Pantomime!

Pantomime is a British traditional musical-comedy theatrical production! It has nothing to do with actual mimes, just for the record. It is very funny - geared towards children but with humor that adults understand. It is almost always politically incorrect, making fun of politicians, actors, singers, etc. At one point, an actor said that their full name was "Dotty Britney Spears Pussycat Dolls Girls Aloud Obama Yes We Can Potty!" So great.

The stage before the production - I wish I could have taken pictures during it, because the costumes are a character within themselves. The mother or oldest woman is always played by a man - similar to John Travolta in the movie version of Hairspray.

As you can see, the production that we went to was Jack in the Beanstalk. The pantomimes are traditionally only around during the holiday season, and are incredibly interactive. You have to boo and hiss when the villain comes on the stage, sing at some points, say "He's right behind you!" when the villain is behind the main characters, and are constantly engaging with the actors.

They also have very popular songs that they put into the storyline. For example, in Jack and the Beanstalk a big part is the cow being sold for the magic beans. The cows name was Buttercup, so they were always singing "Build me Up, Buttercup." The lead song was "Footloose," they did "Grease Lightening," and even a song from High School Musical. It was so great; I loved it!

A really great thing was that CAPA put on this trip, too, so we could get free tickets. I wanted to go because I had learned a little bit about pantomime in one of my classes so I got Mary Kate and Andrea to come along with me and we all had a really great night! Then, at the end of the show they were saying who was in the audience and CAPA got a shout-out! It was just like being a kid again, shouting for our school!