Celebrated designer Terry Parsons has had an incredible career, working extensively in the UK and across Europe for over half a century. During that time, he’s lent his exceptional talents to more than 50 pantos. He’s now back where it all began in the late 1960s, working on the Coventry Belgrade Theatre’s festive production of Sleeping Beauty.
What’s On recently caught up with Terry to find out more about his time in the industry...
Tell us about your very first foray into panto design at the Belgrade 50 years ago.
I started on 9 September 1968 as a ‘bucket boy’, which was a job I won through the Arts Council. I used to arrive at 7am to mix all the paints for the designer/scenic artists, using a thing called ‘size’ - the most disgusting animal-based glue! Part of the prize was that I had to be given a show to design - and that went so well, they gave me another. The next year I designed the costumes for Cinderella, then the following year I worked on my first full panto - Mother Goose.
What does it mean to you to be revisiting the theatre with Sleeping Beauty in 2018?
It’s lovely, and it really is a genuine coincidence that it’s 50 years. I couldn’t say no, really, could I?!
Does the process you’ll follow to take Sleeping Beauty from page to stage always follow the same format?
It’s slightly different to how I normally work because on the bigger shows I don’t get very involved. I feed it all into the system and don’t even necessarily see it because I use trustworthy people who I’ve been working with for donkey’s years. I normally do at least three pantos a year, so there isn’t time to be everywhere. It’s nice at the Belgrade because it’s an in-house team. It’s just a question of getting to know them and them getting to know my style.
How has the profession changed during your time in the industry?
Pantomime used to be much bigger, so although I was young and thrown in at the deep end, doing, for example, a Stanley Baxter pantomime in Scotland was as big as it got. Everything was extremely lavish and extremely large! People would come to see Stanley in coachloads because they knew what to expect. The show ran from early December to April and filled all the seats. I think a lot of that was due to star quality but also huge visual expectation. But on the flip side, I designed pantomimes at the Theatre Royal Richmond which were bijou but beautifully put together. The detail was still there, so they had a huge following.
Whose costumes have you most enjoyed designing?
Probably Danny La Rue’s and Stanley Baxter’s. Danny and Stanley were both extremely nice but very demanding!
Is the starting point always the same?
It can be very one-to-one - like at the Belgrade - where you chat a lot before you put pen to paper. I then get given a list of scenes and a quick phone call to say what’s needed in each scene. That’s normally it until costume fittings. Fingers crossed it’s usually wow, wow, wow! On a Stanley Baxter panto, the curtain rises in December and your first meeting is in the previous January. The whole of January and February you’re going back and forth to Scotland to discuss it, and then you start.
In terms of collaboration, where does the director’s influence end and yours begin?
With the smaller regional shows, like this one, it’s more personable, and we talked a lot more before I started. This is my first show with director Iain Lauchlan. There’s more discussion because the scale means the content is busier. In a bigger panto, you change scenes every four or five minutes, but here, the opening scene is perhaps 15 minutes. It’s more about the small details than just setting the scene.
You’ve spent a lot of time working in Europe. Is there a noticeable difference in the approach to design compared to here in the UK?
Yes, their budgets are huge! As I’m 73, I’ve had to start saying no to some jobs around Europe. At the start of the year, I was asked to do a production of The Sound Of Music in Norway but said no. It was an 18-month commitment, and with all the commuting, that takes its toll. Those days are gone sadly.
What’s been the highlight of your career and who have you enjoyed working with the most?
I’ve had about five highlights! The first thing is that I’ve always been in the right place at the right time, so I’ve never stopped working. I’ve had a West End career designing 37 shows, I have a foreign career, and two regional theatres jump out as highlights: the old Leicester Haymarket and the Theatre Royal Plymouth. For many years I also worked for the British Airways Playhouse, run by actor Derek Nimmo. We used to build theatres in ballrooms all over the world, presenting plays as dinner theatre. I travelled the world for 25 to 30 years doing that. So a series of wonderful things linked together.
I learned my trade through Stanley Baxter and those like him. I worked with George Lacy when I was 18 - he was my first dame. Also Billy Dainty and Reg Dixon - they’re monumental in pantomime. I learned every trick in the book from them. I then went on to work with Les Dawson, Frankie Howerd, Danny La Rue etc. I just sat there and soaked it all in.
What single piece of advice would you offer someone thinking of entering the industry?
I wouldn’t want to start now because there are an awful lot of clever people around! I’m very old-school - I still use a pencil and a ruler! Because I was so lucky, I didn’t have to struggle, but you just have to get in there and somehow do it. People are coming out of the colleges in large numbers who’re hugely talented, so it’s extremely competitive. I think designers are underestimated, so I’m very blessed to have one of my models featuring in an exhibition at the new V&A Museum in Dundee. It’s the first time I’ve felt that other people view what I do as an art form.
Did you ever consider moving on from the profession?
No, I’ve known this is what I wanted to do since I was 11. I joined the amateurs at 13 and somehow I managed to find the college I wanted to go to - Central School of Art, now called Central St Martins. I got in on the spot because of my portfolio of amateur work. I was there for three years and then won the Arts Council bursary at the end, which brought me here. As I’m winding down a little, I want to spend more time with my grandchildren and have plenty of holidays!
Sleeping Beauty shows at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre until Sat 5 January
Celebrated designer Terry Parsons has had an incredible career, working extensively in the UK and across Europe for over half a century. During that time, he’s lent his exceptional talents to more than 50 pantos. He’s now back where it all began in the late 1960s, working on the Coventry Belgrade Theatre’s festive production of Sleeping Beauty.
What’s On recently caught up with Terry to find out more about his time in the industry...
Tell us about your very first foray into panto design at the Belgrade 50 years ago.
I started on 9 September 1968 as a ‘bucket boy’, which was a job I won through the Arts Council. I used to arrive at 7am to mix all the paints for the designer/scenic artists, using a thing called ‘size’ - the most disgusting animal-based glue! Part of the prize was that I had to be given a show to design - and that went so well, they gave me another. The next year I designed the costumes for Cinderella, then the following year I worked on my first full panto - Mother Goose.
What does it mean to you to be revisiting the theatre with Sleeping Beauty in 2018?
It’s lovely, and it really is a genuine coincidence that it’s 50 years. I couldn’t say no, really, could I?!
Does the process you’ll follow to take Sleeping Beauty from page to stage always follow the same format?
It’s slightly different to how I normally work because on the bigger shows I don’t get very involved. I feed it all into the system and don’t even necessarily see it because I use trustworthy people who I’ve been working with for donkey’s years. I normally do at least three pantos a year, so there isn’t time to be everywhere. It’s nice at the Belgrade because it’s an in-house team. It’s just a question of getting to know them and them getting to know my style.
How has the profession changed during your time in the industry?
Pantomime used to be much bigger, so although I was young and thrown in at the deep end, doing, for example, a Stanley Baxter pantomime in Scotland was as big as it got. Everything was extremely lavish and extremely large! People would come to see Stanley in coachloads because they knew what to expect. The show ran from early December to April and filled all the seats. I think a lot of that was due to star quality but also huge visual expectation. But on the flip side, I designed pantomimes at the Theatre Royal Richmond which were bijou but beautifully put together. The detail was still there, so they had a huge following.
Whose costumes have you most enjoyed designing?
Probably Danny La Rue’s and Stanley Baxter’s. Danny and Stanley were both extremely nice but very demanding!
Is the starting point always the same?
It can be very one-to-one - like at the Belgrade - where you chat a lot before you put pen to paper. I then get given a list of scenes and a quick phone call to say what’s needed in each scene. That’s normally it until costume fittings. Fingers crossed it’s usually wow, wow, wow! On a Stanley Baxter panto, the curtain rises in December and your first meeting is in the previous January. The whole of January and February you’re going back and forth to Scotland to discuss it, and then you start.
In terms of collaboration, where does the director’s influence end and yours begin?
With the smaller regional shows, like this one, it’s more personable, and we talked a lot more before I started. This is my first show with director Iain Lauchlan. There’s more discussion because the scale means the content is busier. In a bigger panto, you change scenes every four or five minutes, but here, the opening scene is perhaps 15 minutes. It’s more about the small details than just setting the scene.
You’ve spent a lot of time working in Europe. Is there a noticeable difference in the approach to design compared to here in the UK?
Yes, their budgets are huge! As I’m 73, I’ve had to start saying no to some jobs around Europe. At the start of the year, I was asked to do a production of The Sound Of Music in Norway but said no. It was an 18-month commitment, and with all the commuting, that takes its toll. Those days are gone sadly.
What’s been the highlight of your career and who have you enjoyed working with the most?
I’ve had about five highlights! The first thing is that I’ve always been in the right place at the right time, so I’ve never stopped working. I’ve had a West End career designing 37 shows, I have a foreign career, and two regional theatres jump out as highlights: the old Leicester Haymarket and the Theatre Royal Plymouth. For many years I also worked for the British Airways Playhouse, run by actor Derek Nimmo. We used to build theatres in ballrooms all over the world, presenting plays as dinner theatre. I travelled the world for 25 to 30 years doing that. So a series of wonderful things linked together.
I learned my trade through Stanley Baxter and those like him. I worked with George Lacy when I was 18 - he was my first dame. Also Billy Dainty and Reg Dixon - they’re monumental in pantomime. I learned every trick in the book from them. I then went on to work with Les Dawson, Frankie Howerd, Danny La Rue etc. I just sat there and soaked it all in.
What single piece of advice would you offer someone thinking of entering the industry?
I wouldn’t want to start now because there are an awful lot of clever people around! I’m very old-school - I still use a pencil and a ruler! Because I was so lucky, I didn’t have to struggle, but you just have to get in there and somehow do it. People are coming out of the colleges in large numbers who’re hugely talented, so it’s extremely competitive. I think designers are underestimated, so I’m very blessed to have one of my models featuring in an exhibition at the new V&A Museum in Dundee. It’s the first time I’ve felt that other people view what I do as an art form.
Did you ever consider moving on from the profession?
No, I’ve known this is what I wanted to do since I was 11. I joined the amateurs at 13 and somehow I managed to find the college I wanted to go to - Central School of Art, now called Central St Martins. I got in on the spot because of my portfolio of amateur work. I was there for three years and then won the Arts Council bursary at the end, which brought me here. As I’m winding down a little, I want to spend more time with my grandchildren and have plenty of holidays!
Sleeping Beauty shows at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre until Sat 5 January