Dick Whittington

The ‘rags to riches’ story of Dick Whittington and his cat is not just a fairy tale - it is part of the folklore of London.   The story is based on a true subject... a Richard Whittington who did become Lord Mayor of London way back in the 14th /15th centuries. You can find today a monument to his cat near the Whittington Stone Pub at the foot of Highgate Hill in London where Dick sat down and heard the famous Bow Bells of East London ring out.  ‘Dick Whittington’ is one of the few ‘home grown’ pantomimes...a classic!  Roy Hartley, a founder member of Waterloo and Crosby Theatre Company, wrote the original script which was majorly adapted for this year’s production by Nicci Henshaw (first attempt at writing scripts) and Roy...well done you two.

Bootle Town Hall was packed to the rafters with dozens of Brownies, Rainbows and plenty other children, so we knew we were in for a crazy afternoon.... we were not disappointed.

I’ve said this before about Waterloo and Crosby Theatre Company and I don’t mind saying it again - yes they do have leading men and they do have leading ladies, but the success of this ‘friendly society’ is all about ‘team work and collective togetherness’. It is tangible – you feel it as soon as you meet any of their members or any of their committee – they are such friendly folk, it is a pleasure to be their Rep... it really is! 

With a cast of over thirty is difficult to start naming individuals without doing injustice to others and as I’ve said previously this was very much a ‘team effort’, everyone giving of their best and there’s little more that you can ask. But having said that it would be remiss of me not to highlight some of my personal favourite performances........

Our leads... Sarah Henshaw who played the role of Dick Whittington and Joanne Dorritty who played Miss Alice the daughter of Baron Fitzwarren and the love of Dick’s life. Sarah opened the show with her rendition of ‘It’s My Life’ which got the pantomime off to a great start!  Sarah is blessed with a good singing voice which she made great use of throughout the pantomime; she has great stage presence and made this part her own. Joanne looked totally comfortable in her role and kept in character throughout. Again good stage presence and a good singing voice, the chemistry between the two of them was excellent. A highlight of the show for me was the duet between them both ‘A New Life’ - be proud Joanne... well done both of you!  

Every good pantomime has to have a good Dame.... “Oh no they don’t ... Oh yes they do!”... well when your Dame is hospitalised only a week before the panto opens...you really are in trouble...(Best Wishes on a speedy recovery to Jenna Watkinson ...hope you are better soon), but as I’ve said before ‘Collective Togetherness’ and in steps... Linda Hansen.  Linda’s an ‘old pro’ (“less of the old I hear her say”)....when it comes to playing the Dame... so reading from a script, whenever necessary, Linda did a great job as Mrs Pie, Baron Fitzwarren’s cook. 

From an ‘Old Pro’ to a ‘new kid on the block’.... we had a great performance from our feline friend ‘Katniss’ – Dick’s companion played by Poppie Saunders. Poppie has great stage presence and made the part her own.  Poppie is one to watch for the future...be ever so proud, young lady!

And no it is not all about the girls.... we had a great performance from David Johnson playing the role of ‘Stupid’. David had a good rapport with the audience which his role required and he seemed to grow in confidence as the panto progressed. Well done!   Then we had ‘Cecil’ played ever so well by Tommy Austin.  Tommy has natural comedic timing and produced a great character in ‘Cecil’... well done sir! 

Steve Little made a great King Rat... good stage presence...engaged with the audience very well; if I could offer one small piece of advice or constructive criticism.... the mask did make the spoken word a little difficult to hear and understand at times... it is worth slowing the speech down and emphasising each word when wearing a mask or if the face and mouth is covered.  

Our absent minded ‘Fairy’ was played really well played by Patricia Howard.  Ever forgetful, mixing up her pantomimes and causing chaos where ever and whenever she appeared... good comic timing, good stage presence, really did like her take on this role...well done Pat!

The remaining named cast members were Alex Sinclair as ‘Baron Fitzwarren’; Jason Sinclair as ‘Captain Sligh’; Joseph Ramsay as ‘Cheap’ and Emily Farrington as ‘Nasty’.  Anthony Pennington played ‘Dr. Rat’; Robin Leyland played ‘King’ and Aimee Parry the ‘Queen’... Aimee also doubled up as a principal dancer. We also had Alex Sinclair, Simon Rice and Jonathon Edwards as our ‘Ensemble’ and our ‘Principle Dancers were Caroline O’Beirne, Jake Anderson, Alice Melling, Annabelle Owens, Jessica Dearden, Matilda Dorrity, Jessica Keggin and Heidi Saunders.

Congratulations to Nicci Henshaw and her Co Directors Roy Hartley and Linda Hansen on a job well done.  To Sarah Henshaw who doubled us our lead and Choreographer... for some simple yet effective dance routines.  Congrats to Colin Wilson (Stage Manager) and his backstage crew for their efforts.  To Linda Hansen for not only being in it, helping direct it, but for also making all the wonderful costumes that were on display, which added so much to the production and finally to Sarah Henshaw and Linzi Saunders for the make-up.

Congrats also to Nathaniel Sinclair for the lighting which was simple yet effective and last but not least to SSDJ Events UK who provided us with the sound.... as I said to Nicci after the production...the sound was really good....so much of an improvement ...well done!

Thank you so much for inviting my wife and I we really did enjoy the pantomime and for your hospitality throughout.  If I could just take this opportunity on behalf of NODA and my wife and I in wishing everyone at Waterloo and Crosby Theatre Company a Happy Christmas...  we look forward to seeing you all again in 2020.

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