Snow White 2018/2019

Our post for today is written by creator Dotti. She takes us back in time to Christmas 2018, when she had the pleasure of working on "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" for Pantomime.

We hope you enjoy!

Hello there! I hope you're all well. Today I wanted to share my experience of working on my first Pantomime; what it's like, what it entails etc. for anyone thinking of pursuing a career backstage or for those who wonder what goes on behind the scenes.

In November 2017, I was given the opportunity to undertake work experience on that year's Pantomime - "Aladdin", in my home city of Aberdeen. I enjoyed this so much that I applied to see if there were any positions for 2018's Pantomime, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and was fortunate to be offered a position as Wardrobe Assistant/Dresser.

Going in on my first day in late November 2018, although I knew some of the requirements of the job, by the end of the panto run I had learnt so much more.

On the first day I was greeted by the Wardrobe Supervisor, a lovely man called David, whom I had met the previous year on "Aladdin". Before starting anything, the whole company came together, so that people could introduce themselves to each other. Following this meeting, my first duty was to unload all of the costume wardrobes/boxes which had been delivered to us. Fortunately I had help doing this! I also went out shopping for sewing and general admin supplies.

The remainder of the first week was spent organizing the costumes, altering them to fit specific actors, shopping for further sewing supplies and seeing actors for costume fittings.

During the second week we were fully into altering the costumes for the actors. I mainly worked on the female and male chorus costumes, while others worked on the main actors costumes. Costumes were labelled for each actor, hung on the racks in the dressing rooms ready for tech week.

During the 'tech' (technical) rehearsal the actors appear on stage in full costume. Tech rehearsals were also important for us in the Wardrobe Department. It gave us the chance to work out where in the performance costume changes would happen and how much time we would have to carry them out. The script which we all work from, indicates where such changes are supposed to happen, but it doesn't take into account what may actually happen once the actors are on stage, in between lines or account for what has been added, changed or removed in rehearsals. So you can see tech rehearsals are invaluable.

It also gave me time to get to know the actors I was going to be dressing. I was responsible for dressing Snow White herself, the amazing Jenna and the male chorus dancers; Ross, Stephen, Calon and Mark who are a wonderful group of boys.

I also got to know the female chorus dancers Sophia, Aislinn, Katriona and Tamika, who were adorable! While the tech runs went on, the boys and Jenna and the girls would usually be in the stalls, in costume, having been on stage or waiting to get changed into their next costume. This gave us time to talk and get to know each other before we started the live shows, which was nice.

The end of technical rehearsals signaled the start of our live shows; two shows a day, six days a week for the run of December and the beginning of January. This is where the real work started (not that we hadn't worked before this point!). Opening night was a special night. It was full of emotion; excitement, joy, worry, anticipation and kicked off a great run for us!

During the run a daily routine for me would be arriving at the theatre a few hours before the afternoon performance, and heading to the Wardrobe Department. First thing I would do is check to see if any costumes needed fixing, they would usually have had a running repair done during a performance the night before (if it happened during the afternoon performance it would be fixed between shows). So I would repair them properly. It would then be time to go and pre-set all of the boys costumes. Most of them would be pre-set on their chairs in Wardrobe;

except for their first costume, which I pre-set in their dressing room.

A washing basket became my best friend when carrying their costumes between Wardrobe and their dressing room which was on the floor below. I would take the costumes and lay them out for them.

All of Jenna's costumes were stored in her dressing room, so I would put out her first costume the night before and for the evening performance I would set it after the afternoon performance.

During the actual performance I would spend most of my time with Ross, Mark, Stephen and Calon as they had more costume changes, and then go up to Jenna's dressing room to help her change and pre-set her finale costume when there was a gap in the boy's changes. When the show ended all of the costumes would be put back, and the company would go for dinner. After dinner we would start all over again for the evening performance!

Working the live shows really taught me a lot about keeping calm under pressure. Anything could go wrong, and sometimes it did (I shan't mention the time Mark got strangled by his chin strap when his hat slipped during a dance routine, but like the true professional he is, he kept going!). So I had to be prepared and stay calm, whether that was making a running repair to a pair of trousers during the show (Calon!) or pinning up the sleeves on Jenna's dress. I learnt not to panic and just adapted to the situation. As a result of this I ended up carrying everything from sewing needles to hair grips, to different types of sweets in my apron!

The beginning of January signaled the end of our Pantomime run. After seven amazing weeks with an incredible group of people we sadly had to say goodbye.

There's something special about working on a Pantomime, maybe its because they happen at Christmas, which is already a wonderful time of year. Whatever it is, I shall never forget it. I loved every minute of my time working on "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". The people both on stage and behind the scenes made every minute a moment to remember. I learnt so much which will help me in future jobs, and I will forever be grateful to David, who gave me a job and a chance. Thank you David.

I would love to work in Pantomime again in the future. I would encourage anyone who is thinking of pursuing a career backstage in theatre to volunteer at their local Pantomime, as I promise you, you will learn so much. In fact, volunteering for any local theatre will get you somewhere!

Dotti x

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