Break a leg!

As the little dancer walked to the makeup room, she met Yuma on the way.

“Break a leg!” said Yuma.

The dancer looked at her, confused.

Yuma explained that the theatre world has its own superstitions and that instead of wishing the performers ‘good luck’, people wished them ‘break a leg!’

.....

As we watched the rehearsals a few weeks before the show, we wondered how it would all come together at the Pantomime.

The men who were to be Cinderella’s ugly step-sisters strutted about wearing big black bras over their shirts and copies of the play scripts sticking out of their trouser pockets.

Cinderella’s step-mother was too rosy and endearing to be wicked. She turned out to be an excellent actress and every now and then got a well-deserved “Boo!” from the audience.

The choreographer had to rehearse and re-rehearse the dance steps with the little dancers who were villagers, woodland creatures, nymphs, and skeletons. They all gave her a group hug which is the best gift in the world.

The rehearsals went on so late that the children gave gaping yawns on the stage just after the final bow.

.....

During the dress rehearsal, a girl’s pale yellow skirt got curry stains.

There were other girls whose skirts met with the same fate as they ate Butter Chicken for dinner. The children’s director took the skirts home to hand wash.

Cinderella’s blue ribbons needed a trim every now and then if they tended to fray.

.....

A woodland creature frantically searched for her mask, and had to go onstage without it. It was found soon after her dance was over as if by magic. Didn’t know Cinderella’s fairy godmother had a remote control.

As the woodland creatures rushed up to the Green Room after their dance, they found a nymph lying in the doorway fast asleep and dreaming of real forests.

.....

In a corner, Prince Charming quietly posted a selfie as her Facebook profile picture. She got instant responses from friends saying that is exactly how her five-year-old son would look when he grew up.

The makeup artist had cleverly bestowed an Adam’s apple on Prince Charming and she charmingly flaunted it.

.....

Prince Charming and Cinderella certainly dazzled in their costumes in the last scene as they bowed.

The children in the audience crept closer and closer to the stage during the performance till some of them were practically sitting on the stage.

Theatre has its magnetism, doesn’t it?

Well, thank heavens, nobody broke their legs at this panto.