Where Are They Now?

Panorama Theatre Company (PTC) has a long heritage and is fast approaching the Fourty Year anniversary quite proudly, and certainly with their head held high. PTC is incredibly humbled by the support they receive and what has been achieved in this time. In conjunction with a thirty nine year history, there are always stories that stand out and begin to paint a vivid picture of the company history. Within this picture, you will begin to find past Panorama Committee Members and Cast Members that have progressed onto professional careers. This is where they begin to collate a ‘Where Are They Now?’ Catalogue of sorts.

With no formal waffle left to be said, Panorama wishes to present James Rees; formally known as Jimmy Giggle from the popular childrens TV show ‘Giggle and Hoot’. Rees has been part of the Panorama family for quite some time, with his first appearance with the company in 2008 as Robbie in ‘The Wedding Singer’. This relationship with Panorama continues today, though a little more indirectly. Nick Rees, Jimmy’s brother has just performed in our season of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ as Monseiur D’Arque. This show was an outstanding display of talent and the next one (Rock Of Ages) is already shaping up nicely. Rees was interviewed by the company a little while ago and could only speak highly of Panorama; he had auditioned for ‘The Wedding Singer’ because he loved the movie and found the experience to be “so much fun!” Jimmy has been entertaining his whole life, so what better way to continue entertaining than taking on a professional career in performing.

Rees had always performed, whether it be for his family at a young age or on stage with a whole company. It all began with dressing up and putting on little puppet shows at home. The inspiration for the stage came from his brother Tom who “mustered up the courage to join the musical at school” and ended up having a great time after participating in it. This then progressed into sharing the stage with his brother; to which, as any family would agree is definitely something to aspire to! These memorable experiences make performing for an audience even more desirable than it already is.

When asked about the most memorable amateur theatre experience; Rees struggled to answer the question and needed some time to think. Eventually, after much deliberation; he had decided that performing ‘Somebody Kill Me Please’ on his guitar in the 2008 production of ‘The Wedding Singer’ was his stand out. Simply because it’s “such a fun song!”. Having fun on the stage is what performing is all about; albeit the whole process requiring lots of hard work and nerves, regardless of how much experience you have. Rees, in his first ever show; his high school production of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ would have been nervous and worked incredibly hard to get there. Even now, the hard work and nerves would still be present. Training is an important key to managing the art of musical theatre and performance in all facets.

Today, James Rees is known as ‘Jimmy Giggle’, as mentioned prior. More recently has just been crowned as Melbourne’s ‘King of Moomba’ and was undoubtedly excited to be a part of the family festival that takes place in our city. A successful children’s performer with quite a CV; Panorama is incredibly pleased to have Rees as a part of their vivid picture that is painted right in front of our eyes. This simply means that the next instalment of this Peninsula based Theatre Companies ‘Where Are They Now?’ Profiles are sure to be ‘Hoot!’

Pictured From Left (Both Photos): James Rees; Maddi Fletcher; Sam Clement-Remy; Nick Rees; Jarrod Barke; Sarah Ginsberg.