WOYWW 85..... oh no it isn't....oh yes it is!

Welcome to WOYWW!  For those that are aliens from Zog (or indeed, people who have just dropped in on a random bloghop), for more info on WOYWW, go and visit our chaperone and general desk jockey Julia here for more info!

So what IS on my work desk this Wednesday?  Well, I thought I'd be a bit different this week.  Panto is drawing ever closer - three rehearsals left (tonight, tomorrow and Friday) and then the shows begin.  Some of you (including Karen) have asked what I'm doing in the panto personally.  I mean, you already know Mr B is Captain Hook!  Well, I'm in the chorus as a random pirate for a start.  I'm also the sword fight choreographer (but they've epically failed to put that into the programme - I am so not chuffed about that) and scenery painter, and occasional prop hag.  I'm also a proud "Mum", as Lil Miss B is playing one of the Lost Boys, and a very proud partner to Mr B.  And also I'm sometimes the chauffeur, though Mr B does most of that.  Being so involved with the creation side of the panto, at present, this is my workdesk! 

To explain...

We hire some AMAZING (and some not, but that's another tale) backdrops from a fab company in Wales.  They have hundreds of different ones, but the snag is that you can't have them until the week before your show.  You can have a pic of what you're getting, to get an idea of what you need to do to the rest of your scenery to make it blend in, but as for colour matching, that has to wait until you have the backcloth under stage lighting in front of you to get the colours just right.  We have a set designer, but it's kinda my job to do a lot of the painting and direct others with what I'd like them to achieve.  I made the mistake last year, when I joined the group, of joining in with the painting and now they think I can paint.  I'd not painted a single piece of scenery before then.  In fact, my art teacher used to have to beg and cajole me to even pick up a paintbrush; I used to only work on A4 sheets with pencils!  Ulp!  I don't consider myself to be an artist - creative yes, artist, no.  I just happen to know how to make things look three-dimensional.

Thus, the entire theatre is my workdesk at the moment, and I even have little men running about in it doing my bidding.  Hmmm, maybe I should rephrase that.  Mr B might see this and he's up that ladder there....!!

Amongst this year's scenery we have a reservation scene, a beach scene, a flying scene (thankfully that's just a backdrop and some dry ice, no painting!), the nursery, and the pirate ship.  The ship backcloth is fantastic - I am SO in awe of who paints these! - but it's causing a major headache with the flats as we have to match the ship sides in.... scary stuff.  the palm trees were fun though, especially as people didn't "get " them when the trunks were bare....

and I had to reassure them that they'd be ok.  I think they're ok..... don't you?

At home, my real workdesk has even more panto on it.  Two tankards that started out as clear plastic and Mr B's hook.  It's been a bit fun trying to work out how to make it - we wanted it to be as realistic as possible, as most of the costume hooks you can buy still allow free movement of the wrist (something you are rather lacking when your hand has been eaten by a crocodile....LOL), so we've made up an arrangement that (just) fits under his costume, restricts his movement, and yet doesn't look quite so plastic.  We have to glue the hook to the armpiece, and I can assure you that it looks WAY better when he's wearing his costume.  Made from one costume hook, one boiled potato can, one coke bottle, and Ten Seconds Studio metal.  Eagle eyed folk might just be able to work out that I've used Big Daddy Mould #4.  LOL. (Picture was taken last night)



This  morning I finished off the tankards with a dry brush coat of silver to get the appearance of being pewter rather than plastic.  Fetching doncha think?

Ok, I gotta run..... Thanks to all of you who commented last week, will be commenting this week, and to whom I may not have enough time to visit.....  Catch you around on The Hop!

Oooh - and a big hello to Noreen who has just found my blog doing a search on the Panto, cos her daughter is involved with it!!!!  ROFL- welcome to WOYWW Noreen!