There was very much a party atmosphere at Liverpool’s Epstein Theatre for the launch of this year’s pantomime brought once again by LHK Productions under the guidance of their managing director and executive producer, Liverpool born Lee Kelly. The audience didn’t need too much encouragement to join in as Snow White flees the Kingdom to escape her step-mother, the Wicked Queen’s evil plans to kill her so that she can become ‘the fairest of them all’ and marry the Prince. Snow White seeks refuge with seven dwarfs living in a crumbling cottage in the forest. There are big song and dance routines with wonderful choreography, a magic mirror and fabulous costumes all brought together with a little bit of magic.
A warm welcome from the Epstein front of house staff sets the scene for this is very much Liverpool production, with mainly local talent and with a script aimed at a local audience. All of which went down well with the enthusiastic locals who rose to the challenge of audience participation; not an easy task from the high, proscenium arch stage. Writer/director and Dame Debbie, Michael Chapman, in his tenth pantomime script, quickly managed to whip up audience support, from screaming ‘it’s behind you’ to being sprayed by water pistols. Lewis Pryor as Magic Muddles worked the crowd with likeable charm throughout and soon had them on side with both child friendly and adult humour landing thick and fast. The first half closed with the cast positioned front of stage for an uproarious rendition of ‘Twelve Days Of Christmas’ (involving two blow-up dolls and eight beer cans) that had the mixed crowd of adults and some very small children in hysterics before jumping down and running through the theatre amongst the somewhat startled audience.
Love her or loath her Kim Woodburn, of reality television fame, brings self-deprecating humour as pantomime baddie, The Wicked Queen. Sumptuously dressed, in sparkling show-stopping sequins, she takes all the boos and hisses she can get, ‘I don’t care Dear’, and finds her niche in the role. Mia Molloy makes an excellent leading lady as Snow White with a strong singing voice as she sings and dances her way through adversity. Her scenes with the cartoon-like enormous Scouse dwarfs ‘with great big heads’, provide some great highlights with ‘Snotty’ and ‘Scally’ being particular favourites. Daryl Holden provides a deliciously creepy ‘Henchman’ to The Wicked Queen in a cross between Richard O’Brien and Gollum that has him locking up prisoners and attempting murder one minute to whimpering the next. Scenes are short and move quickly enough to hold attention, linked with some beautifully choreographed dancing that sees the adult troop mix with well-rehearsed children’s groups from a variety of local dance schools.
All in all, it’s an entertaining production that is held together by the fabulous Dame Debbie, who steals the show in a staggering amount of costume changes and brightly coloured wigs. The audience ‘asides’, ad-libbing and plain scene stealing is hilarious as he takes pantomime to the limit while always being mindful of the very mixed audience. Adapting at every turn, it’s quite a skill and Chapman pulls it off with a talented supporting cast who are there to make sure everyone has a good time. The very experienced Claire Simmo delights throughout bringing every bit of sparkle to The Fairy. Live music under the musical direction of Tom Thorpe provides a loud and lively score that really adds to the performance and Alexander Patmore as The Prince does justice to a rousing version of The Greatest Showman’s ‘Eyes Wide Open’. Heavy on drums and percussion, with ample opportunity for punctuating a punchline, it all adds to the utter chaos that summarises a very British but very Scouse pantomime with the spectacular finale enjoying a full house standing ovation.
Reviewer: Barbara Sherlock
on - 10/12/18
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