Jack and The Amazing Multicoloured Beanstalk

I was pleased to be able to accept Newport Pantomime Society’s invitation on behalf of Dianne to watch their junior section perform a twist on the traditional ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ pantomime.  It was performed by a cast made up of children and teenagers.

In the title role of Jack, Megan Norris gave a strong performance.  She displayed strong vocals in the musical numbers and a good stage presence.

Seren Nash-Langley did a good job as the princess, rescued by Jack.  She sang really well in ‘Holding Out For A Hero’.

The roles of Lizzie (Jack’s sister) and her boyfriend, Zak, were played by Bethany Bassett and Ava O’Driscoll.  The pair worked well together and sang nicely in the musical numbers.

Katie Whittaker and Jac Newman formed a lovely partnership as Jack’s Mother and Grandfather.  They held their characters throughout the performance and I really enjoyed their musical number, ‘Photograph’.

Hannah Jenkins and Arthur Newman did well in their cameo roles of Sorceress and Postman.

No pantomime would be complete without at least one villain.  This pantomime had three!  The henchmen, Kutt and Thrusst were played by Ayda Rawle-Jones and Sam Newman.  They were funny and worked well together as well as alongside their boss, Baron Smug, played by Zac Chape. 

Zac gave a terrific performance as the Baron.  He really hammed it up to the audience and had a fantastic character.  Well played!

The pivotal roles of the narrators were played by Martha Adams and Millie Burridge.  I thought they were superb.  They sang well and delivered all their lines with excellent diction to move the story along at pace.  Well done girls!

The rest of the ensemble gave great support to the principal cast with good energy and vocals.

I must congratulate the company on giving members of the cast free rein to come up with the choreography for the production.  It was well thought-out and well performed by everyone.

Lighting and Sound worked well for the production and the costumes were colourful and suitable for the cast.  The set was well-made and I thought that the growing of the beanstalk was very impressive.  Well done!

It was a real pleasure to read the programme and see what a family affair this production was, and indeed this society is.  Thank you for your invitation and for an entertaining afternoon on what was a very wet and cold day!    

The views in this report are solely of the author.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.