Principal boy

Basically the principal boy falls into two categories: A boy or a girl!  As our panto group is considerable loaded in favour of female participants we don't really have a choice about whether it is a girl or a boy...we don't have anyone the right age to play him!  But I am an old fashioned girl at heart and I like the Principal boy role being played by a girl.  I have been told to ‘make the girls look like boys’ and ignored it.  We had so many girls playing male roles in Robin Hood that to pretend they were men seemed a bit ridiculous.  At the end of the day what I provide is used, so I tend to rebel a bit when I don’t agree with what has been asked for.  My girls look like girls, prettiness is an essential part of my principal boy along with high heels and long legs and if that look floats down to some of the other main characters, well what can I do about that (can you see my innocent look here?)?

Sparkly is good.  I do like a bit of sparkle and I am always on the look out for sparkly fabrics.  If I can’t find them there is always the old faithful glue gun and gems... pva glue and sequins...or glitter glue!  I really don’t care what I use as long as it is shiny.  The best fabrics I have come across are already glittery.  Snow Whites Principal boy ended up in a lovely silver number.  The fabric I had bought was actually not as shiny until you looked on the wrong side and then the bling hit.  Consequently I made the whole frock coat with the wrong side of the fabric and then covered it with pink embroidery trim.

If you do have a male principal boy, please try and make him manly!  Ok, so that may be my preference but I really wouldn't have put pink embroidery on that jacket if it had been a man!  This is the person that has come along and swept our beloved princess off our feet and I just don't think loads of frills and lace look right.  Take a look at 17^th and 18^th century frock coats and you will see what I mean, they are gorgeous and yet manly at the same time...it can be done you know.