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The script was already written for Yeadon panto man
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| Peter Long and Keith Rawnsley |
WHEN the pantomime Sleeping Beauty' is performed at Yeadon Town Hall it will be yet another off the production line of scriptwriting team Peter Long and Keith Rawnsley.
Peter's love of the pantomime has been a lifelong affair. He was born in the Yeadon High Street home of his grandparents Joe and Mary Long in a room containing a trunk full of pantomime costumes, props and grease paint.
His grandfather was the legendary panto comedian Little Joe Long.
The Long family pantomime dynasty started in the early 1900s when Peter's Great Grandfather appeared at the Theatre Royal in King Street, Yeadon - a venue better remembered as The Peeps' because of its former name The People's Hall.
Little Joe appeared in local pantomime mostly in the 1930s and 40s. Peter only saw his grandfather twice in pantomime, in 1956 when he made a comeback at the age of 61 in Babes in the Woods' and in 1968 at the age of 73 when he made a guest appearance in Robinson Crusoe'.
"He was a great comedian. I remember him with pride and admiration," said Peter.
Little Joe had two sons, Fred and Arthur, Peter's late father Fred wasn't involved in pantomime but Peter remembers him as having a great sense of humour.
"Although he never took to the stage he certainly entertained the family with his comic antics," said Peter.
Peter's late Uncle Arthur was in the Town Hall pantomimes and those at the Temperance Hall along with his wife Madge. When they married they brought together two of the local pantomime dynasties - the Longs and the Baileys.
Peter's mother Ivy was a dancer in the pantomimes almost 80 years ago. She, at the age of 93, will be in the audience for this year's pantomime along with her 85 year-old sister-in-law Madge.
It was in the late 1960s that Peter got involved with Yeadon pantomime as production assistant to Horsforth producer Don Farrow.
"He let me write a sketch for Aladdin' in 1969 which featured the legendary Geoffrey Slater," said Peter.
Peter married his wife Sandra in 1971 and that was also when he began his partnership with Keith Rawnsley. Keith was a friend of Sandra's father and the two struck up a conversation about Peter having done a correspondence course in script writing.
"I realised Keith was very interested in the subject as well and we went on to form a partnership that proved very successful in the 1970s and early 80s when we supplied material for radio's Week Ending' and The News Huddlines'.
I remember Roy Hudd saying we sounded more like a firm of solicitors but that did not stop him using our material!" said Peter.
The pair then had television credits with such as the Dave Allen Show' , Little and Large' and Not The Nine O'Clock News' as well as the unforgettable Two Ronnies'.
They were also contracted by YTV for three series of the popular quiz show 3,2,1'.
In the 1980s Yeadon Charities Association asked them to produce a script for their annual pantomime Sleeping Beauty' and the rest as they say is history.
They have now supplied 22 pantomime scripts for Yeadon and with NODA publishing 14 of them audiences all over the country can now enjoy them.
"It is nice that our pantomimes are now nationwide but our number one show will always be Yeadon Panto where it all started," said Peter.
l Book tickets for the upcoming Sleeping Beauty' now at Adults £9, Senior Citizens £7, Children £7 on 01943 874704.
8:54am Thursday 3rd January 2008
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