Dick Whittington Panto Launch, Belgrade Theatre.

When December rolls round and the Christmas spirit is in full swing there's one thing that always makes my list of things to do in the month, go and see a pantomime. 

Over the past few years I've not been able to go and see a pantomime, mostly because most of my free time was spent working in a pub were time off around Christmas is pretty much impossible. I was actually heavily involved in a travelling pantomime as a teenager so it always feels like my love for pantomimes is something personal. I have the best memories of travelling pantomimes and would spend a lot of the Christmas period playing in various venues around my county and further abroad.

I can't wait to share with you some of my favourite memories of this with a blog post in December. I was luckily enough to play some pretty important parts during this time and one of my absolute favourites was Tommy The Cat in Dick Whittington. 

So when I was invited for Afternoon Tea at Coombe Abbey Hotel with some of the cast from Belgrade Theatre in Coventry's pantomime, Dick Whittington I knew I had to get involved.

First up the hotel itself that was hosting the afternoon tea was stunning. I actually couldn't quite believe the aesthetically gorgeous feel of this place and with it's many trees leaves turning their yellow and orange tones and with conkers laying almost everywhere it felt like I had arrived in a Autumn paradise.

On arriving we realised that this launch would be quite intimate with only a select few individuals attending, which was great for networking with businesses and professionals within the area but also getting in those questions you were buzzing to ask the cast members. The afternoon tea that we had on offer was also pretty incredible and I practically rolled out of the hotel once I was finished, I will definitely be booking another one of those in the future!

We were quickly joined by Sarah the Cook who made a grand entrance and quickly got onto explaining the context of this year's pantomime and what we could expect from the show which begins it's run on Weds 23 November at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry. Again the pantomime has been written and directed by Iain Lauchlan who stars as the Dame Sarah the Cook in what will be his 22nd pantomime at the Belgrade Theatre! With a career spanning over 40 years we are definitely in great hands with this pantomime production.

He was joined by his son Idle Jack played by Craig Hollingsworth who waltzed into the room with his energetic personality and definite presence in the room. It was clear that this duo had a well cemented professional relationship with pantomime and I can't wait to see how this is presented on stage.

It was great to chat with the both of them about the whole feel for Dick Whittington and how they wanted to keep it as true to the original storyline as possible. This is something of great importance to me so I really appreciate that they're going to be doing this. We were also shown some costume sketches and I look forward to seeing those ideas on paper come to life.

They have been joined by a great children's cast in this production and look forward to bringing the importance of working with local people at the heart of this pantomime.

I thoroughly enjoyed the event and can't wait to head to the press night performance in November.

The Dick Whittington pantomime will begin on Weds 23 November at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry.

There is also Belgrade's annual alternative pantomime, Private Dick Whittington for adults 03-31 December as well as Santa's Polka Dot Pirate which is a festive show for 2-6 year olds.

Here's also a little image of when I did pantomime back in the day. There is me playing Tommy the Cat from a production of Dick Whittington!