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REVIEW: Wycombe Swan's panto has it all - the boos, the outrageous dame, the happy ending - and so much more
It’s all here - the boos, the outrageous Dame, the happily-ever-after ending - but there is so much more alongside the usual panto ingredients.
Wycombe Swan’s annual extravaganza is as celebrity-packed as ever, and their fans won’t be disappointed.
Brendan Cole steals the show. The Strictly Come Dancing star not only brings stunning dance moves and lots of Strictly references, but a personality that sparkles as he helps the Prince find his love - while hoping to win the title Lord of the Dance.
Mandy Muden makes a magical appearance as The Spirit of the Mirror. When the wicked queen summons the mirror to ask ‘Who is the fairest of them all?’, a huge glittering mirror descends onto the stage with Mandy inside, dressed completely in silver.
Of course there has to be magic tricks - this is one of the world’s few female comedy magicians and the show gives her plenty of space to present her unique style of entertainment.
From the cabaret and cruising scene comes Kieran Powell, playing Muddles. This ‘comical singing ventriloquist’ has been described as ‘the act that every puppet’s talking about’.
His cute puppet Dave the Dinosaur certainly raises lots of laughs and wide-eyed interest among the younger members of the audience.
I get the chance to speak to Kieran after the show, and he tells me that, at just 23, he has visited 99 countries in the past four years entertaining cruise audiences.
As one of the world’s top ventriloquists, he says he wants to bring the art form into the 21st century. He loves panto: “It’s the best fun in the world.”
So much for the celebrity mini-shows within the panto. The storyline is still here, of course, for those of us who came for a traditional panto-fest, though the story gets less time than usual.
Pretty Snow White (Naomi Cowe) is taken from the grand palace to the dark woods and finds the dwarfs’ cottage - this scene is charming, with little woodland animals dancing around the quaint cottage.
Then the dwarfs hobble home. There’s been a lot of media talk lately about the trend not to use ‘real’ dwarfs for panto. Here they manage the issue by having seven men hobbling about on their knees, covered in cloaks, but with fake legs dangling in front. Whatever your views on the controversy, it’s certainly amusing.
We need a Dame - in this show, Nurse Nancy - and Jason Sutton brings fun to the part. The costume changes are not quite as outrageous or as numerous as in some pantos, but Jason is satisfyingly dame-like.
He tells me later: “The challenge for me as a Dame is to be mumsy with the kids in the audience, and saucy with the mums and dads.”
Winning the ladies’ hearts is Robert Tripolino as an endearing Prince Harry of Hughenden. And eliciting all the boos is a magnificent Natalie Spriggs as Queen Lucretia - beautiful in gorgeous costume, icily cruel, and with a lovely voice. (She’s really very sweet when we chat later.)
The stage sets are simply stunning and the exceptional lighting adds to the magic, with bubbles of light speeding around the auditorium and stage which has the effect of drawing the audience into the action. The Wycombe Swan Band provides superb backing.
Of course the dancing is amazing - with Brendan around how dare it not be - and the whole ensemble, including youngsters from the Jackie Palmer Stage School, provide a visual feast.
One more person fascinated me. The show I saw had a signer at the corner of the stage, signing the show for deaf people. Dressed as a palace maid, she cleverly and silently acted, spoke, sang each part as she signed, which must have brought the show alive for those who couldn’t hear.
So congratulations to the creative team who put our area’s big panto together once again.
Amazingly, the cast only came together last Monday, by Friday they were performing, and now they’ll keep the fun going until December 30.
Tickets and more details at www.wycombeswan.co.uk - or call the box office on 01494 512 000.
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