Pinocchio The Pantomime

When you go to see a Melodramatics panto you know you are in for a bit of treat and there is nothing better with a pantomime than to see a totally home grown original.  The creative team of Rowan Alfred, Huw Nadin and Peta Riley have done it again, this time taking the basic story of Pinocchio and very much putting their own spin on it.  Its first and foremost a great choice as it’s not a story often adapted for panto, in fact in all my years of seeing shows on behalf of NODA I think I’ve only seen it done once before.  So seated in the front row and surrounded by several dozen scouts as inevitable fodder for the dame we settled back to see what they had created, and I have to say it was well worth waiting for.

The set designed by Director and Stage Manager RaeAnna Hammerbacker and constructed by Neill Pleasants, David Alexander, Bill Wetzel Jr, Ken Smith, Tom Kirkbride and RaeAnna Hammerbacker was particularly clever, consisted of flats boarded with a blue strip with yellow circles and the rest of flats painted with stars. with a back wall lit to provide background to whatever scene was being projected, most noticeably blue for when they were inside the whale. It certainly did the job well giving all the right atmospheric effects and leading to very slick scene changes. It created a very rich period effect that was reminiscent of music hall and gave us a real old fashioned circus atmosphere.  Clever!

Lighting by Matt Oram certainly was very professionally done and used every modern lighting trick in the book. It was also cued to perfection and the casting of The Cricket as a spot of light (voiced by Peta Riley) was particularly inventive and deftly done. I was in the front row so could see it on the stage perfectly, but whether or not the effect worked as well for those seated further back with this being flat seating I do have to wonder? The opening scene of The Coachman with ground level mist rolling off the front of the stage was particularly eerily done and highlighted by the clever lighting effects. Followspot operators Casey Webb and Elizabeth Marshall did a great job.

Sound by Dan Cooper was pitched very well and every word crystal clear, but one or two of those pesky face mics did fail on a couple of occasions which broke up the singing quite badly at one point, which was unfortunate to what was otherwise excellent sound quality.

Costumes, well sourced by Penny Lusha, Peta Riley, Kathryn Duncan and RaeAnna Hammerbacker added the colour and glamour to the show and of course the various attire worn by the dame added the comedy. Props by Pippa Nash, Sue Dixon and Penny Lusha added the finishing touches.

The music and lyrics for this show was entirely written by the talented Musical Director, Rowan Alfred and Peta Riley and the lyrics by this creative team was incredibly well thought out, extremely catchy and highly amusing. All accompanied by Rowan Alfred on Piano, Beth Warburton on Cell, Ian Tipping on Bass Guitar and Emmeline Lyster on Vocals.  The perfect double entendre number of’ I’ve got Wood’ were genius level and will live long in the memory. Loved it!

Choreography by Emma Driscoll and RaeAnna Hammerbacker gave us some slick routines and certainly chased this show along at a fast pace.

There was some great characterisation by this enthusiastic cast. Tom Kirkbride as the eerie seven-foot Coachman, dragged his foot across the stage in a menacing manner setting the tone for the evil side of things. Kevin Wallace as the sad toy maker Gepetto was emotionally excellent and Emily Plattern as the blue fairy appeared light footed and majestic at all the appropriate moments to get Pinocchio out of his various predicaments with a deft touch.

The mischievous Pinocchio played by Tom Monkhouse suited the part perfectly, and as for his makeup by RaeAnna Hammerbacker that was very effective with wood grain and the nose extensions which worked very well indeed, although the way it was all fixed looked slightly uncomfortable if not painful, but the characterisation itself was superb.

Wolfie Hammerbacker as our Dame, Heldda Drippywick (brilliant name!!), complete with sparkly beard and makeup by Caro Watson was well up for the part playing it to the hilt with all the usual saucy repartee and interaction with the audience required of the part but eventually abandoning me for Gepetto in the final scene. Phew!!

My outstanding performance however has to go to Emma Driscoll as her cheeky chappie son with the wonderful name of Lampwick Drippywick. Played with a full on Geordie accent her facial expressions and energy of delivery were absolutely superb.

Our baddies, again with some wonderful names, plotting to use Pinocchio as a circus attraction were, Anne-Marie King as the evil Ringmaster, Cleaver, with henchmen Caroline Watson as Sylvester Sly Dittin and Huw Nadin complete with guttural Scottish accent as Neuter McGooch .

Other parts were Anna Crompton as Gepetto’s wife/Pleasure boy, Kat Aprigliano as Villager/Business Man/Pleasure Boys and the Village/Bully Pleasure Boys played by, Katie Kitson, Kathryn Duncan, Karen Rawlins and Kim Ulmer.

This show was exactly what you have come to expect from Melodramatics, top class, high energy, original and very amusing entertainment.  It was opening night I saw the show, so it hadn’t fully settled down, but even the  one or two errors that crept in all added to the gaiety, such as the hand that came round the flat to put the key back the actor had accidentally taken off stage, or the nose not quite being long enough to knock it off the wall from inside the cage. But all in all we left the theatre with big smiles having had a lot of fun watching this show, Well done to Director RaeAnna Hammerbacker and the creative team behind this excellent production. Great fun!

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