X Factor finalist loving being back in panto

X Factor finalist and one half of Same Difference, Sean Smith looks back with huge pride on what he and the cast managed to achieve during last year’s suddenly and severely shortened pantomime run at the Kings Theatre, Southsea.
Jack & the Beanstalk by Sheila BurnettJack & the Beanstalk by Sheila Burnett
Jack & the Beanstalk by Sheila Burnett

He is delighted to be back for more this year, in more hopeful times.

Last year’s Dick Whittington didn’t even make it to Christmas thanks to the lockdown. Sean and the cast are confident that Jack and the Beanstalk, produced in-house by the Kings Theatre, will fare rather better this year.

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It will be on stage from Saturday, November 27 until Sunday, January 2 with tickets starting at £18.

“I do think what we managed to do last year was sensational,” Sean says.

“It was heart-breaking that we didn’t get the chance to finish.

“We were all in tears, but it definitely gives us somewhere to go.

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“There was such great energy around, there was such a feeling of us against the world, that we were all defiant and trying to do something.

“We were all so determined that by hook or by crook we were going to make something happen… and that’s what gave us that ‘us against the world’ attitude, even if the world did actually win in the end!

“We all knew how difficult it was going to be, but it was still absolutely heart-breaking when we realised that we couldn’t actually do it to the end, but obviously we understood. Obviously there are some things that are much, much more important than coming along to panto.

“But I think that is what makes this year so special. We only had 400 people maximum in last year.

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“It was heart-breaking to finish, but it was also awe-inspiring and that is what we are going to carry on through.

“This year people will know that it is safe, and I am completely confident that it is going to happen.

“I wouldn’t want to get too much into the politics, but I also think it is important for the country and for the economy that we are able to start moving forward.

“And I just feel so proud that we were able to be so determined and so defiant last time.

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“Those were some really, really special memories, and just think what it is going to be like when we are able to get back to full capacity this year.”

For Sean it is even more important for the fact that this is panto in his home theatre: “It has got a good old-fashioned feel to the place and the pantos are traditional. One of the beautiful things about pantomime in Portsmouth is that it is familiar. You know what is coming.

“I think we have got about 80 per cent of the same cast as last year, and the beautiful thing was that even in the midst of the pandemic last year, the Kings was saying to us that they wanted us back because we hadn’t had the chance to prove our worth to a proper audience all the way through.

“I would have been about five or six when I was first on the stage at the Kings. I remember doing my first pantomime there when I was about nine or ten.

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“But I was a dance school kid and I performed on the stage there from a very young age, and the Kings has always held a very dear place in my heart. I learnt to perform here.

“It is where I learnt to perform on stage.

“It is where I learnt theatre etiquette and so there is a little sense of me wanting to give back but at the same time the Kings is still giving me so much.

“Last year was incredibly special, but now we are going to get the chance to have the Christmas that we all missed out on.

“And I think this year’s panto is going to be even bigger and better.”

Tickets from the venue on www.kingsportsmouth.co.uk