Pinocchio

Alnwick Theatre Club are coming to the end of their 75-year celebrations and they were out to demonstrate to their audience that this society have not lost any of their enthusiasm for amateur dramatics.

Added to the 75-year publicity was the announcement that one of their long serving members and a famous local face Jimmy Dodds would perform his final performance as Pantomime Dame, a role he has held on and off for almost 30 years. Jimmy will retire from the stage but no one can doubt that he has delighted in playing the role of Dame. Jimmy leaves the Club in safe hands as a new generation take to the stage.  Welcome to those new members and welcome into the Director’s role Matthew Slack. Thank you, Jimmy, for the huge contribution you have made to amateur dramatics in Alnwick.

The script was crafted by Sophie Towers the granddaughter of Ken Lewis – one of the founder members of Alnwick Theatre Club and also someone who took to the stage as a Pantomime Dame. All in all, many fond memories and plenty of nostalgia.

Acts one and two were lengthy, one hour 15 minutes for each. This was the first night and the cast needed to pick up pace of delivery particularly when pantomime audiences are young and become restless. Something to reflect on for future productions.

On entering the Playhouse, the voices of Julio (Archie Braid) and Geordio (Harrison Skene) rang out encouraging the audience to buy programmes. Their antics off stage continued on stage where they acted out their role as pantomime fools.

Pinocchio is a pantomime for principal parts with chorus and dancers. It is a traditional panto, funny and should be fast paced but with a message hidden in the humour for kids to be aware of stranger danger.

Helen Gee Graham was Pinocchio and acted out a great sense of wonder. She spoke up well (definitely not with an Italian accent), sang strongly and her solo Have a Nice Day was sung with a smile of warmth and innocence. She moved around the stage convincingly as a wooden boy before becoming a real boy, distinctly.

The strongest musical performance of the show has to be attributed to Barbina Pasta (Jimmy Dodds) and Gapetto (Peter Biggers). They sang Save Your Love for Me as a duet with voices that filled the theatre. They sang with feeling and achieved a moving duet that brought a tear to the eye. Well done to both of you.

Gepetto,the Toy Maker (Peter Biggers). Played the character as a mature player – Pinocchio’s father who creates the puppet Pinocchio. He wishes that Pinocchio was a real boy, in fact the son he never had but magic happens in pantomime. Geppetto’s demeaner on stage aptly portrayed his father role

Jiminy Cricket (James Mawer) plays Pinocchio’s conscience. He executed his happy go lucky nature with confidence and engaged with the audience getting them to call  “can you hit it Jimmy Cricket” when appearing on stage.

From the first song “Tonight’s going to be a Good Night” to the last ensemble, “The Walk of Life” the audience clapped and clearly appreciated the musical entertainment, both musical choices being familiar to the audience.

Your dancers from the Alnwick Academy of Dance were a delight to watch as they were so well rehearsed and dressed in such colourful costumes. A special thank you to these young people of amateur theatre for the commitment and effort they put into their performance.

Mention also must go to Stromboli (Peter Lewis) the villain of the pantomime. He was “a nice” villain and this vetoed the audience somewhat. The boos and hisses were more muted than in traditional pantomimes. He was just too warm to get angry with however Stromboli’s circus opened the second act and this was a was lively act with the audience clapping especially when the dancers performed the cancan, a high energy physically demanding dance. Well done to Stromboli and his circus performers. I also enjoyed the improvisation of the animals in the circus.

A final thanks to the Blue Rinse Fairy (Stella Spence) who spoke with kindness and as in all pantomimes made all come well in the end.

Alnwick Theatre Club have a strong and dedicated team who work back stage to ensure all performances are a success. Your efforts do not go unnoticed. The stage set, lighting costumes and make up all come together to make staging a pantomime successful. A big thanks to you all back stage.

Thank you for the invitation to see your pantomime. I look forward to next year.

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