Bringing Pantomime to Bishopthorpe since 1994
The Ebor Players were born in Bishopthorpe, near York, in October 1994 by Gordon Watkins, Mick Mills, Tim Bruce and the late Denis Ambler, one wintery night in the Ebor Inn, with the intention of providing the village with its’ own annual Pantomime for the first time in at least 25 years (we’re really not sure!!). It is from this establishment that the Players take their name.
Our Spiritual home is, of course, the Ebor Inn. You can always find at least one of us in there at some stage during the day! Just ask behind the bar!!!! However, we accept that may not be your cup of tea (or pint of beer for that matter!), so the best way to contact us is to send us an e-mail at dcurran@bishopthorpe.net
Have a look around our site and feel free to comment on any of the posts on here. Additionally, you can follow us on Twitter; search for ‘eborplayers’.
In the attempt to allow as many people as possible to find out what’s going on with the Ebor Players, we’ve added ourselves to Twitter. If you’ve never tried Twitter before, you should – it’s great fun and you can follow your favourite celebs, sports personalities, politicians, etc. Go to www.twitter.com/eborplayers to find out what it’s all about and sign up. We’re on there as ‘eborplayers’ (no quotes), but you can also search for us as ‘The Ebor Players’ as well.
If you have a suitable mobile phone, you can also access Twitter via the web or an app – so see you hopefully in Twitter-land soon!
Phew….!!!!… Well all I can say was that last week’s music rehearsal was a walk in the park compared to this weeks!! Our new choreographer Emma made her mark in no uncertain terms, as my knees will testify to! Thank goodness I am only involved in the final number. The opening song and dance looked fantastic (and so much better without me to ruin it.) You guys obviously put a lot of hard work in there… Phew!
The only fly in the ointment as far as I was concerned was that I was partnered with ‘Madame Le Directeur’ Parrish who let’s be honest has trouble remembering her name never mind dance steps but at least it was good preparation for my real partner, Tracey Patrick, Bishopthorpe’s answer to Anne Widdicome! Strictly speaking “Didn’t I do well?”…Phew!
So there we are, I am off for a hot Radox bath and a good rub down with the Sporting Life. And to think we only managed to choreograph half the closing number. Next week the second half…. Phew!
Bon chance mes amis.
Well there we were big and small, young and old, the good, the bad and the downright ugly!! Songs to sing, lyrics to learn and we haven’t even started on the dancing yet. Where is Liam when you want him??
Tom delivers his famous "I have a dream..." 'elf & safety speech
The Woolworth’s Pick & Mix counter that is our cast were first of all treated to a chat by our charming Chairman Tom ‘I’m In the Mood for Dancing’ Davis on ‘elf and safety and the danger of swords. This in itself was a sobering thought, especially when you realise that one of the implements will be in the hands of Alistair ‘Mad Dog’ Dunn… gulp!! Now exactly who had that brainwave?????
Anyway, lecture over and then we were off in the hands of our new chorus master Alex, poor chap! I think at the time of writing he is lying in a darkened roomwith an opened bottle lying at his feet thinking. Why me lord??… Why me?? Having said all that, once we got started there was no stopping us, young and old were belting out the lyrics with gusto (he’s got quite a good voice that gusto!) well we were until we came to Be My Guest… Oh! Now there’s a challenge! I have to say Kay and Rachel led the line magnificently, with the rest of us wheezing and puffing behind them. Believe me this one will take some work!
The assembled cast give a rapturous reception to Tom's speech
It was great to see some of the technical team there too. Believe me when I say these people are the unsung heroes of the panto, chief amongst them Steve Patrick who quietly goes about with his team creating masterpiece after masterpiece. Now that is a talent I really admire. I am not saying we take him for granted but I think perhaps we don’t tell him enough what a fine job he and his team do.
We also had our new Stage Manager there today,
Anne-Marie. Most of you will know here from doing the lighting on our past productions but what many of you may now know that Anne-Marie is an accomplished director and stage manager and believe me when I say we are in very good hands there. It would appear that Philippa has assembled a great team around her and it is now up to all of us to deliver the goods but a word of caution here…. Next week we start dancing and there is no Liam to take the blame…. God help us all!!
Au revoir mon fellow l’oofers!!!
Bonjour ma petite haricots verts !
Yes we’ve started and in just under thirteen weeks time ‘Les Trois Mousquetaires will open in a fanfare of cheap French wine and even cheaper French accents. Vive le pantomime!
Madame le Directeur wasted no time and got straight down to business and we were off and running, like a very old Camembert! No doubt Franglais will be the order of the day for the next few weeks and I can see Paul starting to struggle in not making Star Wars ‘light sabre’ noises every time he draws his sword. Poor Paul, the only man amongst four musketeers! Well you do have to suffer for your art sometimes.
Well this is only a short post but rest assured there will be plenty more to come over the following weeks. I would however welcome any comments good or bad, if only to know that someone is actually reading this rubbish!!
Bon chance mes amis!
"All for one....."
Remember this Tuesday 19th is our annual cricket match with the Parish Council. The Ebor Players currently lead the series 3.2 but were heavily defeated in last years outing. New captain Tom Davis (didn’t he play for the other side last year?) will be hoping to inspire his charges in Churchillian manner. The match will begin at 7pm.
A reminder that we will have 2 stalls at this years Gala; our old favourite Key In A Box together with the chance you’ve all been waiting for- the chance to throw things at our Dame David Rose without fear of retribution. We have been guaranteed excellent weather by the organisers. Everything begins at 12pm.
Here are links to the minutes of this years meetings, better late than never!
Enjoy
We’re still looking for a choreographer to join the team for this year’s production of The Three Musketeers. We need someone who can teach chorus and principals basic dance steps and also choreograph fight scenes (as these Musketeers do like a good fight!).
If you know of anyone who might fit the bill, with suitable experience, please contact our Secretary, Diane Curran.
Congratulations to our sometimes Panto Villain Tom Davis along with The Minister of Sound Ben Smith who won £100 and a crate of beer at the Pig Racing held at the Social Club. Sources tell me they are looking for a good home for the beer.
Don’t forget the Pig Racing tomorrow night (24th) at the Social Club 7pm admission free. The Ebor Players are sponsoring a race and will be expecting a place in the directors box and winners enclosure. We are also hoping to renew our sporting rivalry with the Parish Council who are also sponsoring a race. I have heard that if our pigs don’t do well they get to take part in the post event BBQ
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