The British Amateur Theater Society (BATS) production of the pantomime "Jack and the Beanstalk" is finally completed, and the performances were all quite memorable! We did four shows (one Thursday, one Friday, and a matinee and evening performance Saturday) and had total attendance of over 600 people. Not too bad for amateur theater!
For those that aren't familiar with the British pantomime tradition, it usually involves the humorous retelling of a classic fairy tale. There are usually some guys playing girls, girls playing guys, and people playing animals. There is a lot of singing, dancing, and audience participation. Kids are especially encouraged to get involved.
I played the Demon Pestblight, who is intent on causing the Good Fairy Evergreen's hopes for brave, young Jack to fail. I usually arrived on stage to the boos and hisses of the audience, which is to be expected. Most performances I even remembered the majority of my lines!
One item of note from our last performance - the cow (Daisy) had a bit with a song along with Dame Durden that involved getting the audience to sing. Just as the scene was starting, Daisy's head fell off. The Dame did some quick improv, accusing Daisy of getting so excited that she just lost her head, then called for a vet from the audience.
A new visitor to the neighborhood is the Dingxianghai cargo ship. It came in yesterday. Pretty impressive to see a ship this size docked next to our apartment!
Finally, it snowed again last night - about 4 inches. It is forecast to snow off and on for the next few days. And all this in a place they told us didn't get but just an inch or two of snow every year.
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