Society needs help tracing the history of 40 years of panto
The Leeds Amateur Dramatics Society (LADS) turned 40 last December. The first pantomime it put on was
Rip Van Winkle way back in December 1981.
The panto was written and produced by Stanley Yeomans who also played “Old Rip Van Winkle.” It had original music by John Draper.
The lead role went to Phillipa Evans and they were joined on stage by more than 30 supporting actors, with a behind the scenes crew of 17. There were just two performances, held in Leeds Village Hall.
Since then, there has been a Leeds pantomime every year except the Millennium year of 2000 when the hall was being refurbished, and 2021, thanks to Covid.
Shows have included: Twelfth Night, Mr Scrooge, Sleeping Beauty in the ‘50s, Aladdin and Rapunzel.
The society has now decided it’s about time to start keeping a record of its history, and sometime panto dame Paul Cordier has been appointed the archivist.
He would love to hear from anyone with programmes, news cuttings, reviews or photographs from past shows, in particular any shows between 1982 and 1985, and between 1995 and 2007, for which records are short. Mr Cordier said: “The albums provided a great starting point but if anyone has anything that may be useful in fleshing out the story of the village group’s performances then any information would be gratefully received.”
LADS chairperson Lesley Finlay said: “If you have been part of LADS over the years, either on stage, back stage, or front-of-house, then we would love to hear from you.
“Every memory could help build up the colourful history of the society.”
You can contact LADS via Facebook: LADSamdram or email Mr Cordier on paul. cordier@virgin.net