It’s all thrillingly razzmatazz and glitz as the circus rolls into town for a spectacular show full of circus skills, superb effects, song, dance and good old-fashioned fun.
Not usually a fan of pantomimes, I actually quite enjoyed the very slick, quick and fabulously costumed London Palladium extravaganza.
Ben Cracknell’s lighting is in-your-face stunning, while The Twins FX has created animated animals including a massive gorilla in chains and a magnificent elephant that towers over the front rows of the stalls.
Goldilocks (Corrie’s Alexandra Mardell making a stand-out confident and competent panto debut) and mum Ringmistress Olympia (Olympian Dame Kelly Holmes—so cue the running jokes) are on a mission to rescue their circus from closure and the dastardly Baron Von Bolshoi (Strictly’s charismatic Brendon Cole—cue much tremendous fancy footwork).
Madcap friends are there to help and hinder as Larry the Lion Tamer (Plymouth’s ubiquitous but homegrown Samuel Holmes), Britain’s Got Talent’s amazing ventriloquist Steve Hewlett as Silly Billy and Joey the Clown (Lemon La Vida Loca’s Gregory Lemon, Adam C Booth) provide the slapstick and the laughs.
With the talking and dancing Janner Baby Bear abandoning her porridge to thrill the crowds and save the day, the stage is set for the greatest show on earth featuring pyrotechnics, Mexican juggler Gordon Marquez, tightrope walking, fire-eating, balletic hippos, dynamic, energetic ensemble, cute youngsters, eyewatering pommel horse display and much cracking the whip.
Tireless in the pit, the orchestra is pacy under the direction of Joseph Morley as sultry tango gives way to “Hot Stuff” and “42nd Street” to “The Birdie Song” as Paul Robertson’s choreography is spot-on.
Crossroads is the ultimate commercial pantomime producer: with five Cinderellas, four Peter Pans, four Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, four Jack and the Beanstalks, two Dick Whittingtons, one Sleeping Beauty, one Pantomime Adventures of Peter Pan, one Pinocchio and one Beauty and the Beast alongside Goldilocks and the Three Bears on stage around the UK this Christmas, so it is no surprise this is a a highly professional, lavish and really fun evening with much to amuse and entertain the whole family.