Damian Jay Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Hello all, Once again Im akiing for a little guidence and some opinions. Ok, the show - The Magic of Christmas. In a nutshell its a small touring show aimed at the family market. The cast:- 1 x Elf, 1 x Fairy (of the magical kind, not the camp kind,) 1 x Santa and 3 x dancers / vocalists. Aimed at a family audience, with lots of audience participation, illusion and some atmospheric effects such as low fog, snow and haze. While not a Panto, it will utilise a lot of he elements that make a successful Panto show. The show will be performed in several small community centres with seating capacitys of about 200 - 350. The first act opens with the song 'It's the Most Wonderful Time of The Year' by Point of Grace. quite a slow song but very 'showy' The second act opens with a festive medley by the dancers / singers My questions for some advice are:- 1 - what kind of pre-show and interval music would you (sensibly please ** laughs out loud **) suggest? My ideas on this range from playing festive music either the proper versions of the songs or just the instumental versions. Obviously omitting the songs used in the showI was also thinking of putting in some of the 'comedy' christmas songs like 'All I Want for Christmas Is A Spice Girl' and Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer' etc. 2 - what kind of pre-show announcements would suit ?I've done a search of the forums and found quite a lot of useful advice and distilling it down I have come up with the following:- "Good evening ladies & Gentlemen, Boys & Girls. Welcome to (venue name). Tonights perfomance of 'The Magic of Christmas' will begin in 5 minutes. The recording and photogaphing of this show is strictly prohibited. Please turn all mobile phone and pagers to silent or off. Please take your seats and enjoy the performance." followed by " Good evening Ladies & Gentlemen, Boys & Girls. Tonights Perofmance will begin in 3 minutes. Remeber to turn to silent your mobile phones and pagers if you have not already done so. Please take your seats and enjoy the performance" and lastly "Good evening Ladies & Gentlemen, Boys & Girls. Please take your seats as theres 1 minute till showtime. Enjoy the performance" Please feel free to suggest any alterations. For the interval, I was gioing to use "Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys & Girls, there will now be a 15 minute interval."And then repeat the 5 min 3 min and 1 min house announcements in a much more basic way. 3 - Ideas on interval music please. Could I re-use the first 15 minutes of the Pre-show music perhaps? and do likewise with the after-show music? I hope I have given enough details of the show for you guys to give some reccomendations. If not please let me know what else you need to know. I read the thread that was closed down and dont want that to be the case here :-) kind regards Damian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Some Bloke Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 The ideas you've come up with so far sound pretty good to me. When choosing pre-show songs it's important to get the mood right - it's not just a Christmas mood you're looking for, but a fun mood too, so Val Doonican in his rocking chair or the choir of King's College, Cambridge, although both lovely I'm sure, might be less appropriate, perhaps. In other words, don't just buy a compilation and play it, check every song on the playlist individually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 I can see that maybe front of house, these messages would be useful, but personally I hate countdown messages in the pre-show music because kids shows are notorious for having front of house holds for zillions of reasons linked to the usual and kids-based problems. Kids hearing these kind of messages get excited and then disappointed when the one minute becomes 5. I like the video and photography stuff, but if the music is kind of getting them ready for the show, it's rather an adult message. How about changing a bit maybe even ignoring the mums and dads, and pitching direct to the kids. "Hello boys and girls, welcome to 'The Magic of christmas'. Can you get mum and dad to turn off their mobile phones, as we don't want to spoil the show." Then maybe have a one minute extra announcement asking to check mums and dads did switch them off and then, if you can stand it - how about the show will start in .. 30, 29, 28, 27 and they'll join in and shout the countdown, getting them really hyped up before curtain up. Whatever you do, of course - it MUST start. For kids shows, I always like to target the kids - makes them feel special. The "ladies and gentlemen" stuff isn't kid friendly. "Mums and dads", even if they're really grannies, or aunties, doesn't matter. The masters of kids communications are the Chuckles, and one show Paul was ill, and couldn't appear - so Barry made the announcement - "Boys and girls, Mums and Dads - it's Barry here. I've got some very sad news for you. Paul hurt his leg today and had to go to hospital. No need to worry, he's ok, but isn't allowed to walk on it - so he won't be able to come on stage. (disappointed noises from the audience) We've all got together and worked very hard to make sure you all have a wonderful time. Let's give Paul a big get well soon cheer ..... (they cheer) - and on with the show" He turned disappointment into a big cheer - and because they really did dish the role out to the others so well, if you didn't know they were one short, you'd never have even noticed. Not a single complaint! It did get a bit wearing on the cans with "to me, to me" comments all night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damian Jay Posted June 19, 2011 Author Share Posted June 19, 2011 Hi Paulears and Just Some Bloke, Thanks for the advice :-) I love the idea of getting the kids to get their parents to turn their phones of :-) and LOVE the idea of a countdown.I'll be playing about now with with countdowns ** laughs out loud **.... maybe even use the mixed up thnderbirds intro! Due to the show being both in church and community halls, Im hoping that there wont be any delays. If the show is meant to start at 7.30 then it WILL start at 7.30. I have a great deal of respect for the Chuckle Brothers in their outlook on kids stuff. Not just with their performances but with their business side of things too. As you say, they are masters of the genre. Just Some Bloke ... I like what you say about checking each song in the playlist. Most people think I'm a control freak (I prefer perfectionist) as I have said that I want to create my own playlist for the pre-show, interval and after show music.so it is, like you say, in keeping with the mood for the show. Plus I'll know (and the cast will too) how long till curtian up by whatever song is playing at the time I'm just not sure if I want to have music with vocals or the instrumental versions. The music will of course be up-beat and a little funky and jazzed up. Quick museing now, If Christmas is a time for celebration, why are most carols so dreary and depessing to listen to? Thanks again for the advice and comments. It's very much appriciated. If anyone else would like to add anything please feel free :-) Regards Damian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 A list of Christmas hit singles like THIS ONE ON WIKIPEDIA is rich fodder for the sort of thing you're looking for. You can pick the ones to suit the mood of the show you're doing. When I spent several years working the same panto, they liked good, bouncy Christmas rock stuff, interspersed with anything "happy" from the current year's Christmas top ten. My brief was also to try and end with something that could be looped/repeated at the end just in case there was a slight delay starting--for example the last one I used was "Wizards of Winter" by the Trans Siberian Orchestra with a way of looping about a minute at the end--or letting it come to a climax when we got the "go" cue. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the kid Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 One question that is a general question, Pagers, does anyone use them still as a communication device? Would it be better overall to have "electronic devices" remembering that lots of MP3's also have external speakers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damian Jay Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 Bobbsy ... THANK YOU for the link. That will save me quite a lot of time hunting down some songs. I didnt really want to play the kind of songs you always hear at Christmas. By the time of the first show on Dec 1st most people will be sick of hearing the same cd being played in shopping centres an retail outlets. I'm sure I have Wizzards in Winter - Was'nt it by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra? I think years ago I was sent a Youtube video with a house that lit up in time to that song. The Kid... I like the 'electronic devices' idea. No way would I have thought of that. Which reminds me of a funny play-on I used to use when performing on the ships :-D *has a rummage about* Thank you all for your comments and advice..... Im gonna have a play with wording and songs for a bit. I'll post what I come up with in a little while :-D Regards, Damian :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themadhippy Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq8HOJkx6s8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damian Jay Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 O.M.G. that had me crying with laughter ** laughs out loud **Cheers Themadhippy :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommulliner Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 Would it be better overall to have "electronic devices" remembering that lots of MP3's also have external speakers.And of course that also includes hand held games consoles <_< Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomHoward Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 I'd echo Paul's sentiment about specific times in pre-show calls - personally I'd consider something like "the show will begin shortly" and "the show is about to begin" in place of the 3 and 1 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilalexrose Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 The director who I does the panto I work on doesn't like christmas music in the pre-show. He prefers disney hits (as long as they're not in the panto). So much so that he has arrived for the last 2 years with a 3 CD disney compliation. For the sake of my sanity, and the rest of the crew, I have 3 x 1 hour long CD's on shuffle for pre, post and interval music. I alternate the CD for each show. Although I do rebel and play the my christmas CD for the week before christmas (as the director has long gone!), but after christmas, it's back to disney. We try and get the kids TV personality to do the phone's off announcement, the kids (hopefully) recognise the voice, and get excited that way. As soon as you turn the houselights off the kids get excited anyway, add in the mirrorball and that's it for the rest of the show...... Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 I have 3 x 1 hour long CD's on shuffle for pre, post and interval music. I alternate the CD for each show. Neil My experience was with the pre-show music a bit more scripted--there was an exact time for it to start and it was timed to come to a bit of a crescendo just as the show was due to start--my brief was to start mellow and calm but work up the "bounciness" of the music (and creep the level to not far below show level) with the last track "ending with a bang" just as the show was due to start. (Of course, it didn't always work, hence my previous comment about an invisible loop on the last song so I could stretch things in case of backstage or FOH problems.) Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damian Jay Posted June 23, 2011 Author Share Posted June 23, 2011 Just a quick update, I'm still having a play about with various ideas and sounds. Will post again when I have some news. Regards... Damian :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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