According to its-behind-you.com, Daniel is going to be doing panto in Guildford over the christmas period. Not sure this is the greatest news - as it effectively means that he can't do any west end work before then - and certainly not a role in any new production. Doesn't seem to be the best way to capitalise on the TV programme.

Perhaps his casting in this Guildford Panto was arranged before the TV Joseph series.

Christmas is a long way ahead - maybe the Guildford Panto will fit in AFTER some other role (not yet announced).

Digital Spy interview published May22, includes:


---------------------------------------------------------

Daniel Trained at Guildford (GSA).

Also I read somewhere that he's FROM Guildford -
so if that's true, perhaps he has family to spend Christmas with.

Daniel's done several Pantos before, and played leads in at least 2 of them.

Personally (having met Daniel twice, briefly) I think Panto might suit him - and I think he might enjoy it.

(Among other types of show, of course!)

Daniel should be kept away from all sharp objects and the medicine cabinet, one minute you think you may get the part of joseph , the next your in panto.

I've seen that Daniel has signed with Gavin Barker - John Barrowman's agent, I'm sure that an agent like that would have got him a betterment clause in case a great job in the west end comes up, give the boy a chance...

This is true, Daniel will be in Guildford panto.It's a fairly short run and will fit in nicely with his future West End arrangements.

Daniel could even make reading the telephone directory interesting.

Well why didn't he make the songs given to him on Any Dream interesting????

For all the rest of us (unlike Theatrefan) who do find Daniel interesting I've just heard from his website that he will be appearing as Anthony Hope in the RFH concert production of Sweeney Todd.

Well done Daniel.

I actually like Daniel, and couldn't understand why he didn't come over well on ADWD! That was the reason for my post - and the fact that no-one could literally make the phone directory interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing Daniel in Sweeney Todd - it's a great cast.

Metaphorically speaking, theatrefan.

I am very pleased that Daniel will be playing the part of Anthony. He really deserves a break like that and he should be great in the role.

That's great news.

It's a very high profile job - working with Bryn Terfel, Maria Friedman and Philip Quast. I was secretly hoping that Daniel would be offered Tobias in this production (so I could hear him sing Not While I'm Around) - but never thought it would happen. So I'm delighted that he's in this production - even if it's playing Anthony - sure his Joanna will be amazing.

Let's hope there's lots more great opportunities just around the corner.

All the best Daniel

He'll be singing to a great Johanna too - Emma Williams is taking that role. It will be the second time they have worked together - they were both in Christmas Notes From New York.

I believe Daniel was second choice for the role - Ian Virgo was doing it up until last week, but he took a film instead.

OB

That is probably why he was cast so late. I think he will pull in the punters and fans from ADWD.

Not that it needs to. There are very few seats left

Sebastian

Currently listening to Daniel on Friday Night Is Music Night.

Gethsemane.

Live.

Brave choice and he's nearly pulling it off (ooer).

I thought he was far better in Sweeney Todd than on the Joseph programme.
When I obtained a ticket, I hadn't realised he was in this show.

He wasn't given very good songs on ADWD. The best performance he did was on the week he was eliminated. He sang Maggie May and it was brilliant! Also Close Every Door was the best one on the series.

He wasn't very good on ADWD full stop! A cheesy cruise ship performer at best. No wonder he was voted off.

[there is nothing like a bit of controversy!]

I take it you would have been far better then.

Even though I disagree with Ian, I don't see how that point is relevant unless Ian is saying he should have been on the show instead of Daniel...

Boring and irrelevant M George!

I remember now that you championed Daniel and had a thing against Craig

quote
Did you not see the TV programme? Week after week the poor guy put in poor and insipid performances almost without fail. When he performed the trio with two of the others he stood out like a sore thumb for his inexperience and lack of presence. So although yes, congratulations are in order for getting a lead such as this but I am not sure he'll do a good job and I am beginning to question Kenwrights sanity. Out of all those boys from the TV show and all other performers suitable to play Joseph out there he picks CRAIG?
unquote

Did you not audition for ADWD? Kenwright turn you down? Or are you permitted to have an opinion?

I thought he did this really well ... certainly had the emotion it needed. Must have sounded fantastic live - he had a huge cheer afterwards.

As Mr Boys proved at the RFH - he had a great voice and sings amazingly well - but has less acting ability than a stick , a dead stick at that ! I loved him vocally and really thing he should stick to doing concerts.

Well, we'll have to agree to disagree ... I thought he acted it out well - and was a very appealling and sweet Anthony. Ah well.

Yes, and as the first one in this thread to be accused of being "anti" Daniel, I also thought he portrayed Anthony well in Sweeney. In fact I thought they all were excellent, especially as some had so little rehearsal time.

Yes, for them to put on that production with a week and a halfs rehearsal is impressive. I wasn't disappointed by any of the cast, and I did have high expectations.

Well I must have seen it on a bad performance ! but then I have friends and people I work with who saw it on other performance and were all of the same opinion.

In the end the reason why MR Boys was not saved ALW was down to acting, as vocally he was strong, if not bland. I think there are so many excellent performers out there and I hope this is one show that will depend on talent which Mr Boys does not have enough of.

As I said we're not going to agree, and there are plenty of others who disagree with your view ... but I respect your opinion. We can't all like everyone.

I hope he changes your mind one day. Unlikely maybe!!

So is there any difference between joseph & panto ? Not from what I saw at the Adelphi.

My god there really are some pretentious t**ts on this board. You've obviously never worked as a performer or you'd realise that a job is a job. You also aren't, perhaps, aware that it is only a 6 week contract for pantomime and a GREAT way for Daniel to continue his popularity and success in a regional venue before taking on a West End role....?

The leads in Joseph aren't has-beens whose TV careers came to an end in the 1970s and who are now trying to prove to the public that - contrary to popular wisdom - they are still alive.

I'm sure John Barrowman wouldn't agree (he's Aladdin in Panto in Birmingham) ... and if it's good enough for Sir Ian McKellan too ...

So lets see about the leads in Joseph prior to Lee Mead ... Stephen Gately ... H from Steps ... oh they are just pop star has-beens LOL

No need for the bad language , I personally hate panto with a passion . It’s like torture to my ears and eyes, and I’m sure most people who have to do it would say the same.

Which is, of course, why the same people do it year after year. Because they hate it.

Tara - I love Panto's and think it is one of the most important theatrical forms. Most Peoples introduction to the theatre is a pantomime and once they are hooked , they are hooked.

I'm sure most people who have to do it probably wouldn't agree with you on that one, nor would the people who want to do it.

Panto has changed. It's not just the place for rising and then falling stars anymore. It's cool, and important, to be in panto. As Intheknow says panto is often the the first exposure kids have with theatre. If it's good it can sow the seed of a lifelong interest in theatre which we need kids to have in order to secure the future of out theatres and actors. If it's crap then it can put people off for life. I think the vast majority of performers realise this and I think that's why an increasing number of big names i.e. Ian Mckellan, Susan Hampshire, Brian Blessed etc etc etc many more names etc etc do panto each year. I doubt they have to. I suspect they want to because they enjoy it and are aware of its importance.

Simon Callow did panto with Christopher Biggins a couple of years ago. I very much doubt if his finances compelled him to do it. Do you have any evidence for the idea that people hate doing it, Tara?

I've heard a number of people say they love doing panto. The contracts are short, the shows are terribly under-rehearsed, and for a few weeks the work can be far more intensive than usual, but by all accounts I've heard they're a lot of fun.

I think the standard of pantos is falling, however. In the two seasons either side of 2000 I saw thirteen pantos including six Cinderellas and all of them were different, displaying great creativity and imagination. These days most are "chain" pantos: same songs, same script, same set, replicated with slightly different stars right across the country.

I agree. I have seen countless Qdos pantomimes, one or two First Family Entertainment productions and my local one is done by New Pantomime Productions and I think standards are slipping. In these big panto's I see an increasing tendancy to splash out tons of cash on spectacle and stunt celebrity casting at the expense of good clean humour.

For example over Christmas 2005/2006 the Empire in Liverpool help it's first panto in 10 years - Cinderella starring Julian Clary. Potentially a lot of fun. What it turned out to be was a rather spectaularly staged stand up comedy night with a few songs. And it was far too rude for a family panto. If I had had kids with me I would have left half way through. (Interestingly Panto did not return to the Empire the following year).

The panto in Torquay (and subsequently Runcorn) last Christmas was, again Cinderella this time by New Pantomime Productions who excelled themselves in crap casting by having Kemal as the fairy. He was truly awful but the show as a whole was boring. Spectacular yes, but boring.

Contrast this to last years Cinderella at the Oldham Coliseum. Wasn't even remotely spectacular and employed a group of talented and not very well known actors. It relied on a sharp script and hilarious set pieces and lots of audience participation to keep it going and it succeeded in every way.

Matthew, if yo want decent panto. Stuff the big ones by the big companies. Head out to the small producing houses who stage their own. Bound to be a hundred million times better.

The best panto I've ever seen was Cinderella at Leamington Spa in January 2000. Its big stars were the almost completely unknown Wink Taylor and Lydia Griffiths, it was presented in a general-purpose hall masquerading as a theatre with a proscenium arch like a letterbox (its proportions are about 5:2), the seating was just ordinary chairs, and when I entered the auditorium I had to step over a body. OK, it was actually a live body, but it was busily sticking down the carpet with gaffer tape and didn't exactly give me confidence in the already inauspicious surroundings.

But it turned out to be an utterly charming show: spectacular without being empty spectacle, and with one of the best panto casts I've ever seen. It was as if the company had responded to being trapped in what felt like a municipal car park by putting in extra effort, and it really paid off.

The Theatre Royal Yorks' panto is legendary. No stunt casting and a dame who has done panto at that theatre for well over twenty years - Berwick Kaler. It runs a couple of months and has a very high audience attendance - deservedly so.

The last night is muck-about night and demand is so high that you have to enter a lottery to get tickets. I was lucky enough to see this one year from a box - and I ached with laughter. The backstage team put out notes on the seats saying when you hear [X] shout out [Y] - designed to throw the principals, all of whom corpsed at some point during the evening! At one point Dame Berwick and his sidekick Martin Barrass held a Pinteresque pause each on the brink of and waiting for the other to laugh - they both totally outdid the audience!

Pure quality!

My first introduction to theatre was a Panto , and even as a child I didn't like it . As an adult I'm sorry but I can't stand it .

What's funny about men dressed as women , women as men , bad acting , shouting and all that sexual inuendo thrown in for the adults , what a laugh that is.

I did take my daughter to see Panto and she can't have been that impressed as she never asked to go again . I'd rather take my daughter to see Mary Poppins or High School Musical , like I do.

I cant believe your all so passionette about it .

Maybe Panto should be added to the discussion board for you all .

It's cool , come on .

Ex big brother contestants , Australian soap actors , has been pop stars , anyone who's had five minutes on a TV reality show .

How cool is that.

It's always been like that. Victorian pantos would have retired jockeys and boxers, and music hall stars singing their big numbers whether or not they fitted the play, plus people holding up the action to wax lyrical on the virtues of Mr Rowlings Finest India Tea. None of what we think of as modern additions to the panto tradition are actually new and the sort of 'traditional Victorian' panto you occasionally get revived really isn't very traditional at all!

Tara - you have no need to apologise for not liking panto, any more than people who like it (and there's no doubt it's the most popular theatrical genre in Britain - most provincial theatres wouldn't survive without it) have any reason to be embarassed. However, I still don't get why you think that just because you don't enjoy watching it, the actors must hate it too. I loathe ballet but that doesn't mean I think all the dancers have been blackmailed into performing.

Also......Brian Conley, Brian Blessed, Ian Mckellan, Richard Wilson, Susan Hampshire, Patrick Duffy, Stephanie Beacham, Colin Baker, Nigel Havers, Simon Callow, John Savident etc etc



It's cool that pantos are filling up the theatres up and down the country over the christmas season. Stuff who's in them....they're attracting bums on seats. The theatres are making money and many people are getting real enjoyment. It's a time to let your hair down and enjoy utter sillyness.



I know a few people who don't like panto. It's simply not their cup of tea. That's fine. But they are astute enough to see the benefits the Christmas panto affords our theatres, are wise enough to understand that other people are passionate about it. What's there not to believe?

Count me amongst the people who loathe it, I'm afraid! I've really tried but it just does nothing for me. It just seems so lazy and formulaic most of the time. I do think the non-tv star ones are better but still I'd rather not go and see them.
Mind you, I do think my first experience of panto scarred me for life. I was taken to see one when I was about 8 and nobody told me about the accepted traditions. The panto was "Babes in the Wood" and so when the big build up to the entrance of Robin Hood started my expectations were for Eastbourne's answer to Errol Flynn. I was, therefore, horrified to find out that Robin was some bird in fishnets and high heels...

Sebastian

M George do you understand the concept of the word cool . That's one hell of a cool list you have there

Do I understand the concept of the word 'cool'? I certainly understand the meaning of the word.

It depends upon the context in which it is being used but the word 'cool' has various contrasting meanings as shown here http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cool

Okay Tara - we get it you don't like panto.

I do .. my son does (he's 4) and we have a great time. My local panto has Starsky (aka Paul Michael Glaser) as Captain Hook this year in Peter Pan ... and I will be off to see Daniel Boys in Jack and The Beanstalk too.

Great fun for the evening ... and my son now loves the notion of musical theatre ... and wants to see The Lion King.

That's gotta be a good thing hey!!