WEBF’s Pantomime Preview 2023
Photo credit: Mark Dawson Photography
As Christmas approaches, it is time to plan a visit for the family to the great British tradition, a pantomime, and wherever you live, there is bound to be a professional show within 30 minutes’ drive of home. From Deal in the Southeast where the floral entertainer, Mig Kimpton, is producing Red Riding Hood at the Astor, to Truro in the Southwest where a very Cornish version of Peter Pan plays the Hall for Cornwall, to Llandudno in North Wales where another Peter Pan plays the Venue Cymru, or up to Aberdeen where there are three shows at the Arts Centre with Rapunzel, the Tivoli Theatre with Beauty and the Beast and the touring Peter Pan, there are over 300 professional pantomimes on offer this year so there is plenty to choose from.
How does one decide which to book for a family outing? Obviously the nearest show is the easiest to pick or a return to a venue visited in a previous year. Many of the great pantomime stars return each year; in Scotland, the Queen of Pantomime Elaine C Smith returns to the Kings, Glasgow in Snow White while further east, Allan Stewart in the guise of Auntie May, returns to the Festival Theatre Edinburgh in Peter Pan. Danny Adams, with his father, continues in Pinocchio at Newcastle Theatre Royal, and Ben Nickless is back at the Opera House Manchester alongside Jason Manford. Comic Matt Slack continues with the brilliant Dame Andrew Ryan, to entertain in Jack and the Beanstalk in Birmingham Hippodrome, while in London, Julian Clary again leads an all-star cast at the Palladium in Peter Pan. These outstanding performers always deliver a first-class entertainment.
Alternatively, fresh star casting is designed to catch the eye and this year, there are - as usual - some interesting new faces. David Suchet’s appearance as Hook at Bristol Hippodrome is perhaps the most exciting development following Sir Ian McKellan extraordinary performance in Mother Goose last year. Another eye catcher is Scott Mills at Leicester’s De Montfort Hall in Jack and the Beanstalk following in the footsteps of another radio star Vernon Kay who stormed to success at Wycombe Swan last year. Another intriguing production is to see Boy George in a touring arena production of Peter Pan, which visits Aberdeen, Glasgow, Birmingham, Blackpool, Liverpool, Cardiff , Nottingham, and London Hammersmith Apollo. West End star Carrie Hope Fletcher, whose pantomime debut was at Canterbury Marlowe last year, plays the Hawth Crawley in Sleeping Beauty. The Bury St Edmunds production of Snow White also catches the eye with Dame Judi Dench providing the voice of the magic mirror.
Su Pollard, last year’s UK Pantomime Awards Lifetime Award winner, plays Bournemouth Pavilion, in Snow White. Twist and Shout, previous Pantomime Award winners for their choreography, are at Ipswich Regent with Vicki Michelle in Sleeping Beauty. Another classic cast is the extraordinary past winner, Berwick Kaler, and his team of regulars including Suzy Cooper and David Leonard who are at York Grand Opera House in Robinson Crusoe. A regular Award nominee is Morgan Brind who returns to Derby Arena in his production of Mother Goose. Clive Rowe, another previous winner, continues his development as a pantomime director as well as an outstanding Dame at Hackney Empire in their version of Aladdin. These past Pantomime Award winners are sure to put on a great show.
Aladdin is a classic title that attracts some controversy if casting is not diverse and racial stereotypes are not avoided. The classic story will play Blackpool Grand Theatre with the excellent Tom Lister as Abanazar, while down at Poole Lighthouse, Chris Jarvis transfers the show to a cave near Poole where Professor Pocus is the villain and Melinda Messenger adds some glamour. When Les Dennis was announced to play the title at Northwich Memorial, such was the outcry about the publicity photo that he was recast into Beauty and the Beast. In all, there are twenty-five productions of the evergreen title. Of course, Cinderella remains the most produced title with around fifty productions, with Swansea Grand leading the way with AJ and Curtis Pritchard, and Kev Johns returning as Dame. Last year’s digital set at this venue won best design. At the Bolton Albert Hall, soap star Vicky Entwistle stars in their version of Cinderella.
However, it is not always the biggest venues and biggest budgets that produce the most creative shows. A trip to South Hill Park in Bracknell where Joyce Branagh’s scripts and Victoria Spearing’s sets are consistently impressive for Sleeping Beauty or to Mold in North Wales when last year’s award winning venue is temporarily replaced with a big top for another Sleeping Beauty promises something different. Two other impressive venues each year are Salisbury Playhouse where the Plested, Brown and Wilsher script of Dick Whittington should produce another fine show and last year’s best director winning venue, Hereford Courtyard, is also doing Dick Whittington.
Our recommendation is to support the local pantomime and then perhaps pick another one further away with a cast or award-winning track record to see how this wonderful genre can be so different in feel within the same overall framework and traditions. Christmas would not be the same without a pantomime to entertain three generations of a family , so now is the time to book your trip. After the Covid disruption to the past season with Government enforced closures or cast illness, Local Government Arts funding cut backs and now the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) closures, regional theatre needs your support, so don’t delay and secure seats for a guaranteed family entertainment.