17/01/19
Tonight we went to the local amateur pantomime production with the Brownies. As usual, there was another unit there at the same time as us so we found ourselves a table and stared gathering in the consent forms and ticking off our girls on the register. We also started a ticklist of which ice creams the girls wanted and then handed it in to the bar before we went in. We got the girls ensconced in their seats and then it started. This year was Snow White and the Seven Dwarves performed by the local amateur dramatic society. Some of our ex-Brownies are in the dance group and we have been going for so many years now that the leaders recognise a lot of the cast (and the girls do on occasion too).
This years performance was very good, although each year there seem to more adult jokes and less that the kids understand - even some of the more kid-friendly ones the girls sat near me didn't quite get. They seemed to enjoy themselves either way though. We did a quick toilet run in the interval and then handed out all the ice creams. The girls were very well behaved during the performance - the only shouting was done where it was appropriate and I only had to tell one or two to sit down during the whole 2 hours.
Once the second half was over, we all trooped out into the foyer to wait for the parents, who for once were all on time picking up and shortly later we were on our way home too. It was a good evening, the girls always look forwards to coming, and the first question we get from girl who have to leave at Christmas is "can I still come to panto?" - the answer is always "yes!".
Showing posts with label pantomime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pantomime. Show all posts
Monday, 21 January 2019
Monday, 26 January 2015
Pantomime
22/01/15
I have just finished my first lot of university exams and have a week off so I came home, specifically to go to the pantomime with Brownies (yes, I miss it that much!)... And this time I got to wear my new necker from the Scouts and Guides society at university.
We met all the girls at a local school, which has a proper stage and theatre, and there was lots of excitement as they didn't know I was coming! I kept an eye on some of the girls, and supervised them buying sweets with the money they'd bought with them while Brown Owl ticked everyone off her list as they arrived, and then we went in and sat down. We had a Leader at the end of each row, to make sure the girls didn't go too far along and then filled in our three rows with the girls. Somehow, we had managed to read the row letters wrong though and ended up sat in C, D, and E instead of D, E, and F, which caused some confusion when the Brownie unit that was sitting in front of us arrived and didn't have enough rows to sit in! We solved it quite easily by just moving the one incorrect row back to the correct one but a few members of the public were having issues with getting in the right row too so I think it was an problem with the system as opposed to us being dim.
The pantomime we watched was 'Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves'. As usual, it was very entertaining, with quite a few references to local places. There were also two of our ex-Brownies in it; one as a dancer and the other as Princess Jasmine, which was nice to see. There were a few slip ups but that's expected from an amateur performance and, in my opinion, that makes it even better because it becomes more spontaneous. In the interval, most of the girls bought ice cream or sweets, if they had brought money with them. One girl had eaten all of the Tangfastics that she liked and only had the cola bottles left, which she didn't, so she offered them to me and one of the Young Leaders so I ended up with sweets to eat in the second half too!
The girls all seemed to enjoy it, and got involved with the audience participation song (Alice the Camel - a popular song in our unit many years back) and there were lots of smiling faces that left that evening. It's always a good evening going to the panto so I was glad that it had fallen in my week off from uni so I could come too (although, if it hadn't, I'd probably have tried my hardest to come home for the night anyway!).
The next time I will see the Brownies again will be for the Thinking Day celebration on February 15th - unfortunately I can't get to a unit to help in my second semester either because of the way my timetable has fallen...
I have just finished my first lot of university exams and have a week off so I came home, specifically to go to the pantomime with Brownies (yes, I miss it that much!)... And this time I got to wear my new necker from the Scouts and Guides society at university.
We met all the girls at a local school, which has a proper stage and theatre, and there was lots of excitement as they didn't know I was coming! I kept an eye on some of the girls, and supervised them buying sweets with the money they'd bought with them while Brown Owl ticked everyone off her list as they arrived, and then we went in and sat down. We had a Leader at the end of each row, to make sure the girls didn't go too far along and then filled in our three rows with the girls. Somehow, we had managed to read the row letters wrong though and ended up sat in C, D, and E instead of D, E, and F, which caused some confusion when the Brownie unit that was sitting in front of us arrived and didn't have enough rows to sit in! We solved it quite easily by just moving the one incorrect row back to the correct one but a few members of the public were having issues with getting in the right row too so I think it was an problem with the system as opposed to us being dim.
The pantomime we watched was 'Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves'. As usual, it was very entertaining, with quite a few references to local places. There were also two of our ex-Brownies in it; one as a dancer and the other as Princess Jasmine, which was nice to see. There were a few slip ups but that's expected from an amateur performance and, in my opinion, that makes it even better because it becomes more spontaneous. In the interval, most of the girls bought ice cream or sweets, if they had brought money with them. One girl had eaten all of the Tangfastics that she liked and only had the cola bottles left, which she didn't, so she offered them to me and one of the Young Leaders so I ended up with sweets to eat in the second half too!
The girls all seemed to enjoy it, and got involved with the audience participation song (Alice the Camel - a popular song in our unit many years back) and there were lots of smiling faces that left that evening. It's always a good evening going to the panto so I was glad that it had fallen in my week off from uni so I could come too (although, if it hadn't, I'd probably have tried my hardest to come home for the night anyway!).
The next time I will see the Brownies again will be for the Thinking Day celebration on February 15th - unfortunately I can't get to a unit to help in my second semester either because of the way my timetable has fallen...
Monday, 27 January 2014
Pantomime
24/1/14
This week was our annual visit to the panto. We used to go to the one at the local big theatre but their prices slowly went up and we swapped to going to a (slightly more amateur) one hosted at a local private school which some of our Brownies have been in in previous years -although not this year. I think it is actually better as it is a smaller venue so the atmosphere seems better. Either way, the girls always thoroughly enjoy themselves every year!
It is always a bit chaotic making sure we have all the girls before we go in, especially if another Brownie unit decided to go on the same night! We managed to get in without too many problems though and eventually got all the girls settled in the correct rows and seats! Brown Owl told them that, once it had started, they were not to make any noises with their sweet wrappers as most of them had bought sweets with them. A couple of them were getting bored because it hadn't started but then it did and they all shut up! The panto this year was Robin Hood and it was as good as it usually is! We had one or two girls who had to be told to sit down or be quiet once but it was on;y because they were excited!
The most chaos came during the interval... We had told the girls that they could bring money for ice cream or drinks if they wanted and most of them had done so. Almost all of them decided to get ice creams and I ended up being the one to supervise them. Most of them seem to understand the values of coins though so that wasn't the issue; it was more getting them to make a quick decision because there were other people in the queue too! And some of the girls had only come because their friend had and were just getting in the way... They did all eventually get their ice creams but then several of them decided that they actually needed the toilet too so the other Young Leader and I ended up looking after a mountain of ice creams and sweets while we waited for them. We finally got them all back in and sat down just before the second half began but then a couple of other girls decided that, actually, they wanted an ice cream too and tried to go out on their own to get some. Brown Owl stopped them on her way back through the door and got them to sit down again though because they had stopped selling ice cream by then.
The second half was just as good as the first half, if not better. I enjoy the fact that they cater for adults and children in the way of jokes, although it does cause a slight issue if the girls ask why I'm laughing if they haven't understood it..! When we came to leave, we got all the girls to pick up their coats and sweet wrappers and took them all out into the foyer. I stood by the door and directed them towards the corner while Brown Owl and Snowy made sure they went home with the person they were supposed to. That was going fine until the other unit that was there decided that our idea was a good one and tried to congregate their girls in the same corner as us. Luckily we'd almost got rid of all our girls and grouped together a bit further over but it seemed a little inconsiderate of them.
All in all, a good night out and one that the girls enjoy as much as the adults!
This week was our annual visit to the panto. We used to go to the one at the local big theatre but their prices slowly went up and we swapped to going to a (slightly more amateur) one hosted at a local private school which some of our Brownies have been in in previous years -although not this year. I think it is actually better as it is a smaller venue so the atmosphere seems better. Either way, the girls always thoroughly enjoy themselves every year!
It is always a bit chaotic making sure we have all the girls before we go in, especially if another Brownie unit decided to go on the same night! We managed to get in without too many problems though and eventually got all the girls settled in the correct rows and seats! Brown Owl told them that, once it had started, they were not to make any noises with their sweet wrappers as most of them had bought sweets with them. A couple of them were getting bored because it hadn't started but then it did and they all shut up! The panto this year was Robin Hood and it was as good as it usually is! We had one or two girls who had to be told to sit down or be quiet once but it was on;y because they were excited!
The most chaos came during the interval... We had told the girls that they could bring money for ice cream or drinks if they wanted and most of them had done so. Almost all of them decided to get ice creams and I ended up being the one to supervise them. Most of them seem to understand the values of coins though so that wasn't the issue; it was more getting them to make a quick decision because there were other people in the queue too! And some of the girls had only come because their friend had and were just getting in the way... They did all eventually get their ice creams but then several of them decided that they actually needed the toilet too so the other Young Leader and I ended up looking after a mountain of ice creams and sweets while we waited for them. We finally got them all back in and sat down just before the second half began but then a couple of other girls decided that, actually, they wanted an ice cream too and tried to go out on their own to get some. Brown Owl stopped them on her way back through the door and got them to sit down again though because they had stopped selling ice cream by then.
The second half was just as good as the first half, if not better. I enjoy the fact that they cater for adults and children in the way of jokes, although it does cause a slight issue if the girls ask why I'm laughing if they haven't understood it..! When we came to leave, we got all the girls to pick up their coats and sweet wrappers and took them all out into the foyer. I stood by the door and directed them towards the corner while Brown Owl and Snowy made sure they went home with the person they were supposed to. That was going fine until the other unit that was there decided that our idea was a good one and tried to congregate their girls in the same corner as us. Luckily we'd almost got rid of all our girls and grouped together a bit further over but it seemed a little inconsiderate of them.
All in all, a good night out and one that the girls enjoy as much as the adults!
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