Each year over the pantomime season we raise money through bucket collections for selected charities. We're delighted to announce that Aladdin audiences raised over £15,000!

The third and final of our A Day in the Life of... pantomime edition blog posts is with our Technical Assistant Harry Chell! Harry's main role for our pantomime is a flyman (he operates the numerous set pieces that need to be flown in and out of the stage by pulling ropes attached to each bar!). Each bar can hold up to a tonne of weight - so no mean feat! 

We've picked Harry's brain about panto-world, here's what he had to say... 

Describe your pantomime role in three words?

The second in our A Day in the Life of... blog series is with our pantomime Director Phil Clark! Phil has over 40 years of experience as a professional director and writer, and Aladdin marks his directorial debut at Cambridge Arts Theatre. We chatted with Phil to find out his typical working day in theatreland...

The critics of Cambridge (and everyone else!) has spoken, and they've loved our spectacular Christmas pantomime Aladdin - here's a round up of what they thought. Click on the quotes to read the full reviews, but don't take their word for it - gather your friends and family and join us for the biggest, best and most GENIE-us Christmas show in Cambridge!

'Twas the Eve Before Press Night
By Rachel Osborne (Marketing and Education Officer)

‘Twas the eve before press night, and all through the Arts,
Impatience was building for gala to start.

The cast were all nestled, asleep in their beds,
Whilst echoes of boos and cheers chimed in their heads;
Aladdin dreamt deeply of winning his prize,
Our beautiful princess -a sight for sore eyes!
The Genie sang sadly whilst squashed in his lamp,
Wishing that someone would help cure his cramp.

Monday marked the start of the Technical get-in for our Christmas pantomime Aladdin, where our fantastic Tech team work around the clock to fix dozens of lights, build numerous sets and prep the stage ready for 64 panto performances! Once the stage is ready, our cast, in-house band and Panto Babes come flooding in, and that's when our spectacular Christmas panto really comes to life. 

We thought you'd like a sneak peek of how our auditorium looks mid-way through this busy week in the Arts Theatre calendar...  

This week we sat down with our pantomime script-writer Al Morley, and picked his brain about all things panto in the first of our A Day in the Life of... blog series! Aladdin is Al's fifth pantomime script, and having worked as a permanent member of Arts Theatre staff for twelve years, it's safe to say he knows his stuff...

Describe your pantomime role in three words?

On Monday our spectacular pantomime cast, company and creatives and Arts Theatre staff joined together for our yearly tradition - the first script read-through! It is a great way to begin the rehearsal process, and a chance to see the beginnings of our magical family panto coming to life. 

Here's some shots of the cast in action...

©Jo Anthony Photography 

I’ve grown up with dementia. In my Grandfather's final weeks, I remember his recognition of my Mum and her siblings failed, and they became strangers to him. While I was a child at the time, and Mum kept us at a discrete arm’s length, I could see the anguish she was in: the tragedy of losing the essence of who her father was, before, finally, she lost him all together.

We're thrilled to finally show you our Aladdin cast in all their glory! The photographs from our cast photo shoot (see the behind the scenes blog post here!) are back and here is a first look at the cast, ahead of the opening preview performance at the end of November. The costumes look incredible (and very sparkly!) and the cast have well and truly got into the pantomime spirit.