Have you ever turned up to a musical and thought, where’s the band? Perhaps there was an empty pit, or no pit at all? No appearance on stage? They are probably in a cramped room somewhere in the realms of the theatre, or maybe even not in the theatre at all. Live music is an [...]

After catching up with panto drummer Nick Anderson in my last blog, I thought I would have a chat with a musical director as the panto season draws to a close. Dean Austin has been Musical Director on the Spamalot UK Tour, the original West End production of Zorro, as well as on the premiere [...]

This week I’ve been catching up with Nick Anderson, a 17-year-old Plymouth-based drummer who’s already making a living playing on shows such as Annie and Rent. As panto season approaches, Nick is working on a production of Snow White. Here’s what he had to say about the best (and worst!) panto audiences, his favourite pantomimes [...]

Without cracking too many terrible “oh no it isn’t” puns, it’s nearly time for panto season again! With not long to go until the clock strikes twelve for Cinderella, or Peter Pan takes flight once again, preparations and rehearsals are going on all over the country. A musical director on a panto is often very [...]