Jack and the Beanstalk

According to the programme, it was in 1995 that I first appeared in my very first pantomime. At the enthusiastic age of 15, I fell in love with all things panto whilst playing Little John in Robin Hood, and the Babes in the Wood 29 years ago. I'm so pleased The Star Hall hasn't really changed much in that time. There's a charm about the place that you could never replace.

Jack and the Beanstalk was presented to us this year, with June Johnson directing her first pantomime. In true pantomime fashion, we were introduced to our fairy first - Melissa Morse played Edena the Eco Fairy who was bright, bubbly and projected well. Her arch-nemesis, Slimeball, was played by Thomas York. Thomas was evil incarnate and had the small audience in the palm of his hand. 

After our first company number, we met Princess Jill, perfectly played by Jasmine Barker. Jasmine played one of my favourite characters of the night. She has a lovely singing voice, a good stage presence and would make a wonderful Disney princess. Her love interest, Jack Trott, the title character was played by Frankie Cox. Frankie was obviously quite new at playing the principal boy, but she has potential. She sang well and had a good spark with the princess. I'd perhaps advise her to try and not let her friend in the audience distract her while performing. It's an amazing feeling to have your friends come and watch you in an important role but remember there is a whole audience! However, with some time, research, and practice, I could see her making a good principal boy. 

Reece McCormack-Morgan played Dame Trot. This was Reece's first time as a Dame, and he did a really good job. He had some great come backs for audience shout outs and held himself well. I'm looking forward to seeing his panto dame mature. Honey Gallon played our fool for the evening, Simple Simon. I thought Honey did a great job of the part, despite her youth. She delivered her lines confidently and reacted with the audience well. If i had any advice for her progression, I'd say to try not to throw away your punch lines. Sometimes you'd set a joke up, but then rush the punch line so it was difficult to hear and understand. Other than that, keep at it, you'll be great in panto!

We had lots of other characters who were all very enjoyable - King Bertram (Debbie Tasker), Trumpet (Grace McCormack-Morgan), Giant Blunderbore (Braydon Curling) and Sarge (Charlene Clarke) and her cockroaches. I must give a special mention to Daisy the Cow who was played by Tracey Bark and Pennie Tobin. The cow seems to get forgotten a lot but is an integral part of panto and difficult to play! Well done girls!
The chorus was small this year, but they still sang well. The kids chorus, as always, melted the audiences heart. The choreography was suitable for the size of stage and cast, but I felt it may have been a little under-rehearsed. Remember, if you’re facing the side of the stage, you should still look out to the audience. Also remember to smile and react to what’s going on on stage. The chorus is so important to a good pantomime, they draw the audience in and help them understand the story and plot, so it's important to stay engaged when on stage.

The scenery seemed lacking a little bit this year, I felt that previous years have been more detailed and colourful. Having said that, I liked the addition of G. Swann's shop in the village scene. He was a stalwart of Finedon who was recently lost, and he will be missed. I did note was that the programme warns of pyrotechnics and loud bangs, but there weren't any. There was also a notice of strobe lighting in the foyer, but the strobes didn't seem to work.

The music was good, and I enjoyed the selection of numbers. I felt the band was missing some bass though. Maybe a thought for next year. The costumes were bright and colourful and were suited to the production, although I wasn't sure how Jack managed to change costumes whilst climbing a beanstalk! I normally enjoy Ben Crocker scripts, but I felt that this one lacked some traditional panto elements and jokes. There weren't many local references, which Finedon Panto usually does well. The programme was nicely designed, but unfortunately, I can't enter it into the NODA programme competition as it's missing the relevant information - details of the competition can be found here:

https://www.noda.org.uk/_assets/ckfinder_library/files/PosterComp/Programme%20and%20Poster%20Criteria%2022-24_30680.pdf

Overall, there was some awesome talent on stage that should be honed and moulded into future panto superstars. Keep at it F.C.S.S.E.S - 133 years of Pantomime is one heck of an achievement!

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