Danny Adams is a sensation as Buttons and single-handedly lifts this show from a routine retelling of the timeless tale into one of the most memorable pantos I have seen in years. Just when it looked as though genuine, big scale slapstick routines - with masses of paint and water - had disappeared altogether, here’s Adams not only sloshing the stuff around the entire stage by the barrow load (yes, literally) but demonstrating a whole raft of brilliant clowning techniques with it.
In another scene he trips headlong into the orchestra pit and scrambles over members of the audience, reminiscent of Norman Wisdom in his prime. A kind of cross between Lee Evans and Bobby Ball, his comic timing is as stunning as his facial expressions and body contortions are breathtaking.
The casting of Adams, a double act with his dad Clive Webb, who plays Baron Hardup, is inspired. His electrifying presence overshadows everyone else, except when he and the other leading players, including Fairy Godmother Lisa Riley, are involved in a brilliantly comic Twelve Days of Christmas routine.
Russ Spencer and Charlotte Bull have the right looks and singing voices to make an ideal Prince Charming and Cinderella. But it’s that man Adams everyone’s talking about as they head happily homewards.
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