Read Between The Lines

Is it really that time of year already? I’m still in rehearsal for a play in October and a musical in November, but today was the first read through of our January 2025 pantomime. And it’s a big one this year - our 50th and my 30th. Annoyingly, it’s actually 51/31 years since the/my first Panto as we lost a year due to Covid, but there’s not a lot we can do about that. The first ever BATS Panto was Aladdin in 1974 and my first was also Aladdin in 1994. It’s been done a few times over the years, but the last occasion was a painful one for me - literally. January 2020 and I was playing the Emperor. At the Tech Rehearsal I volunteered to test the “Flying Carpet” but didn’t hold on properly and fell on to the stage. I bruised my back and ribs so badly that I couldn’t do the first week of performances and the director had to stand in for me, with the lines being fed to him through an earpiece. Luckily, I was well enough to do the second week. I say “well enough” but it was actually a combination of rest and industrial strength painkillers that got me through the performances.
It took another two months exercising in the pool and the gym before my back was fully recovered. Just in time for lockdown!
I don’t know what part I might get this time, but I was pleased to see there were no mentions of Flying Carpets in the script…