(seen at the first preview performance on 7th December 2024)
The monkey’s weeklong panto-fest (4 pantos in 5 days) is off to a sophisticated start.
You have to wonder what Stephen Sondheim would make of his gorgeously observant hymn to adolescence, “Giants In The Sky” being used to kick off a British panto. Actually, he’d probably laugh and love it – just as we did.
Surprisingly quick getting back to London, this is pretty much the 2022 London Palladium show, scaled down and adapted for local tastes, and with an equally talented and experienced cast.
Alan McHugh’s script is augmented by Joe Pasquale and Matt Slack to include plenty of local references – and a sparkling Wimbledon tennis themed “12 Days of Christmas” performed with all the vigour of McEnroe disputing a line call.
Following “Into The Woods,” we are treated to quite a bit of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” – the “prologue” re-written to start the show properly.
Later, there are rather good bursts of “Me and My Girl” er, Cow ('three years at drama school to do that’, Pasquale quips), a little “Crazy For You” and a few bars of the “chick” from “Underneath the Arches” too.
In common with the Palladium, the theme is of a “Royal Variety Show” as well as grappling with a giant and his gangsta wife, Mrs Blunderbore (Alexandra Burke). There isn’t a lot of plot, and what there is seems particularly disjointed even by panto standards. Fortunately, there is plenty to love in each individual scene, if you are willing to just go with the general flow.
Stephen Mear’s direction is somewhat precise, Pasquale’s influence clearly assisting to move the show along at proper panto speed rather than get bogged down in things like character detail.
Burke is the headliner. No panto credits to her name - according to the programme. A reader reminded the monkey she was in the Palladium one in 2022!!!! Anyway, she earns a coveted 'provisional panto license' from the monkey for clearly wanting to learn. If her timing is yet to be refined by having an audience present, she is willing to listen, and it was wonderful to see her grow in confidence throughout her very first performance. Best of all, her “Hallelujah” is clear and unforgettable. One eye on another (well, she did it once, monkey forgot!) Palladium panto role at some point, perhaps.
She will learn from the best. Joe Pasquale as Silly Simon uses tried-and-tested material with all his usual versatility - "my mum used to tuck me in at night, she always wanted a girl" a fab slow-burner. He also shines during the “dance-off” routine when, accompanied by the four talented ladies of the ensemble, he takes on Burke and the equally talented ensemble gents in a session which... well... see the show...
Veteran Ceri Dupree as Dame Trot perhaps lacked the truly outrageous outfits Julian Clary gets annually, and her Cher turn outfit is stomach-churning as she turns. The performance, though, is terrific, and her careful attention to two youngsters in the front row is to be admired.
The only major issue is allocating both characters as “call and response” when entering on stage. Somewhat confusing the audience, an odd choice both actors had to work hard to overcome.
Ria Jones as “Spirit of the Beans” took similar trouble to engage the front row children, making a key role special, either rhyming or not. With Pasquale and Dupree, the “message” scene is another highlight – and will probably be so for the right reasons in the end. As Pasquale observed wearily, “only four more weeks of this to go.”
Hampered by the script, Benjamin Yates as Jack Trott and Natalie Chua as Princess Jill have little stage time, but both are determined to be the best fairytale couple they can be, shining in their chase sequence.
Always colourful (set designer sadly uncredited – possibly due to the visual jokes); well-lit (Richard G Jones), and with a lively orchestra under Edward Court; if you add a decent motorcycle stunt from Pasquale and more than a few ad-libs (no, you can’t slap the kids, but you did brilliantly with them in “The Music Man” – another musical!) the result is a proper “family” local panto.
Perhaps, thanks to a slightly underdeveloped storyline, it isn’t quite a vintage year, but the monkey is more than satisfied with this 'musical theatre' vibe; even more with the (rightly confident) seasonal absurdities this team bring to The Broadway this year.
4 stars.
Photo credit: Danny Kaan. Used by kind permission of the New Wimbledon Theatre.