Town Players To Stage

British Panto For The Holidays

Town Players of Newtown will be celebrating the holiday season with a British family show: the Panto Puss in Boots. Pantomimes (more commonly known as Pantos) are hugely popular in the UK.  Based on familiar fairy tales, they include song, dance, local references, slapstick and lots of audience participation — cheering, booing, calls of “oh, yes it is” etc. It is often a child’s first experience of the theater.

The Town Players cast includes Jennifer Lyon as The Hero or Principal Boy, Jack, while the Panto “Dame” is being played by Andrew Morris. Athena Davis will portray Puss in Boots, while Christopher Bird and Karen Short are playing the King and Queen looking for suitable marriage material for their beautiful daughter, Princess Honeypie (Alexandra Napier-Ruzek).

Audiences will love to boo the villain, Lord Roger, played by Maureen Marini, and laugh with the comedy pair Nosmo and Nopar, played by Pam Meister and Anna Maria Marini.

Narrating the story is Martha Bishop, and rounding out the cast are Madison diFato, Meghan Marini, Bailey McCann, Ryan Murphy, and Sarah Greenwood.

Puss in Boots is being directed by Paul Tocco, who first introduced Panto to Fairfield County in 1988 with a production of Cinderella at the Powerhouse Theatre in New Canaan.  This show will be the eleventh Mr Panto has been involved with and the seventh he has directed.

Puss in Boots will run Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 pm December 5-20, with Sunday matinées at 2 pm on December 7 and 14. Tickets are $15 adults, $10 children 12 and under.

A Toys For Tots toy drive will be held on Sunday, December 14. Admission will be free that afternoon for any child age 12 and under bringing a new, unwrapped toy.

The Little Theatre is on Orchard Hill Road in Newtown.  For reservations or directions call 270-9144 or visit NewtownPlayers.org.