Just Imagine

This week Martin talks to some of the Imagine Team about marketing and publicity. They chat about things such as how casting affects the marketing strategies, the timelines involved in marketing the show, the role of photoshoots and publicity days in gathering content to support the campaigns, the importance of artwork and branding, the growing influence of social media and the challenges of keepi...

Author of Inside the Rehearsal Room Rob Marsden returns to the podcast to discuss some of the exciting developments taking place in the pantomime world at the moment. He and Martin discuss the aims and objective of the UK Pantomime Association as well as Rob’s work on developing a Masters in Pantomime for Staffordshire University.

This week Martin is behind the scenes at one of Imagine’s Junior Ensemble auditions. He speaks to members of the Imagine Team about how the day runs and what happens after the children have been selected as well as talking to some of the children auditioning and their parents about the audition experience. 

A very different podcast this week as Simon Sladen returns to the hot seat with Martin to talk about the history of pantomime. From its beginnings in Commedia dell’arte to current trends and where it might go in the future this is a fascinating and unmissable episode for any fans of the pantomime genre.             

Over a thirty-year career Steve Power has worked with artists such as Gary Barlow, Kylie Minogue, Kim Wilde and Rick Astley as well as musical direction for numerous national theatre tours and, of course, panto! He takes time out from his hectic schedule this week to join Martin on the podcast where they talk about his varied career and he explains how the music is developed for numerous panto pro...

Jason is a man of many talents and has worked with Imagine Theatre for a number of years and this season will be taking on the role of the Director as well as playing Dame. In addition when not in pantoland he is heavily involved in training up the performers of tomorrow at Emil Dale Academy and this week he joins Martin on the podcast to talk all things panto!

Join us as Martin talks to Acting Head of Wardrobe Aaron Gibson. With around 25,000 costumes, 17 pantomimes plus numerous hires over the season the wardrobe department is a crucial part of the Imagine team and Aaron discusses with Martin just how all they manage to get so many fabulous looking costumes onto stages across the UK each season. 

This week Martin is joined by the woman with the longest job title of all at Imagine Theatre, Laura Taylor, who is Associate Producer and Head of Celebrity Casting. They discuss the process of casting celebrity names, exactly what being an Associate Producer entails, as well as Laura’s role on the board of the UK Pantomime Association and her love of the pantomime industry.

This week Martin talks to Steve and Sarah to learn how Imagine has evolved under their leadership  since  they took sole ownership of the company. They discuss the ethos of the Imagine Theatre, the highs and lows of life as panto producers as well as their own personal highlights and ambitions.

Working for a panto company people often ask “what do you do the rest of the year?” On this episode Eric talks to Martin about why we are working on panto all year, how the season comes together and the timelines involved in getting the season on, as well as how we choose songs, what informs our decisions on sets and the factors we take into account when writing our scripts. Don’t miss this fascin...

This week Martin returns to the Imagine head office to talk to some of the ops team about their roles and just how a season involving 17 pantomimes as well as numerous set and costume hires comes together. They talk about everything from hiring stage management, to making props, to the logistics of transporting so many large sets all across the country, as well as how each of them found themselves...

In the hot seat this week is Business and Marketing Director Sarah Boden. Learn how Sarah went from working in the corporate sector to being owner of one of the largest pantomime companies in the United Kingdom and just what being a Business and Marketing Director of a pantomime company entails.  

Ever wondered what a normal day in February is like at Imagine Theatre Head Office? In the next group of episodes of Just Imagine, we're going to delve into the workings of Imagine as a company.  For Episode 23, Martin takes a walk around Imagine HQ on a normal day in February, chatting to the team and finding out what we do when the curtain is down and we're preparing for our next panto...

Martin Ballard talks to members of the Imagine Theatre team about the highs, the lows, and the unique challenges of the 2021 panto season.  With all the uncertainties surrounding the ongoing pandemic 2021 was a season unlike any other and the team discuss the various issues that they encountered and the way the company and the productions had to adapt to ever changing circumstances in a heartfelt...

Laura Taylor is the guest on this festive edition of the podcast. She talks to Martin about her extensive career in the panto world, including some of the fascinating people she has worked with, and they even find the time to pull a few Christmas crackers! 

Compared to Aretha Franklin by the legendary Tom Jones and Bette Midler by Louis Walsh, Barbara Bryceland’s amazing career has led to her appearing on both The Voice and The X-Factor and she has recently been spending the festive season in her home-town panto at FTH Theatre in Falkirk.

From class clown to actor, writer and director and one of Scotland’s top dames, Fraser Boyle, joins Martin on the podcast this week to talk about where his love for panto comes from, the characters that influence his dame and his excitement at being back on the stage in Kilmarnock this Christmas.

This week Martin talks to the versatile Jenny Phillips who is a singer, actor, dancer and choreographer. She has done everything from being a Tweenie to being the current Choreographer of the Belgrade and Porthcawl pantomimes and she joins the podcast to talk about her love of working in children’s entertainment. 

Award winning panto dame Paul Morse is on the hot seat this week talking about his love of panto, reminiscing about some very comical panto moments, and discussing his very unusual day job!

This week we talk to the hilarious John Evans who will be doing his first Imagine panto this year at Venue Cymru. Martin chats to him about how he started out in amateur panto as a youngster, working on the comedy circuit and an unfortunate incident with a pantomime donkey!  

The owner of some of the highest heels in showbusiness JP McCue plays dame in Leamington each Christmas and has a huge following for his alter-ego Mary Mac. Join him as he talks to Martin about his career as well as his love for pantomime.

This week it is Robert Marsden’s turn in the hot seat as he talks to Martin about how his love for theatre stems from his theatrical experiences as a child, why he thinks pantomime is so special and his love of teaching. 

A highly recognisable face due to her roles on television shows such as Still Game, Jane McCarry joins Martin to talk about her career on both stage and screen as well as sharing some hilarious anecdotes from her time in the industry.

If performing and directing were not challenging enough individually Steven performs both roles for Imagine Theatre at Eden Court each Christmas. Steven joins Martin to talk about his long and varied career, his close relationship with Imagine Theatre and about wearing high heels on a plane!