New Wimbledon Theatre – until Sunday 5th January 2025
Reviewed by C Burlinge
5*****
Wimbledon brings you this years Panto of Jack and the Beanstalk and what a show it was!
With a thunderous opening making the whole audience jump in their seats, their attention now grabbed, set and ready for the show!
The Trot family’s beloved cow, Pat is under attack from Mrs Blunderbore (Alexandra Burke) who wants to capture poor Pat so that she can feed her to her Husband the Giant! Will the family be able to keep Pat and their animals safe or will Mrs Blunderbore get her wicked way, taking poor Pat prisoner and feeding her to her Husband?!
Alexander Burke plays the evil character, Mrs Blunderbore, with ease, with her infectious laugh and outstanding outfits of darkness and feathers that just oozed evil. She clearly enjoyed taking on as many boos as the audience was willing to give; you could see from her face that she was truly in character and enjoying her time on stage.
When it came to her singing, what can I say…. Her voice was absolutely outstanding, magnificent, the cheers and audience participation she got whilst singing her well known hit, Bad Boys was amazing and she received much applause and whooping.
Joe Pasquale who plays Jack’s younger brother, Simple Simon, arrives on stage on a motorised toilet, and followed with many classic panto gags, that had both adults and children doubled over with laughter. He had a great connection on stage with his fellow performers, especially his mother Dame Trot (Ceri Dupree), who held her own around Pasquale and I found it exceptionally funny when they both went off script but managed to hold the performance all together with much amusement. Joe gave a spectacular performance that was brilliant from start to finish.
Ceri Dupree caught your eye through the whole show with her outrageous, large and bright colourful Panto Dame costumes. His performance of a well-known Cher song, used to distract the giant, was definitely one that will be remembered! To be fair I wish I could pull off that outfit with great legs like that!
Jack (Benjamin Yates) and Princess Jill (Natalie Chua) also gave a magical performance with fantastic vocals and much humour on stage.
Leaving Spirit of the Beans (Ria Jones) who is there to lend a magical hand, with her wand of spells, to help to defeat Mrs Blunderbore and the Giant.
Overall, the production was amazing; the creative team have done extremely well with costumes, set design and, without giving too much away, there were some spectacular special effects. The choreography was also very catching, making this show a great watch for all.
There also has to be a mention of one of the best renditions of the Twelve Days of Christmas that I have ever seen! With flying balls and uncontrollable laughter from both audience and cast.
This was one of the best pantomimes I have seen, with great old school humour that offered so much for both adult and child. If you want a kick start to getting into the Christmas spirit then definitely get yourself down to New Wimbledon Theatre to see this show!