Press Tickets
Last night we were invited along to the press launch for Jack and the Beanstalk at Bournemouth Pavilion, along with some of my lovely blogger friends, and it was a fantastic night! It was so nice to spend some time chatting away and catching up, as well as utilising the props and enjoying the yummy cupcakes and complimentary drinks on offer in the private bar area before the show started. My children were really pleased with the activities like writing a wish on a leaf, as well as the masks that they had fun trying on for a photo! It was a really fun and relaxed way to start the evening.
Onto the show itself! We have been going to the Bournemouth Pavilion Pantomime for over a decade now and Noel Brodie has us coming back every time! He is absolutely hilarious and his one-liners really do make the show each year. His fellow cast this year were brilliant in working with him to bring plenty of comedy to the show. I did feel in some places it was a little clunky, but I have put that down to teething issues and I am sure will be ironed out within a couple of shows.
There was the right mix, I felt, of innuendo for the adults in the audience (laugh out loud moments when a birthday shout out was for a lady aged 69…) and pop culture references for the younger members of the audience – my eight year old absolutely loved the mention of Skibidi Toilet, for example. They managed to fit in several popular songs from the year, including a number from Wicked (What is this Feeling), which my daughter and I loved (although it was difficult not to sing along), in a natural way that didn’t feel forced!
The set was bright, bold and captivating, the costumes fun and vibrant (you’ve got to love the many outfits and wigs of Dame Trott. The storyline, although slightly patchy in places, was enough to carry the show and keep the audience interested. I would say that we probably preferred the second act to the first, as it felt a little livelier. The addition of the 3D glasses was fantastic, everybody enjoyed the parts where these were needed, including a modern upgrade on the classic bench/ghost bit that everybody knows and loves from the Panto.
My children, aged 14, 12 and 8, all enjoyed the pantomime, and it was lovely to spend time together as a family. My eight year old was in his element, shouting out and really getting involved with the parts that encourage audience participation. We were all impressed with the interactive elements of the show, as well as the 3D glasses, some of the cast would run down the aisles and we jumped out of our skin at the start when one of Fleshcreep’s henchmen said boo behind my back! There was also a part where the audience got wet (we weren’t sure how this was done, but it was very funny)!
We left at the end of the night with smiles on our faces, having enjoyed a fun show with plenty of laughs. I think that younger audience members could potentially be a little scared in places (not an issue with my older children) as the 3D scenes including ghosts and spiders coming towards your face, but this could easily be remedied by removing the glasses if required.
I would recommend a visit to see Jack and the Beanstalk at Bournemouth Pavilion this Christmas. It’s running until 5th January 2025, so you have plenty of time to catch a showing! Tickets are available from the Bournemouth Pavilion website.
We were gifted tickets to the press launch of the pantomime, however all words are my own.
