Months of work goes into Coolera Panto
Tickets for Babes in the Wood went on sales last October and like every year, were sold out within two weeks.
As Panto Director Bobby Jones from Ransboro says: “The demand for tickets is phenomenal. Schools come from around the area. We stage 16 shows in total, 2 matinees and 14 nights.”
Students from forth class in Ransboro National School take part in the production every years.
“There are about 30 children and we split them into groups of two, so they do alternate nights. They are a wonderful addition to the Panto and get so much out of it themselves. It is a great experience for all involved,” he says.
There is a cast and crew of
about 100 people, explains Bobby with up to 70 on stage at a given time.
The amount of work that goes into the annual productions should not be under-estimated. There are teams of people organising everything from costumes to front of house to set design and make-up.
“Our costume department under Mary McKinny can travel all over the country to source the right costume. We have our own big costume department. We buy some and make others,” explains Bobby.
Rehearsals begin in September and before the Panto reaches a live audience in the Hawk’s Well Theatre there is ‘ the guts of three to four months of hard graft by everyone involved.’ But, Bobby says the hard work is worth every second.