Roll up! Roll up! Come and see the greatest pantomime in Manchester this season! Eight-Freestyle in association with The Dancehouse celebrated their seventh year of panto this year bringing a new show 'Goldilocks: The Panto' and it didn't disappoint.
The story followed aerialist 'Goldie' and her crazy circus family as they try to create the greatest show on earth to beat the evil 'Baron Von Schtinkenfurter' in a competition to be the only circus in 'Minchester'. Chaos and hilarity ensue as we meet a vast array of characters along the way including some very talented Mancunian bears, werewolves and even three very cute little pigs.
The cast for this show was huge with ten principal characters. Helena Frances took the role of leading lady 'Goldie' and was the perfect princess character. Goldilocks is usually the main character of this well known tale however I feel it wasn't the case this time. There were so many strong characters that I would arguably say there was no one lead in this show, however saying that if I were to choose a lead it would have to be Silly Billy. David Allen as 'Silly Billy' completely stole the show. He had excellent comic timing, great stage presence and fantastic banter with the audience. He had both adults and children in stitches. His tightrope scene in particular was fabulously funny and well done. Red Redmond took on the role of Red Ridinghood and played a spot on whiny teenager with a particularly hilarious 'Teenage Dirtbag' scene that had me cracking up with laughter. Matthew Chappell was the classic panto dame and delivered a fantastic performance. Adam Urey played the villainous 'Baron Von Schtinkenfurter', he provided a good balance of villain, enough to make the audience boo but not too much to scare the children. His rendition of Billie Eilish's 'Bad Guy' was incredibly entertaining, I just wish there was a bit more of the villain as I feel he was slightly lost in the many storylines of the show. The three bears (Kate Mitchell, Kieran Lee and Shane Hurst) were a smaller element of the show but in no means any less talented, I enjoyed their chemistry and their comical entrances.
Rosie Astbury did a great job with the costumes, I loved 'Bertha's' wardrobe in particular. The set was a great mix of both classic panto-esque style and modern technology. There were some great moments created with projection on the tabs and a split stage with dancers doing ballet behind a see-through screen. I loved the onstage presence of the musicians, this really added to the show however on some occasions throughout the show I felt the music was a bit too loud and I struggled to hear some of the actors singing which was a shame.
The big dance numbers were spectacular with excellent choreography. The dancers are exceptionally talented and showed some amazing technical moves especially in the slower more balletic songs. The children's ensemble were fantastic, dancing for this show we had the blue team. There were some little stars among this group, I was particularly impressed by the many flips and tricks sprinkled through the show.
My only small gripe would have to be that it was maybe too long, with a running time of 2 hours 40 minutes lots of children were getting quite restless with some families leaving slightly early. I think maybe some of the numbers could've been cut as some of them weren't always relevant or necessary. Some of the gags were a little drawn out at times and could've been a bit more punchier but other than that I don't have much to say in terms of negatives as the show was next level. The Dancehouse theatre is on the same road as the Palace theatre and I would go to the lengths of saying the show is as good as if not better than some of the big shows that are put on at the Palace.
I always find it such a shame that pantomime gets mocked and disregarded in the acting world. People don't realise the amount of hard work and graft that goes in to creating a pantomime. There's so many elements to it; acting, comedy, singing, dancing, special effects. It takes an incredibly talented bunch of people to create such a show and the cast/crew of 'Goldilocks' are no different. It's easy to see that everyone involved in creating this show has worked incredibly hard and it's definitely paid off. I've seen a few pantos this Christmas season and I can easily say this is the best.
Reviewer - Bethany Suthers
on - 15/12/19
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