Babes in the Wood
Technical Drawing
1950 (designed)
1950 (designed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Technical drawing labelled 'Scene 1' relating to the pantomime Babes in the Wood, London Palladium, 1950.
In 1947, Val Parnell took over the management of the London Palladium, one of the largest theatres in Britain. Under Parnell, the Palladium presented large-scale spectacular pantomimes until 1987 and became known as the Home of Pantomime due to its lavish productions featuring the biggest celebrity names of the time.
Babes in the Wood starred actor Sonnie Hale as Nurse Glucose and stage and screen actress and singer Adele Dixon as Robin Hood. The production was described by The Times as “up to date [...] with scenery and songs adapted to current standards of taste.” The show’s scenery and costumes were designed by Alec Shanks and Erté, who had previously designed the cat ballet costumes for 1949’s Puss in Boots at the venue.
The show also featured Kirby’s flying ballet and a ‘corps de ballet’ of 33 dancers.
In 1947, Val Parnell took over the management of the London Palladium, one of the largest theatres in Britain. Under Parnell, the Palladium presented large-scale spectacular pantomimes until 1987 and became known as the Home of Pantomime due to its lavish productions featuring the biggest celebrity names of the time.
Babes in the Wood starred actor Sonnie Hale as Nurse Glucose and stage and screen actress and singer Adele Dixon as Robin Hood. The production was described by The Times as “up to date [...] with scenery and songs adapted to current standards of taste.” The show’s scenery and costumes were designed by Alec Shanks and Erté, who had previously designed the cat ballet costumes for 1949’s Puss in Boots at the venue.
The show also featured Kirby’s flying ballet and a ‘corps de ballet’ of 33 dancers.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Babes in the Wood (popular title) |
| Materials and techniques | Pencil on tracing paper with highlights in coloured pencil crayon |
| Brief description | Technical drawing labelled 'Scene 1' relating to the pantomime Babes in the Wood, London Palladium, 1950 |
| Physical description | Technical drawing labelled 'Scene 1' relating to the pantomime Babes in the Wood, London Palladium, 1950. The drawing shows a series of designs for flats to be used in Scene 1. The design is executed in pencil on tracing paper, with shading added in blue and red pencil crayon to sections of some of the drawings. Many of the flats are annotated with measurements, details of scenery they depict and where they would be positioned. Some of the abbreviations recorded next to the pencil drawings can be linked to matching annotation which appears on separate surviving designs for the individual flats. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Given by Roger Fox |
| Summary | Technical drawing labelled 'Scene 1' relating to the pantomime Babes in the Wood, London Palladium, 1950. In 1947, Val Parnell took over the management of the London Palladium, one of the largest theatres in Britain. Under Parnell, the Palladium presented large-scale spectacular pantomimes until 1987 and became known as the Home of Pantomime due to its lavish productions featuring the biggest celebrity names of the time. Babes in the Wood starred actor Sonnie Hale as Nurse Glucose and stage and screen actress and singer Adele Dixon as Robin Hood. The production was described by The Times as “up to date [...] with scenery and songs adapted to current standards of taste.” The show’s scenery and costumes were designed by Alec Shanks and Erté, who had previously designed the cat ballet costumes for 1949’s Puss in Boots at the venue. The show also featured Kirby’s flying ballet and a ‘corps de ballet’ of 33 dancers. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.2501-2014 |
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| Record created | December 22, 2014 |
| Record URL |
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