Southend youngsters gear up for an instant pantomime at Plaza Centre

CHURCH group Love Southend has staged its third annual "panto in a day" at the Plaza Centre.

Two days after Christmas Day at least 25 young people, from various local church and youth groups met at the centre in Southchurch Road.

When the doors opened at 9am all the performers were handed scripts and told to learn their parts immediately.

Organiser Steve Dalley said: "Everybody had a lot of laughs and a lot of fun and when the curtains opened at 8pm more than 200 people paid £3 to watch the show."

To stage the show, Cinderella, the performers needed a "volunteer army" of teenagers to build a set, design props, stitch together costumes and practise extra material for the climax of the show.

There was even a band of musicians who ignored the noise around them and practised some improvised tunes to be included in the drama.

Mr Dalley said all the money raised will fund the work Love Southend Youth does in the borough.

He added: "I particularly want to thank Jill Simmonds, Sharon Melville and Jacki Rossi for all their work on the day."

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Love Southend Youth Aim To Perform Third 'Panto in a Day!'

“Panto in a Day”, in association with Love Southend Youth, presents: “Cinderella”!

The third annual “Panto in a Day” takes place on Saturday 27th December, with the performance of “Cinderella”.

In previous years, teenagers from Love Southend Youth have performed 2 spectacular pantomime performances; “Snow White and the 7 chavs” and “Aladdin”.

This year, the regular crew of actors and actresses, musicians, dancer and stage-hands will turn their attention to the panto classic, “Cinderella!

The young people, from various local church and youth groups, as well as university students, will gather together on Saturday morning at the Plaza Centre, Southchurch, where they will be allocated their parts from a pre-written script. The actors and actresses will begin learning their lines that morning, as a volunteer army of teenagers begin to construct a set, design props, put together costumes, and practice extra material to be included into the end performance. A band of musicians will also begin practicing some improvised tunes to complement the drama.

The day is crazy and a little manic, but is always much fun, and it culminates in the evening’s public performance, in front of a packed crowd of adults and children.

The performance starts at 8pm sharp and tickets can be purchased from the Plaza Centre at a cost of £3 each. All proceeds go towards the work of Love Southend Youth in the borough.

So come along a witness a fantastic panto performance, all for a good cause.

It’s guaranteed to be a great, fun-filled night for all the family (“Oh no it isn’t”…..”oh yes it is”)

For tickets call the number below.

Contact: Steve Dalley or Jenny Martin
Telephone: 01702 461616
Email: steve@scfplaza.f9.co.uk