City Theatre to Present SNOW WHITE: A BRITISH PANTO Beginning This Month

City Theatre at Sacramento City College will bring back Panto with Snow White: A British Panto by Christine Nicholson. Luther Hanson directs this crazy holiday show, after a three year Panto drought. The production opens Friday, November 18, and plays through Sunday, December 11. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. on November 18, 19, 25, 26, December 2, 3, 9, & 10; and at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 20, 27, December 4, & 11. Performances will be held in the Art Court Theatre in the Performing Arts Center on the Sacramento City College campus at 3835 Freeport Blvd. in Sacramento. Ticket prices are $18 General Admission; $15 students, seniors, SARTA members, veterans/military personnel and Persons with Disabilities. Tickets may be purchased online or in-person one hour before the performance begins. All details and tickets are available online at CityTheatre.net.

All audience members will be required to follow college COVID protocols by providing a photo ID and proof of vaccination before entering the theater. The college strongly recommends wearing masks while indoors.

THE PLAY

Snow White: A British Panto, has been produced twice before at City Theatre, in 2008 and 2013. This production has some of the cast members from the 2013 production, and is a mix of both previous productions and brand new material to stay current in 2022. The play mixes classic fairy tales, popular music, dance, comedy routines, dancing animals, and chase scenes to provide holiday entertainment for the whole family.

THE BRITISH PANTO TRADITION

Traditionally performed at Christmas, for family audiences, British Pantomime (Panto) is now a popular form of theatre, incorporating song, dance, buffoonery, slapstick, in-jokes, audience participation, and mild innuendo. There are a number of traditional story lines, and also a fairly well-defined set of performance conventions. Following an evolution from minor acts between opera in Restoration England, in 1723 a pantomime entitled Harlequin Doctor Faustus became what is often considered the first English pantomime. Panto story lines and scripts typically make no reference to Christmas, and are almost always based on traditional children's stories, where plot lines are adapted for comic or satirical effect. The prince or leading male role is traditionally played by a young woman - the "principal boy" part - and the older woman or "pantomime dame" by a man in drag. The humor is aimed at both adult and child audiences, with innuendos for the adults that won't be picked up by the children, and some humor for the children that just might go over the adults' heads too. Audience participation with the children occurs throughout the show, as they are encouraged to "boo" the villain and "cheer" the hero.

THE PLAYWRIGHT

Christine Nicholson has been writing British Pantos with her writing partner Luther Hanson since 2008. She has written eight pantos over fourteen years, for City Theatre and Splinter Group Theatre, including Moby Dick, the Panto, and Little Women, the Panto. Last year, she wrote The Magic Lamp for the Presidio Theatre in San Francisco. She also teaches and directs at Sacramento City College, Folsom Lake College, Sac State, and UC Berkeley.

THE PRODUCTION

Snow White: A British Panto will be directed by Luther Hanson. The cast will feature Racine Strong, Petra Tafoya, Bob Roe, Mia Matista, Thomas Larkin, Rene Mickel, Mariah Coburn, Jonathan Blum, Christian Vang, Noah Galvan, Robin Sanchez, Holly Nicola, Yadira Diaz, Sarah Palmero, Sinead Kennedy, Savannah Rosenbach, Eli Nittner, and Johnna Wood. The artistic team will include Shawn Weinsheink (scenic and lighting design), Nicole Sivell (costume design), Shannon Mahoney (choreography) and Jonathan Blum (music direction).

ABOUT CITY THEATRE

City Theatre is the performing arts program at Sacramento City College, part of the Los Rios Community College District, in Sacramento, California. City Theatre's season consists of four Mainstage productions, two Storytime children's productions, and the elementary school touring troupe known as The Pennywhistle Players, though all children-related theatre is currently on hiatus. During the summer, City Theatre produces the annual Sacramento Shakespeare Festival. The company welcomes all members of the community to audition and participate in their award-winning productions.

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