant that they had more people "starring" than being listed in the copy of the programme); and the brilliant Bernard Cribbins and Boon's Michael Elphick also starred. Beadle was about in Hastings at the White Rock Theatre in Jack and the Beanstalk. The same pantomime delighted the otherwise disgusted upper-crust Tunbridge Wells, for Carol Lee Scott aka Grotbags was appearing. Joe Brown was in Windsor (probably not when the late HM Queen Elizabeth II was in residence there): Nigel "Terry Duckworth" Pivaro was appearing in Babes in the Wood in Stevenage. Someone who usually stood up on TV-am rather than sat on the sofa: Wincy Willis worked with Dave Lee Travis and the Chuckle Brothers in Dick Whittington in St Albans.
Anyone who was a Grange Hill fan would have certainly wanted their autograph book to do the theatre rounds in December 1988, and here's why: Simone Hyams (she was calling herself Calley Donnington of course, but thankfully not wearing her trademark "Band of Gold" skirt like her character did when all of a sudden she became a young woman at the start of Series Eleven), she appeared in Aladdin in Camberley. (God, I wish I collected autographs back then!) Fiona Lee Fraser oversaw the Beanstalk in Redhill; Both Alison Bettles (who was Fay Lucas and had come of age in that "smoking in Peter McCartney's house episode" and left the Hill the previous year when Fay tried to get over that "Peter King" situation) and Ruth Carraway was in Rickmansworth. And to think that youngsters used to pay truant from school to see them in pantomime?
Leslie Crowther (who I met the year before when he opened a new shop) was appearing in his home town of Bath; not a great year as he found out when the Price is Right was axed. Rod Hull and Emu were at the Alexandra, Birmingham; while Russ Abbot, Bella Emberg and Windsor Davies were just down the road at the Hippodrome. The Krankies and Christopher Biggins were at the Alhambra in Bradford, and I assumed that even back then the Toughs (the Krankies' real surname) only performed in Scotland. Gary Wilmot and the Roly-Polys were at the Bristol Hippodrome - another great theatre. Marti Caine, who had finished her third and final New Faces series, was appearing in Show White in Cambridge; The Grumbleweeds and Norman Collier appeared in Dick Whittington, firstly at the Darlington Civic Theatre before transfering to the Leeds Grand Theatre - note the Northern club circuit veterans the further north one goes? Is that microphone working properly, I wonder? The Theatre Royal Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent had Frankie Howerd in Cinderella with Anne Aston as the title role, aka Not Carol Vorderman. A certain-disgraced entertainer appeared in Mother Goose in Hull who has a namesake surname with the future America's first female President (think "stylophone" and "wobble board"). Cannon and Ball were in Manchester in Babes in the Wood, or "Braces in the Wood" if Bobby Ball had anything to do with it.
Dana (the first person, I believe to have a UK number one hit in the charts and had also shared my 30th August birthday) was in Snow White at the Liverpool Empire - again, another great theatre. Dana did the same panto in Nottingham around a year later. Speaking of my own home patch, Keith Harris and Orville were at the Theatre Royal in Humpty Dumpty - I correctly guessed my memory of that being on in that year. Lionel Blair was in Cinderella in Southsea; Roy Hudd and Geoffrey "Eddie Yeats" Hughes was in Wolverhampton. While another Geoffrey (Hayes of Rainbow fame), along with Zippy, George, (but no mention of Bungle) was supporting Max Boyce at the New Theatre in Cardiff - I saw them all sans Boyce in Nottingham nearly a year later, opting out of an afternoon of school as a result. Tom O'Connor delighted the Sunderland Empire in another version of Cinderella. The mind boggles how Wayne Sleep, Martin Daniels and Adrian "That's Life!" Mills all got to travel to Aberdeen to perform in Goldilocks and the Three Bears at His Majesty's Theatre up there, but they actually did. John Inman wasn't doing Mother Goose this year, but was also doing Goldilocks as well in Swansea. And there's more... Jimmy Cricket was doing panto in his native Northern Ireland.
Why aren't the pantomime stars of now just like the ones of 1988? We never had it so good back then... I would be salivating if most of these stars were appearing in panto this year!
Lorraine Chase and Jeffrey Holland were appearing in Aladdin at Fairfield Halls in Croydon - closer to Heathrow rather than Luton Airport, methinks. In Bromley, Kent, the Churchill Theatre was offering Babes in the Wood, starring Barbara Windsor (who seemed to be perfect for such a panto role - the show almost described Babs to a T!); Nicholas Parsons and Roland Rat. I assume that the Cinderella panto that Jim Davidson starred as Buttons in at the Dominican Theatre was an adults-only one; still, we had Davo's friend Jess Conrad, George Sewell (who I mostly think of being a Lionel Blair stooge on Give is A Clue); and Burton Joyce's own Sherrie Hewson. Oh, and Roger Kitter as well. The Richmond Theatre (the one in Surrey, not the one in Sunak's back yard) had Dick Whittington starring Bernie Winters (was Schnorbitz involved I wonder?) and Su Pollard. The Beck Theatre in Hayes had Jack in the Beanstalk starring Charlie Drake, Lynda Baron, Jack Smethurst and Sally Thomsett - I had booked to see something at the Beck in Hayes in 2018, but as it was within the M25 I got lost and never arrived to see it! Another Jack and the Beanstalk panto, this time at the Lewisham Theatre, had Keith Chegwin, Geoff Capes (no doubt he played the Giant), Hillary O'Neill and some Mr Men (who sadly, their "biographer" Roger Hargreaves sadly passed away in 1988 aged 53). Lulu and Christopher Timothy were the main stars of Peter Pan - the Musical at the Wimbledon Theatre.
Ted Rogers' producers Yorkshire TV had consigned any new series of 3-2-1, not into Dusty Bin but into an actual dustbin, and although he hosted one more Christmas special as well as an Olympics special earlier on in the year, that was it. However, Rogers and Bin had time for panto at Brighton's Theatre Royal, which also starred Bill Owen having the first sip of his Winter Wine for 1988, and amazingly, South Today's main female anchor, Sally Taylor. Crossroads finished almost for good in April that year, and one of their stars was Paul "Benny" Henry; he was appeareing at the Marlow Theatre in Canterbury in Dick Whittington (never been to that theatre as it means having to go through London, but they really help you get the autographs of the stars if you contact them!) In Crawley, Stu Francis was crushing grapes with one of the Nolan Sisters in Cinderella, while Norman Wisdom and Linda Lusardi was doing the same pantomime in Dartford.
The Congress Theatre in Eastbourne was where I started my theatre musical tradition on my birthday, and many years berfore that, the annual pantomime had Ken Goodwin still doing active panto duty, also for Cinderella, and former That's Life! Nancy Bill Buckley also starred. One theatre which also has great service when it came to getting autographs of their panto stars is the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford (they interrupted the rehearsals of Shane Lynch out of Boyzone in 2010 to sign a picture that I posted to them - I assume that he appeared as the title role of Sleeping Beauty). In 1988 they had Mike Yarwood at a time when his TV shows started to peter out (which probably meant that they had more people "starring" than being listed in the copy of the programme); and the brilliant Bernard Cribbins and Boon's Michael Elphick also starred. Beadle was about in Hastings at the White Rock Theatre in Jack and the Beanstalk. The same pantomime delighted the otherwise disgusted upper-crust Tunbridge Wells, for Carol Lee Scott aka Grotbags was appearing. Joe Brown was in Windsor (probably not when the late HM Queen Elizabeth II was in residence there): Nigel "Terry Duckworth" Pivaro was appearing in Babes in the Wood in Stevenage. Someone who usually stood up on TV-am rather than sat on the sofa: Wincy Willis worked with Dave Lee Travis and the Chuckle Brothers in Dick Whittington in St Albans.
Anyone who was a Grange Hill fan would have certainly wanted their autograph book to do the theatre rounds in December 1988, and here's why: Simone Hyams (she was calling herself Calley Donnington of course, but thankfully not wearing her trademark "Band of Gold" skirt like her character did when all of a sudden she became a young woman at the start of Series Eleven), she appeared in Aladdin in Camberley. (God, I wish I collected autographs back then!) Fiona Lee Fraser oversaw the Beanstalk in Redhill; Both Alison Bettles (who was Fay Lucas and had come of age in that "smoking in Peter McCartney's house episode" and left the Hill the previous year when Fay tried to get over that "Peter King" situation) and Ruth Carraway was in Rickmansworth. And to think that youngsters used to pay truant from school to see them in pantomime?
Leslie Crowther (who I met the year before when he opened a new shop) was appearing in his home town of Bath; not a great year as he found out when the Price is Right was axed. Rod Hull and Emu were at the Alexandra, Birmingham; while Russ Abbot, Bella Emberg and Windsor Davies were just down the road at the Hippodrome. The Krankies and Christopher Biggins were at the Alhambra in Bradford, and I assumed that even back then the Toughs (the Krankies' real surname) only performed in Scotland. Gary Wilmot and the Roly-Polys were at the Bristol Hippodrome - another great theatre. Marti Caine, who had finished her third and final New Faces series, was appearing in Show White in Cambridge; The Grumbleweeds and Norman Collier appeared in Dick Whittington, firstly at the Darlington Civic Theatre before transfering to the Leeds Grand Theatre - note the Northern club circuit veterans the further north one goes? Is that microphone working properly, I wonder? The Theatre Royal Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent had Frankie Howerd in Cinderella with Anne Aston as the title role, aka Not Carol Vorderman. A certain-disgraced entertainer appeared in Mother Goose in Hull who has a namesake surname with the future America's first female President (think "stylophone" and "wobble board"). Cannon and Ball were in Manchester in Babes in the Wood, or "Braces in the Wood" if Bobby Ball had anything to do with it.
Dana (the first person, I believe to have a UK number one hit in the charts and had also shared my 30th August birthday) was in Snow White at the Liverpool Empire - again, another great theatre. Dana did the same panto in Nottingham around a year later. Speaking of my own home patch, Keith Harris and Orville were at the Theatre Royal in Humpty Dumpty - I correctly guessed my memory of that being on in that year. Lionel Blair was in Cinderella in Southsea; Roy Hudd and Geoffrey "Eddie Yeats" Hughes was in Wolverhampton. While another Geoffrey (Hayes of Rainbow fame), along with Zippy, George, (but no mention of Bungle) was supporting Max Boyce at the New Theatre in Cardiff - I saw them all sans Boyce in Nottingham nearly a year later, opting out of an afternoon of school as a result. Tom O'Connor delighted the Sunderland Empire in another version of Cinderella. The mind boggles how Wayne Sleep, Martin Daniels and Adrian "That's Life!" Mills all got to travel to Aberdeen to perform in Goldilocks and the Three Bears at His Majesty's Theatre up there, but they actually did. John Inman wasn't doing Mother Goose this year, but was also doing Goldilocks as well in Swansea. And there's more... Jimmy Cricket was doing panto in his native Northern Ireland.
Why aren't the pantomime stars of now just like the ones of 1988? We never had it so good back then... I would be salivating if most of these stars were appearing in panto this year!