Blackpool Grand in association with UK Productions certainly know what it takes to put on a good panto. Their main challenge must be how to keep improving year after year, but with this year’s Cinderella they have done just that.
I won’t reveal my age (I do have a teenage granddaughter) but in all my years of going to see pantos (and there have been a few!), this was one of the best ones I have ever seen. Oh! Yes, it was!
From the opening rhyming couplets delivered by the Fairy Godmother, played by the impressive Hayley Tamaddon, right through to the closing number, this panto kept audience members of all ages completely engaged and entertained. Quite often in a panto, the fairytale’s main characters – Cinderella and Prince Charming in this case – are somewhat bland roles sidelined by the big-name comic turns. However, writer Jon Monie gave Cinderella (Kitty Harris) and Prince Charming (Toby Turpin), alongside his sidekick Dandini (Sam Ebenezer), some great lines and comic banter to deliver and director Kylie Butler furnished it with some lovely comic business for the trio to get stuck into – which they did with relish.
Teenagers are a notoriously difficult audience to please, but my eldest granddaughter was chuckling throughout, especially at the ‘brain rot’ language jokes loved by Generation Alpha. (Yes! I had to Google this to see what it all meant!)
The whole cast gave the appearance of thoroughly enjoying every moment of it. Often younger children’s interest wanes during the ‘romantic’ scenes, but this was such a lively and fast-moving production, I saw no signs of younger audience members getting bored and diving into their rustling sweetie bags. Equally, teenagers are a notoriously difficult audience to please, but my eldest granddaughter was chuckling throughout, especially at the ‘brain rot’ language jokes loved by Generation Alpha. (Yes! I had to Google this to see what it all meant!) So full marks to the writer for managing to appeal to so many age groups. Incidentally, there was a birthday shoutout for a great grandma in the audience who was ninety!
Then there were, of course, the ugly sisters, Melody Hard-Up, played by Jamie Morris, and Harmony Hard-Up, played by Tarot Joseph, who delivered the slightly risqué jokes for the amusement of the mums and dads. This pair have been nominated twice already for a Great British Pantomime Award for Best Ugly Sisters, and if it was up to me, I would give them the award right now. They have been working together at Funny Girls in Blackpool for a number of years now, and the way they bounced off each other was obvious from the start. Baron Hard-Up (Mark Faith) was constantly on the go and was equally entertaining with his ‘running’ gag.
Finally, we come to Steve Royle who played Buttons. What can I say about Steve apart from panto comic genius! He has a natural rapport with the audience and his comic timing is exceptional. I absolutely loved the ballet sketch and whether the ‘corpsing’ was genuine or rehearsed, it had the audience in tears with laughter. A minor gripe was the number of jokes dealing with flatulence. Now I enjoy a good fart joke as much as the next man, but you can have too much of a good thing.
This panto had it all! The musical numbers were delivered well, and I thought the dancers were particularly good this year thanks to the choreography of Katie Hill. I would be surprised if the young girl dancers from the Barbara Jackson Theatre Arts Centre don’t make it into the professional theatre at some stage as their contribution was as accomplished as the adults they were on stage with. The wonderful costumes and the ugly sisters’ wigs and headdresses were a sight to behold. If you haven’t booked your tickets yet, then I urge you to do so soon and have yourself a real Christmas treat. You will not be disappointed.
Cinderella is at Blackpool Grand Theatre until 5th Jan. Tickets here.
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