that darn song.

perhaps it has been mentioned that Show me the Way to Amarillo is frequently played here? once or twice, i might have said something about it in passing?

Anyhoo, have just returned from most delightful evening at the theatre! Pantomime is a huge British event around the Christmas season; and Graham was absolutely set that I MUST have this experience for my cultural development, so he and Jane were kind enough to take me. And even had we not had a pot of Yorkshire dairy ice cream at intermission, i still would have had an utterly mahhhhhhvelous time.

It is theatre unlike any I have seen before. Geared for kids and most totally interactive -- with call-and-response to the actors, yelling helpful suggestions for what the actors might do (like, "watch out for the Villain behind you!"), throwing things at the stage (theatre-supplied things, like foam rocks, for example -- this devolved into a foam rock war between the actors and the audience), singing, clapping, and on and on. This is a great introduction to theatre and I LOVE the idea behind it. Another good thing is that it has a lot of adult humor in it as well (kind of like old cartoons, before they were dumbed-down), so you catch a lot of funny bits.

This season, The New Theatre's panto was Peter Pan. There was, of course, the song about following the leader :) And there was some amusing sailor humor (which ties in niftily to my mention of Polari from yesterday), great costumes, impressive dancing, and gorgeous men doing gymnastics. That is always a good addition to any show; but i digress :) There were also a couple of water guns which sprayed the audience, causing great youthful delight.

And here comes the referrent bit... so, Mr. Smee brings 4 children from the audience up on stage (ages 7-9) after Hook has been eaten by the Crocodile and we are almost through, and introduces them as the new pirate recruits. After they have adorably introduced themselves, said 'hello' to their mummies, mummies have shouted 'hello' back, they are going to sing and dance to a pirate song... and this song is:

Yes. Yes, it is.... Sha la la, la la la la la, HEY HEY!

Thoroughly enjoyed self. And my G&T at Henry's after, too. Such a fantabulosa night out!!!