Feature: The wizard behind Winchester pantomime (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Feature: The wizard behind Winchester pantomime

8:30am Friday 13th November 2009

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TICKETS for this year’s pantomime at Winchester’s Theatre Royal are selling faster than ever.

And the man behind it, James Barry, hopes it will be the most ambitious festive show the venue has tackled.

He has adapted the Wizard of Oz, which will include a melting witch, flying monkeys, and tornadoes carrying away houses.

It is the fifth year that Mr Barry has taken the reins of the Theatre Royal pantomime, and for 2009 he is pulling out all the stops.

He said: “We decided that we wanted to have some fun – we wanted to have a tornado.”

The 54-year-old, who was born in Winchester, first worked at the Theatre Royal in the late 1980s.

At the time it was closed for a refit, and he used the venue to shoot a promotional video for Nicam stereo.

The married father-of-one trained in London as an actor before embarking on a career in children’s television.

He worked behind the scenes on such shows as Number 73, Palace Hill and the Bafta-winning Your Mother Wouldn’t Like It.

In recent years he has focused on the stage, and worked in theatres across the UK and even overseas.

Five years ago, he heard that the contract for the Theatre Royal’s pantomime was open to offers.

The venue was seeking an outside company to put on a show, but Mr Barry said he was happy to lead an in-house production.

Seizing on the talents of theatre staff, and bringing in some extra help, the venue has produced its own pantomimes ever since.

Last year it was Beauty and the Beast, which broke the venue’s box office records for festive shows.

Mr Barry added that advance tickets for The Wizard of Oz were even better, though it will not be the easiest play to stage.

Neil Kelso is providing special effects, while Simon Slater is composing a special musical score.

A cast of around ten actors, supported by around 30 Winchester youngsters, will tread the boards. In total, more than 50 people are working on the project.

Mr Barry, who is both writer and director, said their version of The Wizard of Oz was not meant to be scary, but fun. The evil witch is a comic character, while the cowardly lion doubles as pantomime dame.

Julian Eardley plays the lion, having also been the dame in Beauty and the Beast.

Said Mr Barry: “He’s a great performer and he came down from Derbyshire for last year’s show. This time he rang me to ask if he could come back, so he obviously liked it in Winchester.”

He added that, having been an actor and director, he found being off stage more nerve-wracking on the first night.

He said: “Once the play starts you’ve got absolutely no control over what’s going on. At least if you’re on stage, you feel you can do something.”

Mr Barry, who now lives in Aldershot, said this year’s show would be his 24th pantomime. He added that it was going “almost too well”, as the production is ahead of schedule.

Rehearsals start later this month, and the show runs from Wednesday, December 9 to Sunday, January 3.

Fiona Burn, the theatre’s chief executive, said: “James is very talented, and because he used to be an actor he’s very sympathetic to what they do on stage, and he also knows a lot about venue management.

“All of that means that he’s very easy to work with, and that’s why we keep inviting him back.”

Visit www.theatre-royal-winchester.co.uk or call the box office on 01962 840440 for more details or to book tickets.

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