The Grinch

THE GRINCH is a parody of the character created by Dr Seuss in panto form. Christmas is under threat in Whoville as The Grinch threatens to ruin it with various schemes including being a ‘bad’ Santa and turning Charlie Chuckle into a baddie.  The Grinch wasn’t always bad.  Will the innocence of a young girl inspire him to redeem himself and save Christmas for Whoville?  We spent a couple of hours in an enjoyable way to discover the answer.

The scenery, set and properties were all excellent. The set had been cleverly designed to maximise the available space and depicted the various locations: Whoville, the mountainside, the Mayor’s Mansion and Santa’s Workshop where the fireplace was particularly impressive.  There were many props and some of the larger ones were inventive and generated laughs; the gift-wrapping machine was one and snowmobile used for pizza delivery – although seen only briefly – is an example of the hard work that went into this production.

The costumes were brilliant: Nora Good had vibrant dresses and equally colourful wigs!   There were numerous costumes for the villagers, elves in Santa’s workshop, the Snow Queen looked suitably icy in her flowing dress and of course Santa’s suit was perfect.   But, the Grinch’s total look deserves special mention – top to toe in Green and very effective.  All the hairstyles and make up complemented the various costumes.

The sound was excellent with music provided by the live band of three musicians.   Voices were clear and in time with the music.    The use of pyrotechnics enhanced the production.   There was great use of music weaving songs to match the action, such as ‘I want it all’, ‘I’m still standing’ and ‘Cold as Ice’.  

The hall was packed and there was a lot of fun to be had throughout the entire evening. We knew we were in for a good time as soon as the action opened with a rendition of ‘Holly Jolly Christmas’   Under the Direction of Jenna Clark and musical direction of Frank Bell, this panto had all the ingredients necessary to entertain the audience to the highest level.    There was a good, solid story, some special effects and very strong performances not least from Rob Bailey who completely embodied the persona of The Grinch, transitioning from grumpy Grinch to slightly more mellow Grinch towards the end.   His commanding and completely convincing portrayal was central to the flow of the panto.    Everyone was totally involved: Paul Robinson as Nora Good was humorous and engaging and Alice Naseby played the Spirit of Christmas with humour and whimsy.    Visually spectacular musical numbers and humour and occasional local references and corny jokes, this was panto at its finest and most enjoyable. Well done ODS. 

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