2nd January 2020
Well, 2020 certainly started with a bang for those people
lucky enough to spend an afternoon at the Theatre Royal, St Helens. Having watched previous pantomimes at the
theatre over the years, I was expecting the same high standard. For me, it is easy to keep churning out the
pantomimes without updating or tweaking but St Helens have certainly not rested
on the standard from previous years. In fact,
this was by far the best one! Superbly
written by resident dame Si Foster, who manged to keep all the old favourite
jokes and routines in. He was also
clever enough in his writing to include local references and opportunities for
it to go wrong, which is very important for any pantomime.
Robin Windsor was the big draw and played the main part of
Aladdin. Of course, we knew he could
dance from his ‘Strictly’ days but, to my surprise, he can offer much more than
this. He was a perfect for his ‘comedy’ partner Scott Gallagher. I had never seen Scott perform before and, for
me, he was one of the best I’ve seen in this role. He had great comic timing and was so into his
role that he even forgot one or two lines! I have to admit, I do like to see
the performers trying to make each other laugh as this keeps the performances
fresh. Scott did very well with the four
young girls during the ‘Floss’ routine and thought of some great lines on the
spot.
Speaking of making others laugh on stage, I have to say the
actor playing the police officer was terrific and perfect for the role. He had a very good singing voice and did a
great ‘Sing Off’ with Phillip McGuinness.
The actors name I don’t recall as not on the poster but I have to say he
was superb and a joy to watch. He had a
real connection with the audience, which can be difficult with an afternoon
show. Jenna O’Hara as the ‘Slave of the ring’ and Kai Jolley as ‘Genie’ gave
very good performances too.
No pantomime can be great without a great ‘baddie’ and we
certainly had that with Phillip McGuinness.
He brings a physicality to the role that others don’t simply have. His mannerisms are superb and the audience loved
to boo him especially when he was trying to ‘woo’ the Princess, Olivia
Sloyan. In all my time watching pantomimes,
I have never seen a more perfect princess.
She is beautifully stunning and a genuine triple threat – Dancing, singing
and acting! What I enjoyed the most in
her performance was the laughing she did on stage at other actors.
And finally, a massive well done to the support cast of
singers, dancers and technical staff. I genuinely
think that this theatre keeps giving audiences great pantomimes and this is
certainly the best yet! There is still
time to go and see it and a must if you love live theatre.
