Press Tickets
Last night my family and I were treated to front row seats at this year’s Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs Panto at the Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre and it was such a fun evening! Noel Brodie was back for his 9th consecutive year on the Bournemouth Panto stage, this time as fun and frolic filled Muddles, and it has to be said, he is the star of the show when it comes to getting the audience laughing in their seats.
My kids are generally quite shy and reserved but they were giggling and taking part in the audience participation largely thanks to Noel’s infectious laugh and cheeky grin. His double act with on stage ‘mum’ Dame Dilly Donut was hysterical and hats off to Jamie Steen, who managed to keep a *mostly* straight face when Noel accidentally referred to ‘him’ rather than ‘her’ at one point in the show.
The production for this year has only just started its run, so there were a couple of these ‘slip ups’ but actually, I love those moments where you know the cast are trying not to laugh as hard as the audience when it all goes a little wrong. Prime example would be the absolutely hilarious 12 days of Christmas sketch, which is chaos personified. A three cupped bra was flung into the audience right at my mum’s feet and she had to throw it back to Dame Dilly, and then the five gold rings alternate (5 toilet rolls) were launched too and I lost it at that point, so much fun!
Meanwhile Su Pollard, in her starring role of the wicked queen, was phenomenal. I was really impressed with her singing, as well as how she portrayed such a nasty character on stage when she was such a sweetheart when I met her during the press call previously. There was a brilliant sketch involving one of her most famous roles on TV, which was great for the older members of the audience who have seen her in that (I haven’t but it was still funny, and obviously something she is still very proud and fond of in her career, which was lovely to watch).
The story is fairly similar to the version we all know and love from Disney, with a few tweaks to avoid copyright infringement (most notably the names of the seven dwarfs, which was amusing – and hats off to the seven actors who were all fantastic in their roles). The song and dance numbers were quite catchy and stuck to pop culture from the year, with lots of references to the Barbie movie. I didn’t find the songs as toe tapping as I have done in previous years, but it was still a great mix of music suitable for all ages, and succeeded in weaving the storyline together.
The actors playing the lead character and her Prince had some good on stage chemistry, and you found yourself rooting for them to get their happy ever after, which is always good! The only slight disappointment was the lack of one of our favourite sketches, the ‘ghost bench’, which I think has featured in every show for the past eight years and always has us in stitches as a family. Getting to shout out “It’s behind you” is what Panto is all about so I must admit, we were a little sad it wasn’t in there, although the 12 days of Christmas sketch was very fun in its place.
Ultimately, we all had a fantastic night, rounded off with some yummy ice creams during the interval. It is certainly a fun night for all the family (plenty of adult jokes which, although quite risqué, sailed right over the kids’ heads). There were also lots of references to Bournemouth and the surrounding areas within the jokes, which always makes you smile as an audience.
I would definitely recommend a visit during December, if you are Panto fans (as I say, Noel is worth the visit just for himself). The show is on until 31st December and I would highly recommend the few days prior to Christmas (which is when we usually go as a family) as it is great to get you in the festive spirit, or in that period between Christmas and New Year when everything feels a bit flat and you are unsure of what day it is, the perfect post-present pick me up!
Tickets can be purchased from the website or at the box office in the Pavilion. If you can get front row seats for any showings, I would definitely recommend. We hadn’t sat in the front before and it does make you feel special as the cast make eye contact and you may get things thrown at you (be warned, we also got wet when the water guns came out).
We were gifted tickets to the pantomime, however all words are my own. Images from the production were kindly provided for use in this post by the Pavilion.
