As of 25.12.2013, Wikifonia, the on-line publisher of sheet music which combined a Music

XML-based technology in a wiki system, with copyright clearance, is a thing of the past. If one

brings up the site, there is a message, “Wikifonia is not available anymore. Find sheet music

on musescore.com.”

So… it is no more!  It has ceased to be!  It is now 'istory! It has run down the curtain.  IT IS AN EX-SITE!

Ah well, it was good while it lasted… as the soprano said to the sexton!

I have removed the blog ‘SPOTS BEFORE YOUR EYES’, where I gave information about Wikifonia.

It’s the Araby sandwich syndrome! Let me explain… when I was a whippersnapper, one of my

favourite biscuits was called “Araby sandwich”, which comprised a date filling, in a sealed sandwich of softish biscuit. I believe they were made by Fox’s of Batley, but I could be wrong on that count, and a search on the worldwide web has produced zippo. However, whoever made them stopped making them, and never started again. I used to like kidney soup, which was available in tins, but this appears to have disappeared off the face of the planet. Parkinson’s Doncaster butterscotch went missing, then had a revival a few years back, but that appears to have been short lived. And there’s more…

Having had a look at musescore.com site , I reckon it doesn’t really compare with Wikifonia. Someone has recommended chordmusic.com, which might be a better bet.

Websites listed are offered not as recommendations, but purely for information.

HM IN PANTO

Have a look at – bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25202454 – for some wonderful photographs of Lilibet and her sister strutting their stuff in pantos performed at Windsor between 1940 and 1944. A passable pair of pins too ma’am!

If the Queen wrote pantomimes, would she get royalties?

HORSING AROUND

The Wiere Brothers… Harry (Born Berlin 1906-1992), Herbert (Born Vienna 1908-1999), and Sylvester (Born Prague 1909-1970)… appeared as live performers from the 1920s to the late 1960s, and in films from the 1930s to the 1960s, including ‘Double Trouble’ (1967), with Elvis Presley.

In 1962, the threesome made their way into television on their own series called “Oh, Those Bells!” which aired on CBS, and contained slapstick comedy.

They continued to perform up until the 1970s, however following Sylvester’s death in July 1970, the remaining two brothers, Harry and Herbert, discontinued their act.

Forget the dancing, it would take too long to get to that standard, but there are some marvy moves that you might use from the pantomime horse bit, which starts at 1 minute 4 seconds into the video ... providing you practice of course.

Forget the dancing, it would take too long to get to that standard, but there are some marvy moves that you might use from the pantomime horse bit, which starts at 1 minute 4 seconds into the video ... providing you practice of course.

ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE…

Here is some information from the website of a small amateur drama group based in one of the southern counties… but then, where I live, most counties are in the south, so that’s not giving much away, is it? To further preserve the anonymity, let’s call them the 'Pastope Players'. It was apropos their forthcoming pantomime production, and it appears here exactly as writ... warts and all.

There may not be parts for everyone, but as you know it is our usual approach to try to fit most volunteers into the production, by re-writing the script or as appropriate.

The are many parts that are there to fill, from treading the boardwalk, (be it to act or sing), help with backstage work from sorting props, designing, building and painting scenery as well as 'on the night' help with scene changing, lighting and sound, to the dressing room to help with make-up and costume design. Everyones role is as important as the other, It is all part of being invloved in a production.

I remember “Under the Boardwalk”, but "treading the boardwalk"? Oh, dear!

Of course people are perfectly free to join amateur dramatic and/or amateur operatic societies, and put on pantomimes. Let’s just be grateful they don’t take up architecture, or surgery, otherwise the graveyards would be full of unfortunate individuals who received inadequate medical attention after having had a building fall on them.

They include a quote from a review of their previous production, which appeared in a local rag…

… a funny script with so many local and topical references – just what panto should be.

Well… no! Panto should be well-acted, well-sung, well-danced, well-staged, well-dressed, well-lit, etc. with a decent cup of tea or coffee during the interval.

Why do I persist? Here’s a quote from Harrison Ford, speaking about his early clashes with film directors/producers indifferent to performance standards… “From the beginning I believed that staying the course was what counted. I outlast the bastards. The sheer process of attrition wears the others down. That was my belief then. It still is now.” ‘The Sporting  World’ (Lynam and Teasdale) BBC Books. 1994

I am not against amateurs by the way. Over the years, I have been in quite a number of shows with some very talented amateurs, and I have also appeared in productions with professionals who acted more off stage than they did on.

EXIT STAGE LEFT…

A quote from Will Rogers: "He (Texas Jack Jnr.) had a little Wild West aggregation that visited the camps and did a tremendous business. I did some roping and riding, and Jack, who was one of the smartest showmen I ever knew, took a great interest in me. It was he who gave me the idea for my original stage act with my pony. I learned a lot about the show business from him. He could do a bum act with a rope that an ordinary man couldn't get away with, and make the audience think it was great, so I used to study him by the hour, and from him I learned the great secret of the show business – knowing when to get off. It's the fellow who knows when to quit that the audience wants more of."

The youngest of eight children, Will Rogers was born in 1879 at the family ranch in Oologah, Indian Territory (what is now Oklahoma). His first real job was in the livestock business in Argentina. He transported pack animals across the South Atlantic from Buenos Aires to South Africa for use in the Boer War (1899-1902), and it was there that he joined ‘Texas Jack's Wild West Show’, where he drew upon his expertise with horse and lasso. Returning to America, he brought his talents to vaudeville, and by 1917 was a Ziegfeld Follies star.

Roger’s cracker-barrel philosophy; folksy humour, and pithy comments about the government appealed to the average American citizen.

He starred in 71 films and several Broadway productions. In 1934, he was voted the most popular male actor in Hollywood. His career broadened beyond the realm of show business. He became a prominent radio broadcaster and political commentator, and wrote 4,000 syndicated columns and six books.

Tragically, in 1935, his life was cut short at the age of 55, when he died in the Arctic crash of a plane piloted by the world-renowned, one-eyed pioneer aviator, Wiley Post (in which Post died as well).

Texas Jack (Jnr.) c.1860-1905, was the adopted son of frontier scout, actor and cowboy, Texas Jack Omohundro, who in 1872, appeared with "Buffalo Bill" Cody in one of the original Wild West Shows, in Chicago.

LET THOSE THAT PLAY YOUR CLOWNS…

Robert L. Mills writing about a sketch he wrote for Bob Hope and George Gobel, who plays a Polish American Football player…

"Since I know not a word of Polish, while writing the dialog, I came up with what I thought sounded like passable phrases. George, being the consummate pro he was, didn’t make up his own gibberish but memorized mine! That’s the ultimate example of an actor’s faithfulness to the written word. Would that they were all like that."

Hear, hear!

Perhaps you have heard of Bob Hope, but George Gobel is not as well-known. He was born in Chicago in 1919, and started in show business at the age of eleven, singing on radio as ‘Little George Gobel’. Later, he became ‘Lonesome George’, guitarist and singer of cowboy ballads. From 1954 to 1960 he starred in NBC’s ‘The George Gobel Show’, for which he won an Emmy in 1955.

His films include, ‘The Birds and the Bees’ (1956), and ‘I Married a Woman’ - with Diana Dors! (1958)

He died at the age of 71, in 1991.

Here is George Gobel on the ‘Liberace Show’, singing with the ‘chromium-plated’ pianist, and Trisha Noble. It’s a good number, which I think I will try and work into a pantomime.

MAKING THE BEST OF A BADDIE JOB

Via this blog, I try to offer assistance to people presenting pantomimes, whether they are using one of my scripts or not. Also, whenever I send letter to a group that has decided to produce one of my pantos, I conclude the communication with… “If you require any further help or information, please do not hesitate to contact me.”

Well, someone took me up on that recently, and it was for a non-pantomime presentation as part of their company’s season. They asked if I knew where they could obtain the villain’s ident music that was played on the piano over silent films. It’s the one that goes… “Dah-dah-dah-dah-daaah-ra-ta-ta-ta.

I had a reference for it on – freesfx.co.uk – where it is listed as ‘Cartoon piano riff – sneaky sounding’, but it ends rather abruptly.

Then I remembered that I had it on an LP entitled, ‘Music from the Silent Films’, played by one Mike Napoli. When I found the dusty disc in a cupboard full of vinyl, I discovered there are no sleeve notes, and the record label simply lists the track as ‘The Villain Theme’. However (CUE FANFARE) a Google search, ‘Villain Theme’ brought up the website – soundandthefoley.com/2013/04/04/villains- theme – which solves the mystery.

It’s available on – amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001GITW8G/ref=oss_product

Always glad to be of assistance, or as the French say… knobblyknees oblige.