Lichfield Garrick’s panto is back with a Giant of a show - Jack And The Beanstalk! Sam Rabone returns to the stage as Dame Trott, and is joined once more by Ben Thornton as Billy, while Midlands legend Gill Jordan dons wings and a wand to appear as Fairy Sugarsnap. The trio have a wealth of panto experience behind them, so decided to spill the beans about what it’s like bringing festive magic to the stage each year.
We spoke to Sam, Ben and Gill to find out more about the Fe-Fi-Fo-FUN...
Why do you think a visit to the panto remains so popular?
Sam Rabone: I think it's because we are constantly giving the people what they want, which is nonsense, slosh, good songs, and a little bit of cheap thrills - as the singer would say. We're involved in a tradition that's lasted for years. British people like tradition, and they like to do something at the same time every year. It's a bit like Christmas Day - because it happens on the same day every year, people get into the habit of coming. And we don't want to break that habit, because it keeps us in work!
What's your favourite thing about the audiences you get at the Garrick?
Ben Thornton: It's a great theatre. There's not a bad seat in the house! You get some theatres where there's poles in the way, or restricted view - this is very intimate. It's tiered, so you can see everything from every seat. You get a great atmosphere. That means you can hear their laughter; they’re right on top of you - we can literally look in people's eyes, and see the audience.
Sam Rabone: And smell them, so I do advise washing…
Ben Thornton: Very true, and spit on them sometimes - by mistake, not on purpose!
Sam Rabone: Don't bring Maltesers in a box, because you can't understand how much a Malteser rattles until you’re halfway through a nice soliloquy…
Ben Thornton: It’s a great auditorium - and it sells here, which is great. It might be a long run, but it's a long run because, every show, you come out and it's a packed house, which is really nice to perform to.
How do you keep the production fresh throughout the run?
Sam Rabone: Febreze!
Gill Jordan: Every time you perform a show, whatever you're doing, it's got to be as if it’s the first time you perform it - and for me, it is! The energy and the audience is new. That’s how you keep it fresh. It’s just so exciting to be there!
Sam Rabone: It’s the joy of theatre, isn’t it? It’s why we do it - it’s the audience. I know we have a bit of a joke, but the audience keeps it fresh. They laugh at different things, they react to different things. It’s a different show every day.
Ben Thornton: It is - especially with things like slosh routines, where you literally fall over where you have to fall - not where it is in the script.
Do you have a first memory of panto?
Sam Rabone: Michaela Strachan as Peter Pan!
Ben Thornton: Mine was Southend Cliffs Pavilion; Joe Pasquale as Buttons - he’s still doing it now. But that was about 30 years ago, nearly!
Gill Jordan: Little & Large, at the Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton. Or Danny La Rue!
Sam Rabone: Ooooh!
That’s quite a selection! Did it make an impression on you as youngsters, and make you want to join them on stage?
Ben Thornton: That's the great thing about panto. A lot of the people sitting out there are kids who have never been to the theatre before. So how amazing that we are hopefully making an impression on them, and then the love of theatre will live on. Hopefully their families will bring them to see more shows, or that child will want to go and see some children’s theatre. That’s what stuck with me, I think, when I saw my first panto. It’s the magic of it. You couldn’t believe you were seeing something on stage in front of you, rather than a DVD at home - or a tape, probably, at the time.
Sam Rabone: I don’t know when I first wanted to do it… I just fell into it and stuck with it.
Ben Thornton: He hasn’t trained either!
Sam Rabone: Evident - as you can tell!
Gill Jordan: My family performed. My mom was a member of a child comedy troupe - they used to tour around the area, and she was the comedienne. My nan was a trained singer.
Ben Thornton: It’s in your blood!
You’ve all done quite a lot of panto over the years. Have you ever come across any memorable panto mishaps in that time?
Sam Rabone: I’ve got a good one, I think… Our prince forgot that he had another scene, so he’d gone up and changed. He was sat for the interval in his dressing gown and didn’t make it back onto the stage! So as the Dame, I did the Prince’s line, I brought somebody up from the audience to do the Prince’s line - and then he finally made it back down to the stage. I had such a good time!
Gill Jordan: I’ve got quite a few, but I can’t really tell them… I remember Joe McElderry splitting his trousers as the Prince in Aladdin, and moving across the stage so he didn’t show the back of himself.
Sam Rabone: We had a show when I could hear Ben laughing for the first entrance. I could hear laughter in his voice… I had to come on in a sedan chair, so I was in a box, and I would burst out of the box and say “Hello Lichfield!” And as I came out of the box, I realised why he was laughing. We had an audience in - I know, because we could hear the audience - but one school hadn’t made it, so the first 15 rows were empty, and that’s as far as we can see! So I burst out of the box, and there was nobody sat there! There was nobody in our vision.
Ben Thornton: It was the most bizarre thing! And that is a credit to the Garrick, because you’re so used to coming on and seeing it full.
Sam Rabone: But Ben walked on to the stage and had a bit of time - I just burst out of a box to nothing!
Ben Thornton: Then I was constantly watching Sam’s face, because I knew what he was thinking: “Where is everyone?” Another good one is swallowing slosh - I get that a lot. Slosh is made up of shaving foam and water…
Sam Rabone: We use gelatine, but we might not be able to this year…
Ben Thornton: Oh, Gill, are you allergic?
Sam Rabone: No, she’s vegan!
Ben Thornton: Ah! Well, if you get some of that in your throat, it’s hard work to clear it, and I’ve done that many a time on stage.
Ben and Sam, you’ve worked together many times. What’s the experience like, now that you’ve developed this rapport?
Sam Rabone: Awful! I’m quite a good actor really, because people think I like him… He makes me look good as well; the fact he’s got no hair, and I have…
Ben Thornton: It’s lovely having a rapport with someone who you know - it’s just easy. You can’t rehearse that.
Sam Rabone: Being able to let each other breathe as well. Sometimes when you work with somebody new, you don’t know their rhythm. I understand Ben’s rhythm now, and I understand why he’s only got one child…
Ben Thornton: And we’re very excited to have Gill here this year - what a treat.
Gill Jordan: I can’t wait for you to learn my rhythm!
Sam Rabone: Ask Ben what he keeps calling Gill...
Ben Thornton: I’ve not even told Gill this… You must have heard of Jordan Gill, the boxer. When I first heard “We’ve got Gill Jordan”, I thought bloody hell, we’ve gone for an Olympic boxer this year? Interesting choice! He’s playing the fairy?! So, occasionally, I accidentally say Jordan instead of Gill - sorry!
You’re performing in Jack And The Beanstalk this year. What are you looking forward to about this show?
Sam Rabone: The 12th of January… No! We’ve put a twist on the story, which I really quite like. It’s a different telling of Jack And The Beanstalk. Gill did it last year at the Hippodrome, and I think you’re really looking forward to playing a different character. I’m looking forward to playing the same character in different costumes! I’m really excited that it’s a different version of Jack And The Beanstalk, which you probably haven’t seen around here before - and, we’ve got slosh back!
Ben Thornton: Yeah! Slosh is good - I think I’m going to get my revenge on you this year; that’s all I’m saying.
Sam Rabone: Revenge of the Slosh!
Gill Jordan: And we’ve got a live dog!
Ben Thornton: How to keep the show fresh: have a dog in it, because anything could happen!
Sam Rabone: It’s going to be the biggest panto we’ve had. It’s going to be spectacular, it’s going to be fabulous, it’s going to have glitter, it’s funny. It’s just such a good show, and we’re running longer than we’ve ever run before.
Lichfield Garrick’s panto is back with a Giant of a show - Jack And The Beanstalk! Sam Rabone returns to the stage as Dame Trott, and is joined once more by Ben Thornton as Billy, while Midlands legend Gill Jordan dons wings and a wand to appear as Fairy Sugarsnap. The trio have a wealth of panto experience behind them, so decided to spill the beans about what it’s like bringing festive magic to the stage each year.
We spoke to Sam, Ben and Gill to find out more about the Fe-Fi-Fo-FUN...
Why do you think a visit to the panto remains so popular?
Sam Rabone: I think it's because we are constantly giving the people what they want, which is nonsense, slosh, good songs, and a little bit of cheap thrills - as the singer would say. We're involved in a tradition that's lasted for years. British people like tradition, and they like to do something at the same time every year. It's a bit like Christmas Day - because it happens on the same day every year, people get into the habit of coming. And we don't want to break that habit, because it keeps us in work!
What's your favourite thing about the audiences you get at the Garrick?
Ben Thornton: It's a great theatre. There's not a bad seat in the house! You get some theatres where there's poles in the way, or restricted view - this is very intimate. It's tiered, so you can see everything from every seat. You get a great atmosphere. That means you can hear their laughter; they’re right on top of you - we can literally look in people's eyes, and see the audience.
Sam Rabone: And smell them, so I do advise washing…
Ben Thornton: Very true, and spit on them sometimes - by mistake, not on purpose!
Sam Rabone: Don't bring Maltesers in a box, because you can't understand how much a Malteser rattles until you’re halfway through a nice soliloquy…
Ben Thornton: It’s a great auditorium - and it sells here, which is great. It might be a long run, but it's a long run because, every show, you come out and it's a packed house, which is really nice to perform to.
How do you keep the production fresh throughout the run?
Sam Rabone: Febreze!
Gill Jordan: Every time you perform a show, whatever you're doing, it's got to be as if it’s the first time you perform it - and for me, it is! The energy and the audience is new. That’s how you keep it fresh. It’s just so exciting to be there!
Sam Rabone: It’s the joy of theatre, isn’t it? It’s why we do it - it’s the audience. I know we have a bit of a joke, but the audience keeps it fresh. They laugh at different things, they react to different things. It’s a different show every day.
Ben Thornton: It is - especially with things like slosh routines, where you literally fall over where you have to fall - not where it is in the script.
Do you have a first memory of panto?
Sam Rabone: Michaela Strachan as Peter Pan!
Ben Thornton: Mine was Southend Cliffs Pavilion; Joe Pasquale as Buttons - he’s still doing it now. But that was about 30 years ago, nearly!
Gill Jordan: Little & Large, at the Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton. Or Danny La Rue!
Sam Rabone: Ooooh!
That’s quite a selection! Did it make an impression on you as youngsters, and make you want to join them on stage?
Ben Thornton: That's the great thing about panto. A lot of the people sitting out there are kids who have never been to the theatre before. So how amazing that we are hopefully making an impression on them, and then the love of theatre will live on. Hopefully their families will bring them to see more shows, or that child will want to go and see some children’s theatre. That’s what stuck with me, I think, when I saw my first panto. It’s the magic of it. You couldn’t believe you were seeing something on stage in front of you, rather than a DVD at home - or a tape, probably, at the time.
Sam Rabone: I don’t know when I first wanted to do it… I just fell into it and stuck with it.
Ben Thornton: He hasn’t trained either!
Sam Rabone: Evident - as you can tell!
Gill Jordan: My family performed. My mom was a member of a child comedy troupe - they used to tour around the area, and she was the comedienne. My nan was a trained singer.
Ben Thornton: It’s in your blood!
You’ve all done quite a lot of panto over the years. Have you ever come across any memorable panto mishaps in that time?
Sam Rabone: I’ve got a good one, I think… Our prince forgot that he had another scene, so he’d gone up and changed. He was sat for the interval in his dressing gown and didn’t make it back onto the stage! So as the Dame, I did the Prince’s line, I brought somebody up from the audience to do the Prince’s line - and then he finally made it back down to the stage. I had such a good time!
Gill Jordan: I’ve got quite a few, but I can’t really tell them… I remember Joe McElderry splitting his trousers as the Prince in Aladdin, and moving across the stage so he didn’t show the back of himself.
Sam Rabone: We had a show when I could hear Ben laughing for the first entrance. I could hear laughter in his voice… I had to come on in a sedan chair, so I was in a box, and I would burst out of the box and say “Hello Lichfield!” And as I came out of the box, I realised why he was laughing. We had an audience in - I know, because we could hear the audience - but one school hadn’t made it, so the first 15 rows were empty, and that’s as far as we can see! So I burst out of the box, and there was nobody sat there! There was nobody in our vision.
Ben Thornton: It was the most bizarre thing! And that is a credit to the Garrick, because you’re so used to coming on and seeing it full.
Sam Rabone: But Ben walked on to the stage and had a bit of time - I just burst out of a box to nothing!
Ben Thornton: Then I was constantly watching Sam’s face, because I knew what he was thinking: “Where is everyone?” Another good one is swallowing slosh - I get that a lot. Slosh is made up of shaving foam and water…
Sam Rabone: We use gelatine, but we might not be able to this year…
Ben Thornton: Oh, Gill, are you allergic?
Sam Rabone: No, she’s vegan!
Ben Thornton: Ah! Well, if you get some of that in your throat, it’s hard work to clear it, and I’ve done that many a time on stage.
Ben and Sam, you’ve worked together many times. What’s the experience like, now that you’ve developed this rapport?
Sam Rabone: Awful! I’m quite a good actor really, because people think I like him… He makes me look good as well; the fact he’s got no hair, and I have…
Ben Thornton: It’s lovely having a rapport with someone who you know - it’s just easy. You can’t rehearse that.
Sam Rabone: Being able to let each other breathe as well. Sometimes when you work with somebody new, you don’t know their rhythm. I understand Ben’s rhythm now, and I understand why he’s only got one child…
Ben Thornton: And we’re very excited to have Gill here this year - what a treat.
Gill Jordan: I can’t wait for you to learn my rhythm!
Sam Rabone: Ask Ben what he keeps calling Gill...
Ben Thornton: I’ve not even told Gill this… You must have heard of Jordan Gill, the boxer. When I first heard “We’ve got Gill Jordan”, I thought bloody hell, we’ve gone for an Olympic boxer this year? Interesting choice! He’s playing the fairy?! So, occasionally, I accidentally say Jordan instead of Gill - sorry!
You’re performing in Jack And The Beanstalk this year. What are you looking forward to about this show?
Sam Rabone: The 12th of January… No! We’ve put a twist on the story, which I really quite like. It’s a different telling of Jack And The Beanstalk. Gill did it last year at the Hippodrome, and I think you’re really looking forward to playing a different character. I’m looking forward to playing the same character in different costumes! I’m really excited that it’s a different version of Jack And The Beanstalk, which you probably haven’t seen around here before - and, we’ve got slosh back!
Ben Thornton: Yeah! Slosh is good - I think I’m going to get my revenge on you this year; that’s all I’m saying.
Sam Rabone: Revenge of the Slosh!
Gill Jordan: And we’ve got a live dog!
Ben Thornton: How to keep the show fresh: have a dog in it, because anything could happen!
Sam Rabone: It’s going to be the biggest panto we’ve had. It’s going to be spectacular, it’s going to be fabulous, it’s going to have glitter, it’s funny. It’s just such a good show, and we’re running longer than we’ve ever run before.
Jack And The Beanstalk runs from Friday 22 November to Sunday 12 January