A Day in the Life of a Pantomime MD

A Day in the Life of a Pantomime MD follows Kelvin Towse, Musical Director for Sleeping Beauty at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre. Sleeping Beauty is produced by Qdos Entertainment and is the 3rd pantomime that Kelvin has been Musical Director for at the Grand Theatre. It follows his work as Musical Director, taking you backstage and behind the scenes, taking a vocal warm up, meeting the cast and performing the show.
I hope you enjoy it.
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@MDKelvin1

[@nylecowperthwaite5324]

great vid 10/10 would watch again

[@kelvintowse2925]

Thanks, Nyle.

[@fraserkatie]

Absolutely amazing! That was fantastic love Qdos shows!Great insight! This must be the same for Birmingham's Qdos's MD Rob Willis!

[@kelvintowse2925]

Thanks, Katie. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@dalgetyplayers1018]

Absolutly love this video, great insight into a fantastic panto! Thank you so much for sharing.

[@jamiesmith8333]

I performed at the Grand before on the 17th November 2016. Greatest experience of my life

[@charlieashley1354]

really helped me understand the role of a MD

[@Butlinsgvn6]

Fab video. And yes, thanks for keeping the music live :)

[@Etonite]

Hi Kevin! Takes me back to days of the BB tour!

[@Pablo-u9l1f]

Brilliant love the music

[@kelvintowse2925]

Thank you The Bug Homes Official. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@Pablo-u9l1f]

Kelvin Towse could you do another one of these please

[@kelvintowse2925]

@@Pablo-u9l1f Unfortunately, I've no idea when I might get back in a theatre again, in the current situation!

[@Pablo-u9l1f]

Kelvin Towse okay that’s fine thanks any ways

[@jonochalker7244]

Nice to see the K2600 is still being used! I sold mine a few years ago for the PC3K8, so much lighter 😂

[@kelvintowse2925]

Yes, a real work horse. Came out of the We Will Rock You pit some years ago and still going. A beast to pick up, though!!!

[@jamiesmith8333]

Im coming tonight

[@TRACY1982]

Love kelvin

[@prestopuppets]

Wonderful. Thank you for sharing. What is the name of the piece of music around the 2 minutes mark?

[@kelvintowse2925]

Hi there. I'm delighted you enjoyed the video. Unfortunately, I actually don't know what the tune is. I was just given the score and it was just a bit of incidental music we used in a scene, which probably didn't even have it's proper title, just something relevant to the scene, which, I can't even remember what that was! It was a couple of years ago. By the sounds of it was some sort of comic routine. Sorry I can't be anymore helpful.

[@ArtsEntertainmentRoblox]

What’s the song at 6:10 it sounds great! Btw, love your channel so far! I’m excited to see more!

[@kelvintowse2925]

Hi there. Thanks for getting in touch and I'm delighted you're enjoying my channel. The song is a Kylie Minogue track called Dancing.

[@paulshirley6383]

Kelvin Towse lve louis shirly

[@drasonmeerrkat2617]

I be panto seen it very interesting

[@jamiesmith8333]

Can you film more of the show or is it copyright and filming restricted

[@kelvintowse2925]

Sorry, Liam. You're right, because of copyright, I can't film any of the show.

[@jamiesmith8333]

Can you write the soundtrack and the order of all the songs in the panto in a reply to this. Thanks. Love panto!

[@kelvintowse2925]

Song list: Sleeping Beauty Overture by Gary Hind Dancing (Kylie Minogue) I Don't Care A Million Dreams (Greatest Showman) Bosom Buddies (Mame) Forever the Dragon Will Fly by Gary Hind Teamwork (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) If You Wanna Dance by Gary Hind

[@t3ddibear]

@@kelvintowse2925 ill say thank you from them..

[@jamiesmith8333]

Can you do a tour of the whole pit

[@kelvintowse2925]

Well to be honest, there's not a great deal more to show than what I did. Either side of me there are 2 large lighting truces, taking up a lot of the space.

[@jamiesmith8333]

Kelvin Towse Yeah I know i have saw the truces next to the MD. I JUST LOVE theatres. Thanks.

[@judasmarshall1029]

what was the song at 9:11 was such a good song :)

[@kelvintowse2925]

Hi Jacob. It's an original song written for the panto by my Musical Supervisor Gary Hind. It's called If You Wanna Dance. I'm glad you liked it.

[@judasmarshall1029]

Kelvin Towse ah cool yh it’s a great song😀

[@jamiesmith8333]

Kelvin Towse is If You Wanna Dance available to download anywhere

[@kelvintowse2925]

Sorry Liam, it's not available.

[@oliverjodrell8652]

What piano do you use

[@kelvintowse2925]

Hi Oliver. I use a Kurzweil K2600.

[@type2music204]

hi kelvin im wondering that i could get a hold of the song if you wanna dance if its recorded i am writing and producing for my stage school in ireland

[@kelvintowse2925]

Hi King Cha Vlogs Thanks for getting in touch. I'm sorry but the song was composed specifically for the panto and so there isn't a recording. Sorry.

[@type2music204]

@@kelvintowse2925 its ok thanks anyways

[@type2music204]

Hi Kelvin can you give me the email for Gary hinds please for panto wise

[@kelvintowse2925]

@@type2music204 I can let him know that you would like to contact him, but I can't give out his email, I'm sorry. If you give me your contact details, I will email him and he will get in touch if he wishes.

[@type2music204]

@@kelvintowse2925 ok hi kelvin Thanks my email is [e-mail] and for other people reading this please do not email me or I will block you

[@PeterFlanagan1]

I’d love to chat a bit about getting into the business to do a few runs? I’ve done musicals and currently wedding band work just not panto

[@kelvintowse2925]

Keep on playing, try and get in touch with shows that come to your local theatre and ask to observe the show in the pit, meet people....practice. It's not easy, Peter, but keep working and networking, and you may get an opportunity to dep on a show. Then, do a good job and you may get asked again, then eventually get your own gig. Good luck.

[@joshneville8254]

What qualifications do you you need to be an md

[@kelvintowse2925]

Thanks for the question, Josh. Well I have a degree in music, but these days you can actually take a course on MDing. However, I suppose the easy answer is you don't actually need qualifications, but you need various skills, like reading and understanding music. The ability to play an instrument, normally piano, but some MD's direct whilst playing guitar. But there are other skills involved like being able to teach actors what to sing, give clear instructions to other musicians, like conducting, for example, as well as good communication skills. So all in all there are various things you need to be able to do confidently, and to a high standard, but regarding qualifications, it's not always necessary.

[@joshneville8254]

@@kelvintowse2925 thank you

[@ashton2584]

You now izobelle

[@nicholasjonesdrumming3987]

Hey My name is Nicholas Jones just wondering if you could please ask the drummer of your pantos if he is willing to do work experience with me so I can play in your pantos I can play and I am willing to pay anything

[@kelvintowse2925]

Hi Nicolas, thanks for your message. I hope you enjoyed my video. Unfortunately the musician's for pantos are chosen on a yearly basis, so at this stage, I'm not sure where I will be doing panto, so I'm sorry I cannot help you. But I'm sure nearer the time if you contact your local theatre, you may well be able to watch the musicians at work.

[@ashton2584]

Beynon

[@jamiesmith8333]

And could you show tech in it.

[@kelvintowse2925]

Well other than my keyboard, which is a Kurzweil and I also use a Roland sound module, and an electric bass, all the other instruments are acoustic, so other than mics, there isn't much tech. We use an Aviom mixer for monitoring, but that's about it.