Naughty, Bawdy, and Bright: Panto at the Ritz

Trying something a little different during the holidays can add a spark of excitement and create new memories without abandoning the traditions you love. One fun approach is to pick a slight "twist" on a familiar activity— or perhaps, stories. The key is to choose something that feels low-pressure but fresh, bringing a sense of playfulness and discovery into the season while still keeping the holiday spirit at heart.

Pantomime—affectionately known as panto—is a beloved British Christmas tradition that blends fairy-tale storytelling with comedy, music, and interactive fun. Performed in theatres across the UK during the festive season, pantos typically feature outrageous costumes, slapstick humor, cross-dressing roles like the Dame, and plenty of audience participation, including cheers for the heroes and boos for the villains, the famous shouts of "He's behind you!" and "Oh no it isn't!" These shows take familiar stories and reimagine them with modern jokes, local references, and lively songs. Designed to delight both children and adults, panto has become a cherished holiday outing, bringing families together and capturing the playful, communal spirit of Christmas.

The folks at The Ritz have been merging and expanding these thoughts to make a wonderful new tradition – or at least something truly fun and unique. Everyone wants to make the sometimes-bleak winter days more memorable and enjoyable, yes? I interviewed one of the founders of the Ritz, director Brice Curliss, to try to get a handle on the holiday wonderfulness of it all.

Bruce, how did this come to pass that we have a full-on British-style Christmas panto in Haddon Township?

Bruce Curliss said, "We've done the panto every other year. Brian Bacon wrote the music and the lyrics - I think he's brilliant, but, you know, I might be a bit prejudiced. In any case, Brian and I wrote the first panto during the pandemic. We would FaceTime, compare notes, and go over ideas. I wrote the book, he'd write the lyrics. Eventually, we got a cast together and performed it. That became "The Absolute, Fantastical Adventures of Cindy Ella and the Once and Future Golden Christmas Goose in the Joyous Years That Followed the Never-Ending Plague (A Short Panto)."

"I absolutely love it when fairy tales are all kind of twisted around each other. I always compare it to children's theater on acid. And then it also reminds me so much of back when I was a kid, Rocky and Bullwinkle and Fractured Fairy Tales."

"So we've combined Goldilocks, the three Bears, Hansel and Gretel, and Robin Hood. And we've put them all together, and we do the stock characters. There's always a madam who is a drag role. There's always a villain that the audience has encouraged to boo. There's a juvenile. There's an ingenue. There are always magic animals in a panto, and ours are our three bears, which also double as the clowns, if you will. So we've stayed true to the British formula. This is our holiday. This is our celebration. This is the third panto we have done - we have a little bit of a panto following. And we're trying to build that, you know. We throw a little Christmas into the panto, but it's really our beautiful theater all decorated for the holiday - it feels so festive."

Bruce, what really drives you? What do you love about this thing that you just got to share?

"Well, first of all, it's original, you know? It's not "Hello Dolly" in the red dress coming down a big staircase. It's original; there are no expectations. Brian and I both work very much as an ensemble with our cast; the cast has a great deal of input into how and what we do."

"I think the last element is the audience. We're counting on them laughing and participating, booing, cheering, some belly laughs, and then some chuckles, and then just some great big smiles, you know? And that's all it is. There is no lesson or moral. It's just fun, baby! I think particularly the Madam and the villain are the perfect little team. They're having a great time. Ernie Jewel, who plays the villain (this is the second panto he's done with us), is just outrageous. I mean, when the audience boos as we encourage them to do, he eats it up, you know, 'give me more, more, more!'"

Tell me about the musical aspect, what's really bringing the flavor for you? 

"What Brian is particularly skilled at is not only writing the music and the lyrics, but also orchestrating it for the small combo that we have. There's a drum, guitar, and bass. I think saxophone. Saxophone or trumpet. He arranges and writes all these parts out, and it's just phenomenal. There's a tango, there's kind of a Broadway kind of sound, and a power ballad. So, a lot of different genres. There are lots of different elements and styles that Bryan incorporates into the song. It kind of borrows from all the other styles that are around. Of course, because that's the theme of it: we're pulling from all these different traditions. Anything that brings the right energy is going to get thrown into the mix."

Any other highlights you would like to share with our readers?

"Well, yes, I absolutely have to mention our set designer, Matt Weil, and our costume designer, Meg Iafolla; they have done an amazing job and have both brought considerable magic of their own to the show."

I'd also like to recognize that it's a special year for us at the Ritz. On February 7th, we're having a big 40th anniversary benefit celebration. We are putting the word out on Facebook for past performers over the last 40 years to stop in and, you know, join us for the night. It's been four decades, and so we're having talent from each of the decades perform a solo or duet, whatever. We've done Into the Woods twice, so we're having the women who performed the witch sing something together. There will be a little bit of a feast, and a reminiscence with photos and videos. A big celebration."  

Goldilocks and the House of Ginger opens Friday, December 5, and runs through Sunday, Dec. 21. There will be a "relaxed performance" (just a little bit toned-down for neurodivergent folks and other sensitive people) at 2 pm on Saturday, December 6, and an "open caption" performance at 2 pm on Saturday, December 13.