Men dressing up as women, crowd interaction and disguised adult humor sprinkled in between family fun. This is what makes up one of Britain's favorite Christmas traditions: the pantomime. Also called a panto, it is a musical or show with slapstick comedy that is entertaining for kids.
Pantomimes are a big thing in the UK. Almost all the theaters have them and parents take their kids to them in the month leading up to Christmas. I learned about it from my coworkers who told me that Aaron and I just had to go!
So on Wednesday evening, we went and saw Cinderella at a theater nearby. It wasn't exactly the Cinderella story you know- it was modernized and localized, with Cinderella first meeting Prince Charming on the banks of the River Thames while fishing. While there, he gives her crabs (hehe). The ugly step sisters, Booty and Licious, are actually men playing women (picture here). The cast sings modernized songs like "Panto Funk" (instead of Uptown Funk). In response to the fact that Cinderella might not get to go to the Ball, her friends sing to her that you can get very far in life without balls ; ) Even Cinderella's glass slipper is replaced by a glittery Converse sneaker.
I really enjoyed it and can see why it is so popular here. The performers asked us to participate in some parts of the show, they threw candy out into the crowd and my personal favorite was at the end, the fairy godmother made it snow inside the theater : ) Since it's 50 degrees in London right now, it looks like that's as close to a white Christmas as we are going to get!
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