# British Dopers: Tell Me More About Christmas Pantos **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 8, 2023, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-tell-me-more-about-christmas-pantos/992836 "2023-11-08T16:53:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2023, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-tell-me-more-about-christmas-pantos/992836/41 "2023-12-06T16:22:12Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > > [@Stanislaus](#): > > > > For a professional theatre, a panto with a named star can more or less sell out every house from late November to mid-January; they are essentially the economic lynchpin of British theatrical culture. > > In that respect, they sound like they’re what _The Nutcracker Suite_ is to American ballet companies and symphony orchestras - the big traditional holiday show that funds the rest of the season. It’s common for the Mother Ginger role in _The Nutcracker_ ballet to be played by a man in drag in the tradition of a panto Dame. Depending on the performance, Mother Ginger encourages some fun cheering and hooting. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-tell-me-more-about-christmas-pantos/992836/42 "2023-12-14T17:00:27Z")
Soap producers make the effort to schedule recording around actors (stars?) who want the lucrative time off for panto. It’s a win win win situation: The soap gets some publicity (as seen in…). The actor gets a healthy boost to their pension fund, and the theatre makes enough profit to subsidise some more serious productions later in the year. That’s a fourts win - the funding helps budding actors get a foot on the stage. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-tell-me-more-about-christmas-pantos/992836/43 "2023-12-17T10:10:51Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Quite a challenge to keep it up that long. Indeed, Matron! ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-tell-me-more-about-christmas-pantos/992836/44 "2023-12-17T10:58:31Z")
Careful - do we want to encourage a revival of the Carry On tradition as well as panto? [![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ChPboJPWkAUAGPn?format=jpg&name=360x360) ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ChPboJPWkAUAGPn?format=jpg&name=360x360) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-tell-me-more-about-christmas-pantos/992836.md?page=2)