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East Van Panto: Robin Hood opened last Friday and we’ve so enjoyed having audiences at the York Theatre to share our take on this classic tail (pun intended)! As we move full swing into the run, we wanted to take a minute to highlight Theatre Replacement’s activities that are all about uplifting the next generation of artists. In our last newsletter, you may have read our Artistic Director Maiko Yamamoto’s story about how the Panto started. We want to tell you a little more about how the East Van Panto and TR have grown. Each year, we have the wonderful opportunity to bring together an incredible company of artists and arts workers to make the Panto happen. We build a brand new show each year—essentially a new, huge, musical production, created in the spirit of collaboration that runs through everything TR does. One of the highlights of each year is the work we do with our student performers and production interns. Since year 2 of the Panto (Cinderella), we’ve partnered with Studio 58 and brought in 3 students who perform in each show as an ensemble, as well as production interns who work on different aspects of the show, like costumes and technical direction. We’ve also partnered with Simon Fraser University to bring on production interns who work specifically with our kiddo chorus. Speaking of, truly one of the BEST things we get to do is to bring in 15 East Van kiddos to perform in the show (in teams of 3 each night!) and who provide such a special element. These kids onstage help the kids in the audience feel like they’re a part of the action, and their parents and families are a huge support to the production—they are why we call the company a Panto family, because it feels like just that.
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