From nun to princess

SHE’S been a singing nun and a rebellious teenager on the stage of Darlington Civic Theatre but now Beth Stobbart is stepping out In pantomime for the first time.

Before playing the Princess in this year’s seasonal show Aladdin, she’ll be telling audiences that the hills are alive with the sound of you-know-what in Darlington Operatic Society’s Strictly Musicals show later this month.

Surprisingly for someone working in theatre and the arts she’s never appeared in panto. “I’ve seen panto but never done panto before. So it’s incredibly exciting and nerve-wracking as well,” she says.

But she thinks her time working for Walt Disney World in Florida stands her in good stead for such a show. “That was very physical performing so I’m used to it. In that sense it’s not going to be such a different experience,” she says.

“Normally in theatre you don’t invite people to answer you back, but in panto you do. That’s a tad scary but really exciting.”

As yet her Princess is unnamed and her character undefined.

“She’s a panto princess so she has to be nice. It’s part of the contract that she has to be lovely, doesn’t she?”

Stobbart comes from Durham and thinks the first panto she saw was Dick Whittington, in Newcastle. “It’s not an area of theatre that I’m familiar with so it will be a really fresh experience for me and hopefully I’ll learn lots from my very lovely co-stars.”

Those fellow artists include comic bill-toppers the Chuckle Brothers as Wishee and Washee, Philip Meeks, in his second Darlington pantomime as dame, playing Widow Twankey and Phil Corbitt as baddy Abanazar.

She’s also expecting to hear some familiar voices cheering her on – from the Sunderland school where she works as a performing arts facilitator.

“I’m hoping that the entire year seven are going to get coaches over and descend on Darlington,” she says.

She’s also a teacher for Darlington’s ArtsSpark Youth Theatre so introducing youngsters to theatre and fostering their interest in it is dear to her heart. She knows how rewarding it can be.

“The first production I did was a show called Blitz, when I was seven, and it sounds really corny but there’s nothing that gives you the same feeling. “Shutting down the arts centre in Darlington was really, really sad. I feel, especially at the minute, that there are areas of the arts that people can enjoy and look forward to, so I think that’s why doing the pantomime is going to be so lovely.”

There have been changes in teaching the arts in schools too, which she has seen firsthand. “There’s a real shift in attitudes about all of the arts. In the past, there was a real emphasis on creativity in teaching and that doesn’t seem to be there any more I believe that’s a shame,” she says. “There’s real value in experiencing live art in any setting. And it means a lot for me to come and be part of it even though I’ve never done panto before.”

She knows there’s a strong pantomime tradition in the town.

“A lot of people have said to me, ‘We’ve already got tickets and didn’t know you were in it’,” she says. “Particularly in Darlington, pantomime seems to be a really integral part of a family Christmas. I didn’t realise that before. People bought tickets as soon as they’d seen last year’s.”

It was Darlington Civic director Lynda Winstanley who suggested she audition for a role with producers Qdos. “I hopped on a train down to London, sang for them and got a phone call a week later to say I’d got the part, which was really nice,” she recalls.

Stobbart was a member of the National Youth Theatre before studying performing arts at university. Then came six months living in Florida, working for Disney World, during which time she played Mickey and Minnie Mouse in the parades. Now she also sings professionally for wedding ceremonies and other events.

“I love the school side of the work I do with performing arts and young people but the very best bit is just being able to get up there on stage and do it. There’s a real, real buzz that comes performing,” she says.

She got plenty of chance to feel the buzz while playing the leading role of Maria during the run of The Sound Of Music for Darlington Operatic earlier this year.

“It was crazy because I was never really off stage. It was a massive responsibility and I know this panto is equally as massive, but hopefully I’ll be able to have a bit more fun with this,” she says.

“It was incredibly demanding vocally and I loved that. But I imagine for this I’m going to have less to do in that sense which will be nice because I can stand back and watch the Chuckle brothers make everyone scream and shout.

“For the first 20 minutes of The Sound Of Musicals I pretty much didn’t stop singing. I had to be incredibly happy and incredibly Julie Andrews at all times. I played Ariel in Footloose, that was completely different, a kind of teenage rebel. That was fab and completely different vocally as well, because it was all kind of rock and poppy stuff.”

Now comes Strictly Musicals, in which she’ll sing The Sound of Music, in the Rodger and Hammerstein medley, as the opening number of the show.

The production features songs from Tony and Olivier nominated shows, including Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, West Side Story, Chicago, Beauty and the Beast, Matilda and Blood Brothers.

• Strictly Musicals: Darlington Civic Theatre, Oct 23 to Nov 2. Box Office: 01325-244659 and darlingtonos.org.uk
• Aladdin: Darlington Civic Theatre, Dec 7 to Jan 12. Box office: 01325-486555 and darlingtoncivic.co.uk