“If you’ve enjoyed the panto, I’ve been Linda Robson,” Fairy Organic tells the audience as the cast take their bows. “If you haven’t, my name’s Pauline Quirke.” There’s not much danger of Robson having to change her name, despite one or two missteps in Rickmansworth’s otherwise dependable pantomime.
Craig Daniel Adams and Sophie Bloom are endearing as the romantic leads, with strong vocal performances throughout from the pair. Jack Glanville’s Simple Simon keeps the youngsters in the audience on side throughout, with able support from Herbie Adams’ King Crumble, a curious hybrid of Max Wall and Bruce Forsyth that shouldn’t work as well as it does.
Perhaps the biggest error of judgement in the whole production is the inclusion of a Sondheim number amongst the breezy pop covers. While Into the Woods’ Giants in the Sky may have seemed like a good fit, dealing as it does with giants atop beanstalks, in practice it slows the panto’s pace to a crawl. Handing such a challenging vocal to Robson, who is not known for her singing prowess, does neither the song nor the actress any favours.
The young team of dancers provide consistent support throughout the show, with strong routines from choreographer Drew Varley.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
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