The Stage

Peter Pan

Published Wednesday 16 December 2009 at 11:25 by Chris High

Lots of razzmatazz, audience participation, booing, hissing and - most of all - laughter is what a memorable pantomime makes. Sadly, however, with the exception of Les Dennis as Nurse Nora, who sets off at a terrific pace and maintains it throughout, these elements are all a little lacking during the first half of what’s been billed Liverpool’s premier panto.

Les Dennis and Henry Winkler in Peter Pan at the Liverpool Empire Photo: Mark McNulty

Quite why is a bit of a mystery. The singing, especially from former Atomic Kitten Natasha Hamilton as Pan and Nikki Davis-Jones as Wendy Darling, is spot on. The sets are big and bright, Lee Kelly’s choreography is spellbinding and the costumes are a rainbow splash of colour.

Yet everything feels flat, a fact exemplified by the entrance of Henry Winkler’s Captain Hook, at which barely a murmur of dissent is heard. For one of the baddest baddies in Pantoland - a role Winkler fills extremely well, it should be said - this lack of reaction can’t be good.

Things pick up strikingly in part two, during which Dennis and Daniel Taylor’s Smee get the audience involved in best festive tradition, with lots of singing, water-spraying and general tom-foolery that saves the day.

In the end Peter Pan is worth seeing, but takes its time and could do with an injection of Tinkerbell’s magic dust to set it apart.