It is being brought to the stage by the same team, Dreamstar IOM Productions, that have delighted local families in Christmas's past with the likes of Cinderella and Peter Pan.
We caught up with David Artus, one third of Dreamstar, to find out more.
Puss in Boots & The Three Musketeers! It sounds a
fab mixture and presumably double the fun?
Well that's the idea yes, like most Panto's Puss in Boots is a
fairy tale that happens to be over a hundred years old, however the
original story has been somewhat over-shadowed by the Dreamworks
film of the same name. We would not wish to copy the story of the
film because this is Panto after all, however, we wanted to make
our story original so we decided to throw in the Three Musketeers
for good measure and of course make it Manx. So yes it's like a 2
for 1 deal in Shoprite really. Not only that, but the price of
tickets has been getting higher in the last few years and we don't
think that is fair. Our ticket prices are the same as 2010 so we
hope that everyone can come along and enjoy the world of Panto.
This is the Sixth panto for Dreamstar IOM. Other
than this one, of course, do you have a favourite production and
does any one particular moment stick in mind?
Favourite so far was Cinderella, I like to think our Panto's get
better each time and Cinders was the last one, but as a writer
Cinderella is designed for Panto the story lends itself to comedy,
we had a brilliant time. You ask which moment sticks out and I
would have to go back to our first Panto - Dick Whittington in
2003. It was my first attempt at writing a script, and Sonia
(Callin), Gary (Chatel) and myself we were all very nervous. I was
playing Dick and all was going well with many nights pre-sold out.
But with 3 days to opening night our Dame (Chris Caine) broke his
leg, we actually thought about cancelling but as they say the "show
must go on", I swapped roles and played Dame and the cat (Tina
Fielding) stepped in to play my part - luckily gender isn't an
obstacle in Panto land! …the whole episode was absolutely
petrifying! ...but we got though it, the audience loved the show,
and after that nothing has ever been a problem.
I imagine it must be lots of fun bringing together a
panto but I'm guessing there is also a lot of hard work that goes
into it?
This year we have a talking
cauldron, flying witch, flying Fairy, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car
and a giant ogre! So the short answer is yes. You would not believe
the amount of people we rely on to make the show happen, the kids
start rehearsing in the summer, we always have about 50/70 children
in 2 groups. Scenery, props, costumes the list goes on. We are a
totally Manx company and have the luxury of a good name in local
circles, which means people generally want to work with us,
professional-standard actors, dancers, musicians, backstage etc.
Apart from specialists for sound and flying we don't use any UK
people, but we get a lot of local help and we are very grateful for
that. Manx to the Max!
David, are you personally featuring in this panto this
time or sticking behind this scenes like you did in this summer's
hit production of The Full Monty?
The only Panto I decided not to be in to date was Peter Pan 2009,
this was because the show was very technical and I felt I had to be
out front, if I had to choose my least favourite show I'd have to
point at that one, the show was a fantastic success but once the
curtain opened I was spare part, and I hated it. Same with Full
Monty this summer, loved the show and got a lot of pleasure from
the process of directing, but not being out on stage just felt
wrong for me. So the answer is yes Im in this one, I'm playing Puss
(which is not the biggest part before you accuse me of
narcissism)…this means I get to wear a full lycra suit and dance
about on stage - yeh, but the down side is that I don't get to
shout at the actors about not knowing their lines.. being word
perfect myself!
And what about your future plans?
We finish on the 3rd January and on the 4th January I start on
Sister Act for the DCU. I have about 3 weeks to learn the
part of the gangster (played by Harvey Keitel).. its a relatively
small part, but there's a lot to be said for turning up and only
having to worry about your own performance, can't wait!
"Puss in Boots and the Three Musketeers" is on at The Gaiety Theatre from the 20th December 2014 till the 3rd January 2015. Contact the Box Office on 600555 or via www.villagaiety.com.