Just Imagine

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 versatility and history, and relive some of their favouri...

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 more about what is involved in being an Arranger and...

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 a listen to the podcast to find out more!

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, as well as being part of the Imagine Team in its e...

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 the entertainment business, how he came to be wor...

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, talks to Martin about panto from the perspective o...

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 who has gone on from the Junior Ensemble in Leic...

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 story and the unique elements of the title, like the...

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. 

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 pantomime genre to enhance the students’ understa...

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-Jane Casey, Damian Williams, Sam Munday-Webb and Si...

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 with the genre. In addition they hold the annual...

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 the industry and the general public by the risi...

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 pantomime titles in turn, examining them in more...

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 of their 2022 award for Outstanding Achievement i...

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 people watch an Imagine pantomime and why the tea...

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 which also features Christmas messages and festive...

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.

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 in trundles and wigs are being coiffured.  Join Mar...

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 Theatre in Crewe.

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!

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 and just what it is that makes him love panto so muc...

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 the casting of the Junior Ensemble, the ops team...

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 hopes his role in panto can act as a bridge to introd...

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 with the Stars to I'm a Celebrity, Love Island...