Dick Whittington

Dick Whittington

Chrysanthemums Pantomimes

10/1/25

As we walked up to The Floral Pavillion New Brighton on a bitterly cold January evening, there was the unmissable excitement you feel before a Chrysanthemums annual pantomime. The mood was already set, the anticipation was almost tangible, the chatter of excitement for what was to come.

As with all pantomimes, Dick Whittington had the task of making the audience laugh out loud. The comedy worked well, combining old-school jokes, puns and hilarious slapstick with tear-streaming innuendo, regional jibes and political references.  The fourth wall went completely out of the window, with constant comic banter between cast and audience. The children and adults alike enjoyed building a rapport with the cast joining in with song and dance routines and the inevitable, “IT’S BEHIND YOU!!!!

Dick Whittington has everything a quality pantomime should, great singing, dancing, audience participation, a quick-witted Dame, dramatic villain, lashings of innuendo and a talented array of young stars. Despite not being the most popular of panto’s compared to more well-known fairy tales, writers/directors Julie Delaney & Graham Leigh and the team have an entertaining spectacle for all the family. Once again Norman Scott took the Musical Director baton, together with Chris Larkin & Jonathan Rowland providing live musical support to this talented cast. Scenic design is Jed Flowerday territory, assisted by Sherry Green and Phil Rochford. The set/scenes are amazing and the costumes Sheila Weaver and Thelma Warrington are absolutely stunning, the standard is so high you have to remind yourself that this is an 'amateur' dramatic production.

So much hard work has gone into this show, and so much fun was clearly being had by performers as well as audience. We experienced a shipwreck, underwater adventures and, yes, Dick Whittington’s (Laura Jackson) talking, singing, and dancing cat Tommy (Lily Nugent) who was astonishing, her performance was mind-blowing. A junior champion gymnast her well-choreographed dance pieces as well as her comic timing are greeted with cheers and applause from an admiring audience. One to watch for the future.

The pantomime opened with a stage full of over fifty beautifully costumed beaming young people, ranging from four years to fourteen years, the Buds, the Posies, the Petals, the Blossoms and last but not lest the Blooms. They are all superb, the audience erupted into cheers, in encouragement for their daughters, sons. grandchildren and siblings. Now we all know the story of Dick Whittington, three times the Lord Mayor of London etc, but this is the Chrysanthemums, anything could happen. Enter the Queen Rat, the ultimate pantomime villain, (Leanne Burgess) evil personified, she rules the rat population and plans to overrun the town. Leanne has stage presence is spades the audience immediately, hiss and boo, and that’s the adults, a great performance Leanne. In every pantomime we have to have opposition to evil, enter Fairy Bowbell (Maria Larkin) who tirelessly disrupts Queen Rats plans. The town Cryer (Dave Alcock) ringing his bell informs the town of the infestation of rats, Alderman Fitzwarren (Phil Gilroy) realises ratcatchers need to be summoned, to restore order to his town, with the support of his daughter Alice (Jessica Nixon). Dick Whittington (Laura Jackson) arrives in the town with his wonderful cat Tommy (as previously mentioned Lily Nugent) A mention here for Tommy's understudy Ella Spilsbury who I did not see perform. Falling instantly in love with Alice, her father employs young Whittington at her request. We meet Lucy (Charlie Link) and John Sprung-Murphy (Idle Jack) great camaraderie here very talented pair.  Where is the pantomime Dame you may ask! Pantomime Dames have huge over-the-top hairstyles, clownish makeup and brightly-coloured outrageous, clothing, we have Sarah Suet (Aaron Hayes)

This is Aaron’s second Pantomime for Chrysanthemums, I had the pleasure of reviewing last year’s pantomime Aladdin, he has bedded in nicely to Chrysanthemums . Great comic timing, facial expressions, traditional panto- banter made him hugely entertaining to watch. Aaron made full use of the third wall, the cookery scene with Idle Jack, who kept falling asleep was a joy to watch. Two really talented performers at their best, the audience loved them. Back to the story, the ratcatchers Snatchit & Grabbitt, (Jed Flowerday & Graham Leigh) are Chrysanthemums favourite duo, they were hilarious. These two are a tour-de-force, they have everything pantomime characters should have, their relationship with the audience via the third wall was exceptional. Flying around above the stage the children in the audience were enthralled, showing their appreciation with whoops of excitement:  priceless.

The highlight scene for me was the shipwreck, what a hoot. The sequence with the mops was splendid, so pantomime!!  Dick was reunited with Alice after being incarcerated with his guard (Jacob Quiick) falsely accused of theft. Finding themselves marooned on a remote island they encounter The King of the Jungle (Stevie Rooke) what a costume, magnificent.

Now as we know a happy ending is compulsory in Pantomime. Queen Rat slayed and all rats banished.  Dick married Alice, after he had amassed a fortune in trade. Lucy & Idle Jack together. All the town went to the wedding, a happy ending to a happy pantomime.  We all know that a panto is not just the principal players, the full ensemble was wonderful, their happy smiling faces were a joy to see, that is what the Chrysanthemums is all about.

Thank you so much for inviting me I loved seeing you all, as always ' See you next Year'

 

Joanne Rymer

NODA

District 4

 

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.