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Review by Paul Nelson
PANTOMIME
is a very special field and is becoming increasingly rarefied. With young
audiences no longer enjoying the element of surprise, small children, electronically
wise beyond their years with computer games galore, and television magic being
an everyday mundanity, the bottom is being knocked out of the genre.
Modern parents demand audience reaction before the option has been offered
from the stage. 'He's behind you!', 'Oh, yes he did!', hissing and cheering,
are parent-led these days. The excitement of theatre is being strangled by
the smugness of deja vu emanating from the grown-ups.
This does not appear to happen with what must now be called the elderly generation.
Grandparents are infinitely more suited to be an appreciative audience and
to enjoy with their little charges the thrill of the theatre, without spoiling
it by being blasé and telegraphing what should take the very juvenile
members of the audience by surprise.
It is also not unknown for the performers to join in this destruction of make-believe,
little realising or possibly caring that they are cutting their own throats.
Unless they respect it, this particular avenue of employment for them will
fold.
Having started this review in such a gloomy manner, it is with great joy and
relief to be able to shout the praises of Wimbledon Theatre's annual
Christmas-time event.
Their pantos are always presented with an exceptionally high standard, mainly
avoiding the aforementioned pitfalls, and this year's offering, Dick Whittington,
has a pillar of strength in its star, Russ Abbot. As Idle Jack he opens up
the stage for small people and is at all times engaging with no hint of playing
to the adults in the audience, without, and quite a feat this, not actually
forgetting them. The result is they fall under his spell in much the same
way as their children.
His first entrance, after the initial introductory patter, sets the evening
alight as he is accosted by a tiny child in a hard hat claiming to be Bob
The Builder. The stage is then invaded by more children and the resulting
musical number is a show-stopper.
We are once again in Pantoland where we know everything will be for the best,
though the path to happiness and true love we equally know will not be smooth.
Mr Abbot is abetted by, among others, Russ Kane, new to me but very familiarly
known to the audience. He has a charm that 'feeds' seem to lack these days
and it is a shame he doesn't have a solo number. He manages to ride the improbable
plot that a once merchant in the City should now be captain of his own trading
ship with ease, but that is not the only variation in the story.
The rat-ridden sultanate of Morocco is skated over, and there is a lack of
a real fear of arrest in Dick being accused of theft (surely a serious matter
for the gallows in those days). Even Sarah the Cook is deprived of the messy
sloshings about in the kitchen, which used to be a highlight of this pantomime
but admittedly which presented terrible stage problems in changing to the
following scene.
The show also boasts a beautiful and charming heroine in Luisa Cusano, and
an agile Cat in Adam Ellis.
As is usual the sets and costumes are up to standard and the dancers gamely
attack their numbers even though they are, along with everyone other than
Russ Abbot, absolutely upstaged by the Babette Langford Young Set, those tiny
talents that steal this show year after year.
Dick Whittington is a welcome addition to a season that is becoming increasingly
foreign to its original appeals and if you can get in, there is a shorter
run this year, you should not miss it. Along with the rest of the audience
I laughed much more than in previous years, a fact for which I must fairly
and squarely lay the blame at the feet of Russ Abbot.
Dick Whittington by Tudor Davies, Directed by John Bishop, Choreographed
by Di Cooke, Musical Director Steve Clark, Lighting Designer Adrian Barnes,
WITH: Russ Abbot (Idle Jack), Russ Kane (Captain Fitzwarren), Bobby Bennett
(Sarah the Cook), Judy Buxton (Spirit of the Bells), Sally Taylor (Dick Whittington),
Adam Dodd (King Rat), Luisa Cusano (Alice Fitzwarren), Adam Ellis (Tommy the
Cat), The Young Set, and Eva Blanco, Susan Hallam-Wright, Davinda Heyre, Matthew
Hudson, Melissa Marshall, Eugene McCoy, Susan Shaw, Daniel Stutz (Citizens).
Produced by Nick Thomas and Jon Conway for QDOS Entertainment plc and presented
at Wimbledon Theatre, The Broadway, Wimbledon, London SW19 (until January
19). Tickets 020 8540 0362
RELATED LINKS: Click here
for the Wimbledon Theatre website...
