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The Waggle o' the Kilt
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Pantomime
Pantomime holds a special place in the hearts of many people connected with the theatre. It is often a child's first experience of theatre, and can draw in crowds who would not normally go to see a play or show at any other time of the year. People go to be entertained, to feel the magic at work, secure in the knowledge that it will be bright and boisterous, with glitzy and fantastical costumes and sets, lively music and dancing, romance, adventure and jokes galore. It is reassuringly traditional with the same titles appearing throughout the years, and yet at the same time each panto is different and can absorb topical allusions and make fun of the politics of the day.
Pantomime was, at one point, a short piece put on after the evening's main performance, and consisted largely of acrobatic tricks and knock-about humour. The first known mention of pantomime in Glasgow was in 1751 with the presentation of Harlequin Pantomime or the Dutchman Bitt at Burrell's Hall near the Cathedral. Aladdin was produced at the Theatre Royal in Queen Street in 1814, although it was described as a melodrama. By 1866 however the Theatre Royal, Dunlop Street billed Aladdin as the "gorgeous pantomime." The poster for that show uses chinese figures for the letters of the title, and describes it as "a most Magnificently Magnumptious Processional Production, Profusely Produced and Peculiarly Pretty." Towards the end of the nineteenth century, pantomime developed into the type of show we would still recognise as such today. The sketches from the Quiz Dramatic Album portray various scenes at the Grand's 1881-82 pantomime, including several backstage views.
In 1890 W F Frame played his first pantomime role, 'Maggie Mucklemoo' in Goody Two Shoes at the Royal Princess's, and he wrote in his auto- biography that "the pantomime was one of my greatest successes." He took on the villain's role in 1892 at the Royal Theatre, Edinburgh, playing 'UncleAbanazar' in Aladdin. Frame recounts how an excited youth flung a bottle from the gallery which fortunately "just missed the ballet, and greatly upset the players for a little." The culprit was soon apprehended however, after the manager rushed on stage and offered a £5 reward for information as to his identity! The top comics of the day played a large part in Scottish pantomimes. Harry Lauder played 'Roderick MacSwankey', the young Glasgow boy apprenticed to the Wicked Magician in Aladdin at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow in 1905. He had several songs in the show, but the hit of the evening was his new one, I Love a Lassie. Six years later he had another big hit in panto with Roamin' in the Gloamin'. It was never a problem for the producers to incorporate a Scottish flavour to the proceedings, as a Punch cartoon from the 1935 Almanack illustrates. It is a typical pantomime Chinese street scene, except that one of the Chinamen is playing the bagpipes, and the caption reads:
Librettist: But dash it, you can't introduce a Scotch song into a Chinese street scene! Producer: Perfectly simple dear boy. You just make Aladdin say 'Although I am only a chinaman, there are times when I yearn for the Bonny Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond.' The orchestra strikes up, and there you are!
The 1930s and 40s were regarded by many people as the great days of the Glasgow pantomime, when cast lists included such names as Morgan, Dave Willis, Harry Gordon and Will Fyffe. Gordon was famous for his Dames, and his partnership with Fyffe, as the male comic, at the Alhambra is legendary. Glasgow theatres were well known for their pantomimes, as Alasdair Cameron observes:
Some, such as the Theatre Royal, for the lavishness with which
they were mounted, some, like the Alhambra, for the quality of the comedians they, others, like the Royal Princess's (now the
Citizens'), for the length and popularity of their shows, and some, like the Queen's at Glasgow Cross, for the vulgarity and hilarity of
their performances.
George West was the stalwart of the Royal Princess's pantos, and the Queen's cast was headed by Sammy Murray and Frank and Doris Droy. A departure from the traditional titles was made by the Howard and Wyndham management in the sixties with their Jamie pantomimes. These all-Scottish tartan-draped shows were the dream of Stewart Cruikshank, the company manager, with Freddie Carpenter as the producer. A Wish for Jamie opened at the Alhambra on 9 December 1960, with Kenneth McKellar as Jamie, Rikki Fulton as the Dame (with a gorgeous thistle dress!), Fay Lenore as the Principal Boy (Donald, Jamie's brother), Reg Varney as Percy the English farm-hand, and Russell Hunter as the King of the Frogs. The audience loved it, the house was packed night after night, a profit of over £16,000 was made in eleven weeks, and the following year over 240,000 people saw the show. There were two other pantos in the series, A Love for Jamie and The World of Jamie.
In the eighties and nineties pantomime continues to flourish, and will no doubt go on into the next century. The cast lists have names which bring smiles to many people's faces, names like Stanley Baxter, Rikki Fulton, Walter Carr, Johnny Beattie, and Andy Cameron. Jimmy Logan himself is starring in Babes in the Wood at Kirkcaldy this year, and at the King's in Glasgow Una MacLean stars in Aladdin withGerardKelly.The magic will happen once more.