Tezza's Theatre Place

Up at the Palladium, you will find the ultimate in family Christmas entertainment. With a huge budget, huge sets, an orchestra and more stars than there are in the heavens. Yes, it’s panto time and  Goldilocks and the Three Bears  are safely ensconced until January. However, a stone’s throw from the LP, is another panto. It’s smaller, has fewer star names and, as they themselves say, little budget. But going by my visit to the Karma Sanctum Hotel, to see  Jack and His Giant Bigstalk , I think I know which of the two pantos I prefer. In the village of Doggin On the Hill, Dame Trot (Edward Denny) lives with her son Jack (Alex Guersman). Jack is the epitome of a pantomime hero – handsome but a trifle dim. Not the brightest of individuals, he makes up for it by being a loving son to Dame Trot and a wonderful best friend to Daisy the cow (Ben Felton/Alex Reid). He is also a young man who has noticed stirrings in parts of his body and a fluttering in his heart, especially w...

LtoR Emily Cairns, Matthew Kellett & Meriel Cunningham in THE NATIVITY PANTO. Credit Bill Knight. One of the highlights of the festive season is the annual trip to Islington to the King’s Head Theatre for the latest Charles Court Opera Christmas production. This year, CCO present their thirteenth festive boutique pantomime and have decided to pull out all the stops by tackling the story that started it all with  The Nativity Panto . I’m not going to go into too much detail but the story concerns a couple – Joseph (Matthew Kellett) and Mary (Meriel Cunningham) Christmas, who have slightly different goals in life. Joseph is trying to invent a substance that will get his sleigh, pulled by Rudolph the reindeer (Emily Cairns), to fly and Mary wants a baby. It sounds simple enough, but, in the hands of John Savournin (director and scriptwriter) and David Eaton (original songs and Musical Director), a simple tale becomes something spectacular. The addition of a good old pantomim...

Mother Goose Cracks One Out I’ve been reviewing just over four news and so far I’ve attended over 700 shows. Not a bad number but, in all that time, I’ve never managed to get to one of the famous Above the Stag pantomimes. However, this year, that is no longer true, as I attended the 2018 offering  Mother Goose Cracks One Out . In the generic northern mill town of Rugburn – Yorkshire side of the Pennines – Mother Goose (Matthew Baldwin) a kind-hearted hairdresser, runs her business assisted by her reluctant but dedicated son Gay Tommy (Liam Woodlands-Mooney). The two of them are very poor because Mother Goose is not only useless with money but is also very generous, giving away haircuts to the needy – which seems to be everyone – and generally being a bit of a soft touch. Her landlord and squire of the town Amos (Christopher Lane) is demanding his rent as he needs the money since his mill is not doing well. In fact, there doesn’t seem to be anyone happy in Rugburn, except mayb...