Here We Are Again!

That greeting rang from the stages of British theatres on Boxing Day evenings from the late Georgian to the early Elizabethan eras, with echoes being heard even in some places today.  And with that cry, and the cheer that went up from the audience, the high jinks, acrobatics and tricks of the Harlequinade and Panto season began.

An excited audience awaits the beginning of
the Panto on December 26, 1826.  This satirical
print is by Isaac Robert Cruikshank, brother of
the better known illustrator George Cruikshank.

British Museum Collection

It was first given by Joseph Grimaldi at Drury Lane in 1799 as he established himself as the most popular Clown in London.  In those days the Harlequinade was the heart of what we call today Christmas Pantomime.  The story leading up to it could be from a fairy tale, a popular novel, a Shakespearean play or just some fanciful tale - I have a wonderful 1829 playbill from Drury Lane that advertises The Queen Bee or Harlequin & the Fairy Hive:  now that's a story I've always wondered about. The point was to have the Good Fairy (Fairy Faithful, Fairy Bluebell etc.) defeat the Demon (of Discord, Discontent et al) wave her wand and give the Lover the magic bat that would transform them all into Harlequin, Columbine, Pantaloon, the Dandy and Clown and set them off chasing, tumbling and racing across the stage.  To thwart Pantaloon and assist the lovers Clown would dress up as an old lady, steal sausages, mock the gentry, elude policemen and create general havoc.  And Grimaldi introduced singalongs encouraging his audience to give him tag lines and then showing horror when their responses were less than polite.

Chances are that if he wandered into the New Theatre in Wimbledon to see Cinderella this Christmastide Grimaldi would have difficulty recognizing it as the entertainment he knew.  Over the years Panto changed and developed - sometimes for the better, often for the worse.  Gradually the fairy tale element took over and Panto became an excuse for extravaganzas with ballets, chorus girls, parades and music hall comedy.  The Dame, the Principal Boy, the Double Act, the Ghost scene, the sing-along and the Grand Transformation all had their roots in Georgian pantomime but Harlequin and Clown faded not just into the background but eventually from the stage.

Joseph Grimaldi owned and sign this copy of Tegg's
Prime Song Book with vignettes by Thomas Rowlandson.

Princeton University Library

Sadly the Harlequinade didn't go out with an appropriate bang of a slapstick but whimpered along until as late as 1953 when Harlequin and Columbine appeared, rather apologetically, in the annual Panto at the Palladium.  Their only task was to dance a twee pas de deux in the Transformation scene.  It was a long way from that excited cry of "Here we are again!"

Fortunately the Harlequinade tradition was captured by the pens of many writers and illustrators.  In 1838 Charles Dickens took a rather weighty manuscript left by Grimaldi and edited it under the pseudonym "Boz".  The Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi was published later that year as a two volume set with illustrations by George Cruickshank.  Dickens, in words, and Cruickshank, in drawings, recorded scenes that became the foundations of a treasured British Christmas tradition.

But they were not alone - at Panto time the illustrated periodicals of the time were filled with items and drawings hinting at what was to be expected at Drury Lane, Sadler's Wells, Covent Garden, the Haymarket and a myriad of places of entertainment for Christmastide.  When the pen was being held by "Alfred Crowquill" the illustrations were often of a satirical nature as he poked fun at the old traditions.   The pseudonym is somewhat odd as it was used jointly by two brothers:  Alfred Henry Forrester (1804-72) and his older brother Charles Robert Forrester (1803-50).  Alfred specialized in witty sketches for Comic Arithmetic, Punch and The Illustrated London News.  By the end of 1843, he had apparently ceased to publish caricatures under this pseudonym, leaving it for the exclusive use of his older brother.   His pantomime sketches with humorous verses beneath (as seen in The Illustrated London News during the Christmas season of that year and later published in book form in 1826) must have been among his last graphic works placed before the public under that nom de plume.

Plagued by ill health, exhaustion, drink and old injuries Grimaldi retired from the stage the same year that Crowquill penned his tongue-in-cheek series.  In 1847, ten year's after Grimaldi's death,  the great pantomime author J. R. Planché decried, in rhyme, the decline of Clown and his antics:

Poor Arlechino took a prance
To merry England via France;
Came just in Christmas-pudding time,
And welcomed was by Pantomime.
But Pantomime's best days are fled:
Grimaldi, Barnes, Bologna* - dead!

* Along with Grimaldi's Clown, James Barnes as Pantaloon and Jack Bologna as Harlequin were the stars of Georgian Pantomime.

December 30 - 1919: Lincoln's Inn in London, England, UK admits its first female bar student

Music Hall Turns

I mentioned yesterday that British Music Hall performers played a large part in the development of Panto. From the 1880s onward famous stars deserted the "Halls" at Christmas to go legitimate in theatres throughout Britain. It brought a certain vulgarity to Panto that was regularly decried in the pulpits and better papers but guaranteed full houses from opening night on Boxing Day (December 26th) until February or March.

Two of the better known were Little Tich and Marie Lloyd. Little Tich often appeared as the Dame and though not pretty by average standards Marie played both Principal Girl and Principal Boy at various times with great success.

I was surprised to find this restored film of Little Tich doing his famous boot dance from French Pathe (he was a great favorite in France and the USA.) I think its a remarkable piece of footage.



And though I could find no film of Marie Lloyd I did find a Halls star and Principal Boy of a slightly later period, Lily Morris singing one of Marie's hits: My Old Man Said Follow The Van.

We had to move away
'Cos the rent we couldn't pay.
The moving van came round just after dark.
There was me and my old man,
Shoving things inside the van,
Which we'd often done before, let me remark.
We packed all that could be packed
In the van, and that's a fact.
And we got inside all that we could get inside.
Then we packed all we could pack
On the tailboard at the back,
Till there wasn't any room for me to ride.

Refrain:
My old man said: "Foller the van,
And don't dilly-dally on the way".
Off went the van wiv me 'ome packed in it.
I walked be'ind wiv me old cock linnet.
But I dillied and dallied,
Dallied and dillied;
Lost me way and don't know where to roam.
And you can't trust a "Special"
Like the old-time copper
When you can't find your way home.

I gave a helping hand
With the marble wash hand-stand,
And straight, we wasn't getting on so bad.
All at once, the car-man bloke
Had an accident and broke,
Well, the nicest bit of china that we had.
You'll understand, of course,
I was cross about the loss.
Same as any other human woman would.
But I soon got over that,
What with "two out" and a chat,
'Cos it's little things like that what does you good.

Refrain:

Oh! I'm in such a mess.
I don't know the new address -
Don't even know the blessed neighbourhood.
And I feel as if I might
Have to stay out here all night.
And that ain't a goin' to do me any good.
I don't make no complaint
But I'm coming over faint,
What I want now's a good substantial feed,
And I sort 'o kind 'o feel,
If I don't soon have a meal,
I shall have to rob the linnet of its seed!

Refrain:

written by Fred W. Leigh and Charles Collins.

I grew up hearing a fair bit of these Old Music Halls songs - though in bowdlerized versions - and I love them. I'm amazed when performers and acts I've read about show up on UpTube.

18 gennaio - Santa Prisca

Parlo del Piu e del Meno

Just some odds and ends - separated by a few of those leftover pictures from last year.

The Temple of Aecespius at the Villa Borghese in August.

• Next week I head off to London for a few days - 1 cent euro each way on Ryanair plus Euro 48.98 in taxes and services fees for a grand total of Euro 50.00 . I've heard some bad things about them but at that price as long as its got wings and a good safety record I'll try it. Oh did I mention I'm deathly afraid of flying - yes 33 years in the airline business and I'm terrified every minute I'm on a plane.

From our balcony - terraces and the Pines of Rome.

• Why London? To visit my friend Deb and her SO James for a few days and take Deb to lunch at the Fountain Room at Fortnum and Mason's and the Panto at the Old Vic. Its become a tradition - if you can call twice a tradition. Last time it was tea at the Savoy and Sir Ian McKellan playing Aladdin's mother, this year it's Stephen Fry's version of the Cinderella story and some very camp carryings-on. I'll blog about that later.

Towards the Foro from the restored Mercato di Trainao.

• The following week I'm planning to join Laurent in Athens. He's going for work, I'm going to wander around the Plaka, drink ouzo and check out some of Matt Barrett's helpful suggestions on restaurants etc. Matt has never been wrong where Athens is concerned.

A galleria in the Piazza Vittorio Emmanuele.

• Since the truckers' strike last month food prices have gone up here anywhere from 10 to 20% depending on the product. And after the December taxi strikes our beloved Mayor Walter "Give 'em bread and circuses" Veltroni has announced that taxi fares will go up 18% with a new Euro 2 surcharge for taxis from the railway station. Wine, however will remain the bargain it has always been. Some things you just don't screw around with!

Almost finished polishing our balls.

• And Wally V. has also announced that Euro 2 billion and a workforce of approximately 5,000 will be thrown at the city parking problem. By 2010 there should be 41,000 new parking spots. Of course by then there should be 100,000 additional cars.

The table set for Christmas Dinner

• I finally got tickets for Tosca - showed up at the Box Office on Tuesday and nabbed 4 seats for the Sunday matinee. Its the first cast so I'm happy with that - explanation: since performances are given on successive nights here they often have two, sometimes three, casts alternating. Sunday will be the same singers as Opening Night - including Marcelo Alvarez and Renato Bruson - so I'm quite content.

10 gennaio - San Aldo