ABOUT

A Group with a Common Passion

Minehead Panto People (MPP) began in 1977.  The curate from the Parish Church said that there were two things that he would like to do.  

The first was to bring the congregations of the various churches together and the other was – he had always wanted to do a pantomime.  He was chatting to Lewis Lintern who told him that he had been a musical director for 5 pantomimes, 2 with a drama group in Wootton-Under-Edge, one at the school where he was teaching and 2 where he started a pantomime group attached to a church in Bristol.  Lewis had a script that he had used twice before and so MPP was born

They had to find a venue but with a cast of 72 the church hall in Bank Street was too small.  So, Lewis approached John Welch owner of The Regal Theatre who agreed they could use his Theatre.

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The first pantomime was Dick Whittington, and they had no idea how many tickets they would sell but the queue went all the way to WH Smiths.  MPP was up and running.

MPP is like a family a rather noisy one at times.  Auditions are held in early Summer with rehearsals starting in September.  Then late December it’s all hands to the pump, hanging back cloths, set building/painting, costumes.  After our last show its time to clear up, Panto teamwork in action.  It doesn’t stop there as planning for the next Panto begins all over again.