Dick Whittington

Many thanks to OLSS Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society for their invitation to watch this year’s pantomime Dick Whittington, which I attended for their Saturday matinee on 2nd December 2023 at Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish Centre in St Annes. The production was well attended by people of all ages and appeared to be very well received by all, myself included – I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and the company should be proud of their yuletide offering. This was a pantomime written ‘in house’ by Leo Appleton, who also played the dame, and Rob Fearn. It was a very well written, easily followed version of the traditional story of Dick Whittington, based on the folklore surrounding the real-life Richard Whittington (c. 1354–1423) who became Lord Mayor of London and has been a favourite pantomime subject since pre-Victorian times.

Visually this was a real treat with fabulous costumes throughout the cast and some excellent use of make-up, most notably Tommy the cat and King Rat who I’m reliably informed learned via videos on the internet, with impressive results! Add to this some fantastic scenery and use of lighting with gauzes and it really was a feast for the eyes – congratulations to all involved in the technical and stage crew aspects of this production. 

It was pleasing to see the use of live music in a small venue, rather than sole reliance on backing tracks, with a small band under the direction of Angie Strickland and the balance between music and vocals was just right in both cases. Under the musical direction of Pauline Hardie, the whole cast projected well and had excellent diction so I didn’t have to work hard to follow the vocals at all. Singing was of a good standard with some fabulous moments of harmony during songs like ‘Made You Look’ and ‘Dream Maker’ which was stunning – I closed my eyes for a while to allow the harmonies to wash over me and really enjoyed them! Dick Whittington and the princess Alice Fitzwarren sang the beautiful love duet ‘Rewrite the Stars’, harmonised precisely and well-balanced throughout – a real triumph! Songs were well chosen to organically add to the storytelling rather than just being shoehorned in for the sake of it which I really appreciated.

There was also some fabulous choreography by Amy Appleton & Sarah Cosgrove for the whole cast, which all seemed confident with and more intricate dance sequences performed beautifully by a core group of dancers led by dance captain Gracie Palmer. I really enjoyed watching this and despite the limited space on stage at times, the movement was never sacrificed, with the whole cast being exactly where they should be, moving as one and allowing the featured dancers to shine through at the appropriate moments. Personal highlights were the clever daydream sequence, the lovely soft choreography in ‘That’s What Friends Are For’ and good use of levels in the ‘Rat Street’ number – very nicely done!

Phil Thomas’ direction was superb, really shining during whole cast scenes such as on board the ship and particularly those with background movement behind the main action e.g. I really appreciated the way the market square background wasn’t just static conversations and wandering between stalls etc but included cast walking on – through – off again and apparently randomly entering and exiting the scene without ever detracting from the main action. 

Maia Coffey led the cast confidently in the title role with great stage presence, as she competently acted, sang and danced her way through the show. I felt Maia had the characterisation spot on and she had great chemistry with her fellow cast members. By Maia’s side as Dick Whittington’s faithful feline companion Tommy the cat was Lyndsey Heron, who from the outset grabbed my attention and delivered a very strong, comedic performance with great characterisation as she flipped between breaking the 4th wall with side comments to the audience and jumping straight back into the onstage action. Lyndsey had all the physical acting techniques along with a superb costume and make-up to enhance the character of Tommy, and go along with her entertaining delivery of the script, providing a well-rounded performance – well done!

Pantomime villain King Rat was superbly portrayed by John Gill, who fully embodied the ‘baddie’ role in voice, posture, gait and overall characterisation and rightly deserved every boo and hiss he got! John was responsible for his own look, having learned from the internet how to apply his make-up and I feel this deserves a mention as he looked absolutely fantastic, even close up as he skulked down the aisle; a very skilfully put together look and well-crafted performance; bravo!

The comedy duo of Dame Sarah – Leo Appleton - and Idle Jack – Richie Reed - had a fun chemistry and were both fully committed to their very different characters. Richie’s pirate accent was excellent! Neither had solo singing opportunities but sang well in the group numbers. During the particular show I attended, although there was a decent sized audience who were good with their reactions to the villain, they were a very difficult audience in terms of their general energy, reactions and interactions, which meant Dame Sarah in particular had to work incredibly hard for very little response. I felt Leo tackled this as well as could be expected, at times making a joke of it, which I appreciated.

The part of the princess Alice Fitzwarren was very nicely played by Sammy Coffey who gracefully moved about the stage with a bright and confident air, providing a lovely contrast to Dick Whittington’s more bold and brash character. I felt Sammy portrayed well the range of emotions her character went through as her prospective love story unfolded.

My guest and I really enjoyed this production and I hope the company are proud of their performances as they should be because this was a pantomime to be proud of.

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