Samantha Mumba stars as Girl Friday in Gaiety’s ‘Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates’
AN HOUR before the final dress rehearsal of the Gaiety panto, Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates,starring Samantha Mumba as Girl Friday, backstage is abuzz as the cast prepare for the start of their eight-week run.
Daryn Crosbie, who plays Blacksparrow, is simultaneously applying eyeliner and talking about his grandmother, Thelma Ramsey, who was the Gaiety’s musical director for 30 years.
“From the time I was two or three, I used to sit in the pit and watch all the shows,” Crosbie recalls when we visit on Saturday. Make-up artist Val Sherlock is not interested in this nostalgia. He has other things on his mind. “How many times have I to tell you, don’t talk while you’re putting on the eyeliner!” he scolds. “It ruins the look.”
Crosbie has two different pirate-themed costumes as Blacksparrow.
“I look like Johnny Depp in the first one, before we get to the Caribbean. And then when we get to the Caribbean, it’s a hot climate, so I wear something different.” What he means is, in the second part of the panto, there’s less swashbuckling costume on show, and more of Blacksparrow’s impressive torso.
“You have to have something for the mammies to look at,” explains Sherlock.
There is no democracy in theatreland. The starrier the role, the swankier the dressingroom. Joe Conlan, who is playing the panto Dame for the first time, has a fridge in his. It contains three litres of water, yoghurt, and a bottle of champagne he intends to crack open after the first performance.
“The Dame has to get the audience going, and the kids have to like her immediately.” Conlan is rarely off stage during the show, vanishing only to make one of nine costume changes. “At one stage, I have to wear three together, and you’d be roasted under the lights,” he confesses.
Girl Friday Samantha Mumba not only has a fridge in her dressing room, she also has a sofa bed, and a bathroom. “Not a very big bathroom, though,” she qualifies.
For John Costigan, managing director, this will be the 16th panto he has directed. In fact, before there has been even one performance of this, Costigan is already casting next year's panto, which will be Cinderella."Panto is a year-long business," he explains.
It’s almost time for the doors to open and an invited audience of 400 thrilled, giddy children are about to pour in to watch the final dress rehearsal. I reach to switch off my phone. Costigan roars laughing. “It’s a panto! Don’t worry about your phone. You won’t even hear it if rings, with all the noise in the house.” And as it turns out, he’s right.
Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Piratesruns at the Gaiety until January 29th.
