It has become a tradition in my house that my youngest
son and I go to the Panto every year. We
have been doing it for over 10 years now and he is now in difficult teenager mode
who lives on his laptop and mobile. It’s
hard enough to get him to eat with me but Panto is something he still wants to
do. My husband and older son don’t like
Panto and I gave up trying to take them years ago. But Ben and I still love to go and I enjoy
these special moments with him.
As veteran Panto goers, we have seen them all. This year it was the turn of Peter Pan. I had had trouble getting tickets as it was
selling well but still managed to get us second row from the front. I love the
stall seats as you can really feel the performance is just for you. And can
interact with the performers.
We took our seats and read through the programme. I was delighted to see David Bedella was in it
as Captain Hook. I have seen him several
times, not just on Holby City, but in Rocky Horror and the wonderful Jerry
Springer – The Opera (at which he was fantastic!). I was also pleased to see Flawless were also
performing as it gives some credibility to teenagers who want to be cool to go
to Panto.
As soon as it came on we were into another world. The performers could sing and dance. (I know
it should be a given but it isn’t. Sometimes we are unlucky enough to get
someone who is just well known on TV). They were great. But the star of the show by a mile was
Bradley Walsh. From the moment he walked
on he had us all in stitches. I don’t often
see Ben cry with laughter but he was truly crying. From the moment Bradley said
‘Of course it’s freezing in here…there is no roof on the house!’ It’s just our
sense of humour and we started and couldn’t stop. Another classic was ‘What do we want?’ ‘A cure for Obesity’ ‘When do we want it?’ ‘After dinner!’ Now this is humour I get! I don’t need complicated jokes. This is funny stuff. It took me a few seconds longer to get the
joke about a how hard it is to sing with a stool on his leg. But then he
explained that medical professionals would get it and I got it. (not a medical
professional at all). We made eye contact as I laughed and he missed his exit
and nearly walked into a wall!
Tinkerbell was played by Francesca Mills and she was
absolutely brilliant. She could sing,
act, fly and roller skate! Not easy on a
small stage.
Flawless took my breath away. They were really impressive. Their style of dancing reminds me of early break-dancers
(although I am sure I am showing my age by making that statement), but they
were spinning and flipping all over the stage. The act when they danced in the dark and their
suit lit up was truly a sight to see. They
are so cool and I could see Ben thought so too.
Tiger-lily was played by Rebecca Lisewski and had a
northern accent. I quite liked that take
on it. She could really sing and dance
well but flirting with Peter made me slightly uncomfortable as she looks quite
a lot older than him.
The lost boys and John and Michael were adorable. I was so impressed with the children who
performed in the show. They were some of
the most talented young people I have seen in years.
What made this panto better than others I have seen is it
felt like it had been written for the performers. Whoever had written this was the real star of
the show. Yes I know they always add a
bit in for what the performer is famous for – but here it felt it was perfectly
harmonised to bring out the best in each performer. I am a trained actress myself and I could not
tell where the script started and the ad lib finished. It felt natural and comfortable and they
really did all work brilliantly together.
In the second half, well it just got better and
better. David was an excellent Captain
Hook, but was looking a lot like the singer, Prince and Bradley said so. Hook said he didn’t but I shouted out that he
did. Well it floored the cast and the
audience and everyone laughed for what must have been 10 minutes. It was a brilliant moment. The next time Hook came on I wanted to shout ‘Oh
look, there is the artist formally known as Prince’…but alas I didn’t get a
chance as the story moved on.
We all enjoyed the 12 days of Christmas with the ‘bra
that was made to hold three’. They kept
throwing the ‘5 toilet rolls’ into the audience ...boy is that a good way to
keep fit. I’m not quite sure how many
water guns there were but it took audience participation to a new level. Everyone was laughing.
They finished on a One Direction song and everyone was up
singing and dancing. Ben absolutely hates One Direction. I think it has something to do with the fact
he is studying music and plays guitar. One
Direction don’t even write their songs. Ben
has issues with this and I can see why, but we were both up singing and dancing
with the cast. After all if Flawless can
sing and dance to 1D, it must be cool!
There are only four more shows of this performance which
is such a shame cause this is the sort of show you would pay to see again and
again. Why do we only have Panto at
Christmas when it’s this good?!!
So just so you are clear. Did I like the Panto this year? Oh yes I did!
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