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12 Phonebox Magazine | October 2024Blurb...Text....Heading entertainmentHow do you go from the Stone Age to the big stage? Just ask TV presenter Andy Day, who%u2019s playing Dandini in panto this December. He told Phonebox%u2019s Tom Johnston why he loves this time of year.He%u2019s perhaps best known for his many shows on children%u2019s TV, but actor and presenter Andy Day is no stranger to the big stage either. With his BAFTA-nominated CBeebies series Andy%u2019s Wild Adventures, Andy%u2019s Dinosaur Adventures, and Andy%u2019s Safari Adventures, among others, he has rarely been off our screens since 2007.%u00a0But that work has led to plenty of live spin-off s, including four UK arena tours, live appearances in a series of CBeebies Shakespeare productions at London%u2019s famous Globe Theatre, plus music festivals with his band Andy and the Odd Socks. So the hard-working personality has certainly had experience of the big stage.But when Christmas comes around, everything stops for pantomime because that%u2019s one of Andy%u2019s favourite times of the year. And for 2024, he%u2019s bringing the fun to Northampton%u2019s Royal & Derngate Theatre.%u201cOf all the live stuff that I%u2019ve ever done, panto is defi nitely a niche genre,%u201d Andy told me at the photocall for this year%u2019s show, Cinderella, in which he%u2019ll star with Strictly Come Dancing%u2019s Joanne Clifton.%u201cIt%u2019s got a recipe, and you either know the recipe or you don%u2019t. And you don%u2019t know the recipe until you really know it. And some performers might not realise that until they do it, and then they%u2019ll go, %u2018This isn%u2019t what I was expecting%u2019. It takes a while to get it into your head, but when it%u2019s there, that%u2019s fi ne.%u201dThe list of pantos Andy has appeared in looks like a %u2018Who%u2019s Who%u2019 of fairy tales: Thumbelina, Hansel & Gretel, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Dick Whittington, Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and he%u2019s played the Genie, Muddles, Jangles, Buttons, Billy Goose and now Dandini. So why does he love the panto season so much?%u201cIt%u2019s full-on, 100 per cent, and there%u2019s something for everyone,%u201d says Andy. %u201cIt%u2019s amazing because there%u2019s no other country that does panto the way the British do it. Australia do but they haven%u2019t been brought up with it like us, and it%u2019s part of our history. Audiences in the UK and Ireland know what%u2019s coming %u2013 I think that%u2019s part of its beauty. They come to see the things they are familiar with.%u201dThis year he%u2019s playing the Prince%u2019s right-hand man, a good-natured character who brings fun and a bit of Andy magic to the stage. Writers at Evolution (the panto production company) have added in references to Andy%u2019s dinosaur and animal background, which children connect with.%u201cSomeone stopped me recently in a park,%u201d says Andy. %u201cThey were in their 20s and said to me: %u2018Your TV programme was the reason I got into palaeontology%u2019. I was a bit choked up, actually, because the programmes I have been blessed to be a part of have made an impact on kids%u2019 lives. It sticks with you, so I feel privileged to be a part of that sector of TV.%u201dNow he%u2019s hoping he can bring a similar reaction from Northampton%u2019s children and can%u2019t wait to get to the Royal & Derngate.%u201cI%u2019m really looking forward to coming to Northampton,%u201d he says. %u201cI have heard really good things about being in this theatre. Lots of my mates have appeared here, and I have heard nothing but joyous things so far.%u201dCinderella is at the Royal & Derngate, Northampton, from Friday 6th to Tuesday 31st December.What a great Day for panto!