Dick Whittington

This production was a fabulously lavish musical extravaganza. Lovely old panto story where boy meets girl and falls in love! It was packed full of humour, great musical numbers, comic interludes and extra special effects. The opening number was colourful and full of energy so really set the pace for the evening and with Aubrey Sanderson and his musicians who are so talented at the helm a great night of good old fashioned entertainment was guaranteed. Under the expertise of stage manager Kevin Knox and his team, the scenes changed effortlessly and we were treated to some wonderful colourful cloths which just flooded the stage and were so wonderfully decorated and were excellent representations and added authenticity to the proceedings. Effective lighting plot, lots of interesting props, excellent costumes and make-up all added to the evening of entertainment.

The show was extremely well cast and everyone worked well together; the duo teams really complimented each other. The chorus were well rehearsed and movement was very good under the super choreography of ‘The Four Darcy’s’. A highlight of the show was the 3 little fairies, namely Laila Frost, Ava Hargreaves and Lee Weatherburn. In particular Ava who just beamed at the audience every time she was on stage as well as pointing her toes so perfectly. ‘Tom’ (the cat) deserves a special mention and was convincingly played by Evie Lane who both sang and danced superbly; certainly a star of the future. She had a delightful voice and her solo was wonderful; she also showed she is a talented dancer.  ‘Fairy Bowbells’ Emma Beveridge made a very pretty fairy and her words were delivered clearly and with expression. ‘King Rat’ Matty Forester really did an excellent job of being the baddy! His costume and make-up were second to none; he delivered his lines menacingly and he was extremely convincing as the wicked ‘King Rat’ especially as he is a junior member. So, a huge well done Matty!

Laura Stawarz and Hannah Bass as ‘Dick Whittington and Alice Fitzwarren’ made a lovely couple. Their costumes were excellent and they were extremely smart.  Hannah has a lovely singing voice but in this instance Laura really came into her own and sang her heart out in so many numbers; the best I have seen her. Well done Laura! Jonathan Scott as ‘Idle Jack’ once again bounded onto the stage with his usual energy and soon had the audience eating out of his hands. He is very talented and knows how to get the audience right behind him. He has natural stage presence and always works so hard to perfect every role he gets and in this case was hilarious. A new member to this line-up was Bill Shardlow playing ‘Dame Dolly Dumpling’. I believe this was his first time as dame and he played her like an experienced trouper. He was very funny and kept the pace going with his delivery of innuendos and one-liners. ‘Captain Cuttlefish’ Nicola Hastie and ‘Scupper’ Sharon Young were a superb duo and were so funny. They made the most of their characters and how Nicola kept a straight face with Sharon next to her I do not know. Nicola has now become a regular in these character parts and really has worked hard to develop her stage skills. This is the funniest I have seen Sharon her comic timing was amazing and the audience loved her she is a real asset in any show. All those who had minor roles supported the main leads with confidence in their character roles.

Members of the audience in this society are always waiting excitedly in anticipation of these pantos and they eagerly wait for curtain up! It’s lovely to hear the buzz of excitement as the house lights go down and the action begins. Well done to Spittal Variety Group for yet another fabulous evening of first class entertainment.

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