Dick Whittington, London Palladium 2017

The Palladium traditionally had some successfully inspired casting in its pantomimes, often performers who would never do a panto season in the "provinces". Hopefully this will be the case for Charlie Stemp, he might prove to be quite a revelation.
I must admit I thought the casting of Count Arthur Strong last year was very inspired , and he should have been a success. It appears he wasn't, I wonder what went wrong? He's an amazingly funny creation ..... Dame Edna was a success at Wimbledon after all .

I thought the Count was just plain awful last year. No jokes landed, awkward silence when he was on, everytime he came on, in my head I was just thinking "urgh". I get for some he is funny, but not for me and clearly those around me.

That should have been "slayed" not "slated"

Interesting comments about Mr Christmas theatremonkey.com, I haven't been to a panto for years (the last I saw was Cillas in Liverpool) , I wouldn't go alone, but I take it seriously . There are not many Jack Tripps about these days , that's for sure.

What did Jarred Christmas do , or not , as the case may be , to spoil the show?

I'm told several American performers haven't been great in panto ... Steve Gutenberg didn't get it , for one .

Oh fair. I'm sure to those who admire him he is great.

I thought Paul was fantastic In last years! I look forward to seeing him again, especially if he gets his trousers pulled down like last time!

It's no secret I'm in absolute agreement with you here Monks. People might knock it, but not only is it a possible entrance into a love of watching theatre, it's also an opportunity for many many children and young people to act, sing and dance on a professional stage. The kids in pantos are almost always from open auditions advertised through local dance and drama schools.

I think the Palladium panto last year possibly tried to shoehorn in too many Very Famous People (even though I loved most of them) all jostling for position  (Mr Havers doing it for 'real' absolutely hilariously.)

I'm afraid I can't agree about the Count though. I'd never heard of him before and found his appearances bemusing and dull. I cannot imagine anyone under the age of 10 doing anything other than catch up on adding to their bogie collection when he was on stage.

My friends saw it last year and raved. I've even looked at tickets for Dick. Jeeps it's dear isn't it? Do kids pay those full prices? OUTRAGEOUS!

Anyway I'm not getting sucked into it. Tart it up as much as you like, I hate panto and I'm not going 

It's the kids that I'm mostly worried about! It's okay for you, Mr Industry Nights! (Mischief & Showstoppers have somewhat inured me to audience interaction in the last few years.)

Altogether now:

OH NO YOU WON'T




I'll shut the door on me way out.

Let me add my thoughts on the merits of pantomimes by saying that a good panto can include many aspects of good theatre that I think all of us here respect and admire. Let me bore you with part of my review of MOTHER GOOSE at the Hackney Empire a few years ago:

I really cannot remember ever having enjoyed a show more than I did ‘Mother Goose’ this afternoon. There were tears of laughter running down my cheeks on several occasions and when that wasn’t happening my jaw was aching from grinning so much out of sheer joy and happiness. Every aspect of the production today was top class, from the sets and costumes to the special effects to the orchestra to the lighting and the sound and even the small children on stage were all brilliant. The geese flying around the auditorium at the start of the show, and the ghosties and ghoulies who filled the place at the beginning of Act II were an inspiration, and the scene where Mother Goose, in a solid gold dress, sees herself young and beautiful in a big mirror was a stunning coup de théâtre. The really strong thing about today was that everybody on stage just played their characters without worrying about doing any speciality acts, and the talent of all those people was outstanding. Clive Rowe (one of the very best dames ever) and Sharon D Clarke take some beating when it comes to full-throated singing, and Kat B and Tameka Empson are both wonderful comedy actors with a talent for physical humour. Susie McKenna (who wrote the script) played the bad witch magnificently, and the two juves (Jack and Jill played by Matt Dempsey and Abigail Rosser) couldn’t have been more appealing in real pantomime style.

The whole experience was life-enhancing and uplifting. Of course not all pantos can reach such heights but that's true of all theatrical ventures and it's why we all keep going to see shows of every kind.

Need an Aussie twang for that one Tony