- Poddery Barn is part of the Spitwads family. spitwads.blogspot.com
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The fate of the earth lies in the hands of two stoners from Los Angeles. "Cheech & Chong" meets "Star Trek." Starring Bryan Irzyk, Brandon Barrick, Angi Lenhart, Troy Vincent, and Mort Burke. Featuring Julia Irzyk, Shannon McKain, Steve Wright, Matt Keene, Debbie Friedman, Sky King, Nathan Ballard, Darius De La Cruz, and Greg Shouse. Written & Edited by Steve Wright. Produced & Directed by Matt Keene. Sound Supervisor, Jeff Ecker. Artwork by Dakota Bardy. In memory of Joe Wright. A Manning R ...
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Just Imagine - a podcast series from Imagine Theatre, one of the biggest pantomime producers in the world. With over 200 professional pantomime productions under their belt, Imagine really are one of the global experts in the field of pantomime. We'll go behind the scenes to meet the people behind the company, listen to their stories and find out what 'they do for the rest of the year' when it isn't panto season. With our host Martin Ballard we'll find out what makes Imagine Theatre tick, an ...
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From playing a mosquito aged 3 in Alice Through the Looking Glass to the present day Nathan has always loved performing. Coming from a strong theatre family Nathan was actually in a panto in the Junior Ensemble before he had even been in the audience to watch one and his love of the genre has been with him ever since. He has spent many years as a c…
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Simon Sladen and Steve Boden join Martin to talk about the history of Mother Goose. Although it is not that frequently performed these days it historically enjoyed great success with Dan Leno and Joseph Grimaldi both appearing in early versions of the show and more recently we have seen Ian McKellen playing the role to great success. They discuss t…
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Musical Director Paul Burnett’s daughter Caroline joins Martin this week to talk about her father’s career and life growing up with theatrical parents. Paul was a prolific musical director in the 1950s to the 1980s in the true heart of variety. He conducted multiple royal variety performances, was the MD of choice for people like Morcambe and Wise …
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Have you ever wanted to know more about the music in the pantomime? This week Martin is joined by Miles Russell who has spent a number of panto seasons as an MD and Arranger with Imagine Theatre. From starting out age seven learning to play the trumpet Miles is now a multi-instrumentalist. He has worked as an actor-musician, Musical Director and Ar…
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Join Martin as he goes back stage at this year's UK Pantomime Awards. Taking place on Tuesday 18th June at G Live in Guildford, the 2024 pantomime awards were another star studded, glittering evening celebrating all things panto! Martin talks to presenters Ore Oduba, Angelica Bell alongside lots of the award winners and members of the UK Pantomime …
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This week Martin is joined by former contestant on The Great British Sewing Bee and current Deputy Head of Wardrobe at Imagine Theatre, Adam Brooks. Adam talks about those early influences that led to his love of theatre and costume. He also discusses his varied career from drama school, to being a Cruise Director, to becoming Deputy Head of Wardro…
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This week Martin talks to two key members of the Imagine team about how they got into the industry and their experiences of training in stage management. Ruth Porter, Deputy Head of Stage Management and Props and Jazmyne Evans, Operations and Production Administrator talk to Martin about how their early experiences of theatre led them to work in th…
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This week’s episode focuses on the roles of two key elements of any theatrical production – the lighting and the sound. Lighting Designer and Programmer Matt Ladkin and Sound Designer and Head of Project Engineering and Head of Education at Orbital Sound Mike Thacker, join Martin to talk about these invaluable roles. They talk through exactly what …
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This week Eric Potts and Palace panto regular James McAnerney join Martin on the podcast to talk about Snow White. Snow White originated from the Brothers Grimm in the early 1800s and it grew and developed from there to become the version of the story we know today. Eric and James discuss the history of the pantomime, the variations in the story, s…
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We are already a third of the way through the year and this week on the podcast Sarah and Steve talk to Martin about where Imagine are in the panto process at the moment. New set and costume designs are underway for the three brand news shows being created this year. This includes planning for the team to produce panto in a circus tent for the firs…
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Episode 75 – The Role of the Director This week the podcast focuses on the role of the director. Robert Marsden and Mairi Cowieson join Martin on the podcast to discuss what being a director actually involves. They discuss how the role of director has developed from ancient times to present day, their routes into directing and their personal approa…
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Joint CEO of Trafalgar Entertainment Dame Rosemary Squire and CEO and COO of Trafalgar Theatres Helen Enright are Martin’s guests on the podcast this week. Despite an early love of theatre, neither Rosemary or Helen set out to have a career in the industry and both came to their current roles through very different paths. Join us as they discuss th…
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This week Swansea legend Kev Johns joins Martin on the podcast. Kev has been a panto dame for 30 years, with 25 of those at the Swansea Grand. He also presented numerous radio shows, including more than 20 years on the Breakfast Show, as well as being a match day announcer for his local football team, The Swans. Kev is also heavily involved in char…
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The pantomime version of Beauty and the Beast is one of the most popular titles of all, along with being one of the most loved Disney classics. This week Eric Potts and Liam Dolan join Martin on the podcast to discuss one of their favourite titles.توسط Imagine Theatre
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This week Steve Boden and Laura Taylor join Martin to talk about the role of the producer. Producers are crucial to each production as they have overall responsibility for the show, but it is one of the roles that many people know little about. Steve and Laura explain how they came to be panto producers and what it entails – from relationships with…
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Martin catches up with Sarah and Steve to discuss how the 2023 panto season went and what is in store for 2024. Imagine have had their biggest ever panto season with 19 pantomimes and 3 Santa shows. They have employed more people than ever before with around 500 people hired by Imagine to work on the productions, plus around 400 children who were p…
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This week Martin goes backstage at DMH where he spent 10 years performing in panto himself to chat to the cast of this year’s Jack and the Beanstalk. He finds out how Scott Mills has settled in to his first ever pantomime, learns Jarred Christmas’s process for choosing his final jokes for the show, discovers how son Jack Ballard is getting on playi…
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For the Christmas edition of the podcast Martin heads to Swindon to talk to the cast of Snow White at The Wyvern - David Ashley, Divina De Campo, Nathan Connor, Paul Burling and Samantha Dorrance. This episode also features special Christmas messages from some of the Imagine team.توسط Imagine Theatre
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This week Martin is joined by radio presenter Scott Mills who is making his pantomime debut this year in Jack and the Beanstalk at De Montfort Hall. Scott talks to Martin about how his decision to do a panto came about, the advice he has been getting from his showbiz pals and his past performing experience on Strictly Come Dancing. Don’t miss Scott…
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This week Imagine’s Joint CEO and Business and Marketing Director Sarah Boden joins Martin to talk through everything that is currently happening at Imagine Theatre HQ as well as on the pantomimes themselves. Everything is in full swing with two shows now open, some shows in rehearsal and others due to start rehearsing shortly. The final touches to…
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This week Martin is joined by Imagine Theatre’s Steve Boden and performer and director Steven Wren to talk about Peter Pan. Peter Pan has been around for 120 years in numerous forms – firstly as a book and then a play, a musical, many different movie adaptations, and now as an increasingly popular panto. They discuss the way that it has been adapte…
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Panto Set Pieces and Routines Simon Sladen, Paul Morse, Janice Dunn join Martin on this week’s episode to talk about the traditional panto set pieces and routines such as slosh scenes, ghost gags, song sheets and call backs. They delve back into the early days of panto to talk about where some of the routines originated as well as discussing some m…
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This week on the podcast Martin is joined by actor and director Andrew Agnew. From starting out in The Wizard of Oz at school and being mesmerized by panto as a child to playing PC Plum in Balamory, Andrew talks about how he got into the industry and how his career has developed. He also talks about the differences between English and Scottish pant…
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This week on the podcast Martin is joined by three guests to discuss the role of technology in pantomime. He talks to Imagine’s Artistic Director Eric Potts, Head of Operations, Dave Edmunds and Nina Dunn from PixelLux. They discuss the innovations throughout the history of pantomime and how technology has helped with the evolution of the genre in …
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For this week’s podcast Martin joined the team at their largest photoshoot event of the year. Taking place over 4 days the August shoot brings people together from all over the United Kingdom to have their publicity photos taken and promo videos filmed. This is the final shoot of the year and is the last opportunity to gather marketing assets for t…
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The pantomime version of Dick Whittington has been around since the early 1800s and is believed to be the only pantomime based on a real person. This week Eric Potts and Robert Marsden join Martin on the podcast to discuss one of their favourite titles. They discuss the delights and challenges of staging this particular panto as well as its versati…
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Daniel took an unusual route to being a professional musician having first studied Sports Science at University before going on to Mountview Dan has worked with Imagine for a number of years as a Musical Arranger and Musical Director and he talks to Martin about how he came into the theatre profession, those that have influenced him, as well as mor…
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This week on the podcast Martin catches up with Steve Boden to learn why there is no such thing as a restful summer for the Imagine Team. With casting auditions for both adults and juniors, photoshoots, set maintenance, hires, props creation, script reads and much more going on, it is full steam ahead on panto planning during July and August. Take …
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This week Martin talks to Mark Thorburn. Mark’s love of the theatre began with a pantomime at the Coventry Theatre aged 8 and he has gone on to be involved in theatrical industry in many different roles, some of which include Chief Executive of NODA, Editor of the Amateur Theatre Magazine, Artistic Director of YOG, a Coventry youth theatre group, a…
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This week the tables are turned and it is Just Imagine podcast host Martin Ballard who is in the hot seat with Imagine MD Steve Boden taking over the role of interviewer. Martin spent many years hosting on BBC radio and his links with Imagine go back 20 years from his time as Dame at Loughborough Town Hall. Steve discusses with him how he got into …
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This week Martin talks to Chris McGuigan from Trafalgar Theatres, which is part of the wider Trafalgar Entertainment group. Chris has had an extensive career in the theatre industry and is now Group Commercial Director for Trafalgar Theatres. Imagine and Trafalgar Theatres began working together for the 2022 season and Chris, a lifelong panto fan, …
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This week’s podcast is all about the Junior Ensemble. A big part of the ethos at Imagine Theatre is to give as many children as possible the opportunity to experience performing in professional productions and Martin has a variety of guests on the pod this week to talk about the experience from different perspectives. Martin speaks to Sarah O’Gleby…
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Eric Potts and Iain Lauchlan join Martin on the podcast this week to talk about Jack and the Beanstalk. This is the second of several ‘special’ podcast episodes where we work through the popular pantomime titles in turn, examining them in more depth by talking through the title’s roots, such as Jack’s origin in Cornish folklore, the background stor…
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This week Imagine Theatre is celebrating its 18th birthday and Martin talks to Steve about the history of the company – how the company came into being, how it came to be called Imagine, Mi workshops, the landmark moments and much more. The podcast also features birthday wishes from some of the amazing people Imagine have worked with over the years…
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Martin heads to Staffordshire University for this episode of the podcast to speak to the students on the MA in Contemporary Pantomime Practice as well as Robert Marsden and Richard Cheshire who created and run the course and Sarah Boden who was a guest speaker on the day. This vocationally led course offers both research and practical study in the …
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This week Martin went behind the scenes at the 2023 UK Pantomime Association Awards at the Trafalgar Theatre in the West End. The event celebrates all things panto and is an opportunity for everyone from the panto world to come together to honour the genre. Martin spoke to Sir Ian McKellen, Vernon Kay, Debbie McGee, Joe McElderry, JP McCue, Anna-Ja…
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This week Martin talks to three members of the UK Pantomime Association - Simon Sladen, Samuel Munday-Webb and Nick Humby. Founded in 2021 the UK Pantomime Association is a charity with the aim of exploring, sharing and celebrating pantomime. They ardently believe in the positive promotion of pantomime and inspiring and encouraging others to engage…
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This week sees Martin catching up with Steve and Sarah to see what is happening at Imagine during March. He talks to Sarah about the huge workload she and the accounts team have in reconciling accounts for the end of the financial year and how this affects budgeting for the 2023 season. Also under discussion are the current challenges faced by both…
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Something different for the ‘Just Imagine’ podcast series, Martin sits down with Imagine’s Managing Director Steve Boden, and our Artistic Director and renowned pantomime writer Eric Potts to talk about the pantomime Cinderella. This is the first of several ‘special’ podcast episodes, spread over the next 2 years, where we work through the popular …
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This week Martin interviews the incredible Nigel Ellacott, pantomime dame extraordinaire and the brains behind the encyclopaedic pantomime website www.itsbehindyou.com. Join them both in this fascinating walk-through pantomime over the years. Listening to Nigel talk, you’ll soon understand why the UK Pantomime Association chose him as the recipient…
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This week Martin catches up with Steve and Sarah and finds, contrary to popular belief, they are not able to put their feet up now the panto season has finished and have a well-earned rest. Join him as he talks to them about how the 2022 panto season went, how it was to have six brand new venues for 2022, their pride at having almost half a million…
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Vernon Kay has done almost everything from playing American football, to modelling, radio and TV presenting, to taking part in I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, but until this year one thing he had never done was appear in a panto. Now he is getting rave reviews as Dandini in Cinderella in Wycombe and he joins us for our festive special podcast w…
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From falling in love with ballroom dancing and sequins as a youngster to developing a passion for drama and musical theatre through school, Christian Patterson has become a well-respected performer, writer and director. Christian talks to Martin about his extensive career, his influences and his love of the panto genre.…
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Martin visits Imagine HQ to see exactly what happens when the company is in the midst of the panto season. The team are all very busy with panto season just around the corner. Equipment is being tested, final props such as time machines are being created, lots of things are being glittered, final costume preparations are underway and being packed i…
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Graeme is a performer, choreographer, casting associate and author and this week he joins Martin on the podcast to talk about his varied career and how having worked in a huge variety of genres has helped his career to develop. He has worked with Imagine Theatre for a number of years and this year will be choreographing Aladdin at the Lyceum Theatr…
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To celebrate our 40th episode we are taking a look back over some of our previous episodes to discover some of our guests first experiences of panto, favourite panto titles and why panto is so special to them as well as their most memorable moments of something going wrong!توسط Imagine Theatre
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The fabulous Sean Dodds is the regular comic for The Spa Centre panto each year and Martin caught up with him at the photoshoot for this year’s pantomime, Cinderella. Sean has worked with Spa Centre Dame JP McCue since 2014 and he talks about how important their bond is and why this helps to make the Spa Centre panto such a hit with the audience an…
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Martin catches up with Steve and Sarah to find out what is happening now we have reached the Autumn and panto season is just around the corner. It is all go at Head Office - with the majority of marketing assets captured the marketing team are hard at work on promoting the shows, the admin team are busy working on the performance licenses following…
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This week Martin talks to the multi-talented award-winning British Indian presenter, performer and producer Parle Patel who will be starring in Cinderella this Christmas at The Beck Theatre in Hayes. Parle and Martin discuss the strong parallels between pantomime and forms of entertainment already popular with South Asian Communities and how he hop…
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This week Martin talks to AJ and Curtis Pritchard who will be starring in their second Imagine pantomime this Christmas at Leicester’s De Montfort Hall. They talk about their love of panto and performance as well as how they got into dancing and how this has opened up so many career opportunities for them, from Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing wit…
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