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Post by Mark on Dec 15, 2021 9:47:55 GMT
Brilliant as always, Julian in particular holds the show together so well. Gary Wilmot brought the house down with his Underground song. Also loved Donny - he was really getting into it. Tiller Girls very underused, as were Jack and Sophie.
Time to retire Paul Zerdin - laboured old jokes and the fake audience participation fooled nobody - they were reacting to it before he'd even spoke. Pretty much identical to his previous routines.
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Post by callum on Dec 15, 2021 21:38:38 GMT
Received an email inviting me to book - don’t think I’ve ever had one before in what you’d think would be peak season?
I went in 2017, 18 & 19 but would be reluctant to book again until a bit of a refresh in the cast. Keep Julian (and maybe a Nigel cameo) but probably time for a total overhaul for Jack and the Beanstalk next year with a high profile Dame?
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Post by Figaro on Dec 16, 2021 18:39:53 GMT
It was 2 hours 30 a few days ago - maybe they had cut something out?
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Post by alece10 on Dec 16, 2021 19:35:01 GMT
Last year it was 2 hours which I think is a good length.
I believe in previous years it was over 3 hours which is a bit long.
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Post by David J on Dec 16, 2021 22:26:58 GMT
Saw this tonight. Just above 2 hours long
It was okay. I wouldn’t say this is a case of the emperor’s new clothes, but the lack of a plot, no matter how slim, did expose the rehashed acts by the same old cast
The whole theatre wasn’t roaring with laughter like the previous times I’ve been
Goldilocks certainly had more variety
Enjoyed Julian clary as ever
Donny Osmond. Great. Though i don’t listen to his songs so they didn’t leave an impression on me
Disappointed that Jac Yarrow didn’t join him singing Any Dream Will Do
Favourite was the twelve days of Christmas and the mess ups
Paul Zerdin certainly needs to move on. His acts are certainly the most tired. The masks during the audience members bit stopped working at times. Surely that wasn’t part of the act?
Won’t go again until they get some new entertainers/comedians to replace some of the regulars
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2021 13:55:02 GMT
I had tickets for Mum and I to go to Pantoland this evening, but given the current situation, asked for a credit note and they sent it to me in minutes, without question.
Given that mum is 80, i was going to go by train to get her, bring her into town for the show, take her back home and then come back to my place after that. Seeing as she is coming to mine at the weekend and staying for Christmas, we didnt think it was worth the risk.
The credit note is valid until 9th Jan, when Pantoland closes. We might book for the 26th or 27th because she will already be here in London or leave it until the New Year. I'm thinking the New Year, because if they do decide into another lock down, I'll be able to get a refund instead of a credit note!
LW Theatres have always been super helpful exchanging tickets for Covid reasons.
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Post by danb on Dec 19, 2021 19:50:43 GMT
They most certainly have. So impressed with the human beings on their phone lines/email etc. They seem to actually care about theatre.
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Post by drowseychap on Dec 23, 2021 2:25:31 GMT
Just saw today tix doing tickets for £15 …. Is this a good offer for the seats allocated does anyone know of any other deals ? Day seats rush etc 👍🤔😊
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Post by max on Dec 23, 2021 3:10:11 GMT
Just saw today tix doing tickets for £15 …. Is this a good offer for the seats allocated does anyone know of any other deals ? Day seats rush etc 👍🤔😊 All good I should think. Some of the £15 seats on offer are in the Stalls (back stalls mainly) or good Royal Circle. But 5th Jan matinee (for example) has row G of the Stalls - which is a mega bargain. I didn't look at all days, but a quick spot check threw up good results. |
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Post by fiyero on Dec 23, 2021 10:12:36 GMT
Just saw today tix doing tickets for £15 …. Is this a good offer for the seats allocated does anyone know of any other deals ? Day seats rush etc 👍🤔😊 I got row Q of the stalls which looking at TheatreMonkey was £89.50 originally! |
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Post by alece10 on Dec 23, 2021 11:23:39 GMT
Just saw today tix doing tickets for £15 …. Is this a good offer for the seats allocated does anyone know of any other deals ? Day seats rush etc 👍🤔😊 I got row Q of the stalls which looking at TheatreMonkey was £89.50 originally! Don't rub it in 😀 I'm in the row in front on NYE and paid £92. |
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Post by fiyero on Dec 23, 2021 11:34:04 GMT
I got row Q of the stalls which looking at TheatreMonkey was £89.50 originally! Don't rub it in 😀 I'm in the row in front on NYE and paid £92. It all evens out. I paid top whack for The Windsors before the discounts flooded out. I loved it but would have loved it just as much at 1/4 the price! |
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Post by FrontroverPaul on Dec 23, 2021 13:07:38 GMT
I got row Q of the stalls which looking at TheatreMonkey was £89.50 originally! Don't rub it in 😀 I'm in the row in front on NYE and paid £92. We paid about the same last Wednesday. I always book two centre front row stalls seats as soon as the Palladium panto goes on sale. A generation ago I would have considered Donny Osmond a bit naff, but after seeing him in Pantoland I'm now a firm fan - as is my 23 year old son who'd barely heard of Donny. What an entertainer! he totally steals the show. Hope you will also consider your money well spent. I certainly did. Going again in January if it survives, thanks to Lottery freebies. |
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Post by alece10 on Dec 23, 2021 15:25:16 GMT
Don't rub it in 😀 I'm in the row in front on NYE and paid £92. We paid about the same last Wednesday. I always book two centre front row stalls seats as soon as the Palladium panto goes on sale. A generation ago I would have considered Donny Osmond a bit naff, but after seeing him in Pantoland I'm now a firm fan - as is my 23 year old son who'd barely heard of Donny. What an entertainer! he totally steals the show. Hope you will also consider your money well spent. I certainly did. Going again in January if it survives, thanks to Lottery freebies. Well I've had plenty of bargains before so I don't mind paying full price especially when I know I'm going to enjoy it. I was lucky enough last December to catch one of the 6 only performances of this panto before they were closed down and loved it. This year I've the added bonus of Donny who is of my era so will be great to actually see him. |
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Post by fiyero on Dec 23, 2021 16:34:25 GMT
We paid about the same last Wednesday. I always book two centre front row stalls seats as soon as the Palladium panto goes on sale. A generation ago I would have considered Donny Osmond a bit naff, but after seeing him in Pantoland I'm now a firm fan - as is my 23 year old son who'd barely heard of Donny. What an entertainer! he totally steals the show. Hope you will also consider your money well spent. I certainly did. Going again in January if it survives, thanks to Lottery freebies. Well I've had plenty of bargains before so I don't mind paying full price especially when I know I'm going to enjoy it. I was lucky enough last December to catch one of the 6 only performances of this panto before they were closed down and loved it. This year I've the added bonus of Donny who is of my era so will be great to actually see him. I was lucky enough to go last year (and had my original ticket not been cancelled I wouldn't have as I booked an earlier date when it was!). Donny puts on a great show, I don't think I'd have gone out of my way to see him live otherwise so glad I got this chance. |
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Post by sfsusan on Dec 24, 2021 14:30:07 GMT
A generation ago I would have considered Donny Osmond a bit naff, but after seeing him in Pantoland I'm now a firm fan - as is my 23 year old son who'd barely heard of Donny. What an entertainer! he totally steals the show. I was impressed how well he handled being the butt of some of the jokes. His duet with Sam was really fun, but {Spoiler}{Spoiler - click to view}does he always 'accidentally' turn Sam off? It looked spontaneous (and Donny kept glancing at Paul Zerdin off-stage), but I've been known to fall for scripted spontaneity before. And the flying carpet was worth the price of admission. But I agree with an earlier comment that some of the acts are getting a little worn. And the performers didn't seem to sparkle as much as in previous pantos (this was my 3rd or 4th at the Palladium). I could have done with less of the young lovers and more of the fire dancers. I went last night and saw very few children in the audience. Mask-wearing was about 75%, particularly after the reminder placards were paraded down the aisles. The show started shortly after 7:30 and I was out and in a taxi by 9:55. |
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Post by FrontroverPaul on Dec 24, 2021 15:02:55 GMT
That (spoiler) incident certainly happened when I saw it last week.
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Post by fiyero on Dec 24, 2021 16:25:13 GMT
That (spoiler) incident certainly happened when I saw it last week. And the 2 times I saw it. Such bad luck |
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Post by sprampster on Dec 24, 2021 17:03:45 GMT
Saw the show for the second time this afternoon and perfect for Christmas Eve ! Unfortunately no flying carpet ! The song was there but zero effect just Sophie belting it out !
Does anyone know was that song written specifically for the show ? Or is it from somewhere else ??
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Post by sfsusan on Dec 24, 2021 20:34:53 GMT
That (spoiler) incident certainly happened when I saw it last week. I thought that was perhaps the case. I'm a sucker for those moments. (I got fooled with the 'spontaneous' banter between Robert Lindsay and Sutton Foster in 'Anything Goes', too. Oh, and also between Les Dennis and Michael Ball in 'Hairspray', come to think of it.) I think it's watching the performers appearing to connect as people rather than characters or actors that appeals to me. I enjoy watching musicians interact for the same reason... it looks like they're doing it for their own enjoyment, not that of the audience. |
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Post by danielwhit on Dec 25, 2021 0:24:30 GMT
That (spoiler) incident certainly happened when I saw it last week. Yeah, neat little spin from the norm though. I enjoyed it, and more importantly 99% of the audience will think it's real and probably go away with it as a highlight of the show. |
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Post by alece10 on Dec 31, 2021 21:24:46 GMT
Nice NYE evening spent at the Palladium.
I saw it last year on one of the 6 performances before it closed.
Very similar but still a good laugh.
Donny Osmond was great especially his medley of greatest hits.
My favourite bit is still the 12 days of Christmas routine.
Where I sat in the stalls I couldn't see any empty seats and there were very few children. Mostly people who grew up with Donny (including me).
And very well behaved with most of the audience masked.
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Post by fiyero on Jan 2, 2022 23:26:30 GMT
Saw the 5pm show today ,2nd time really enjoyed it again and longer this time by about 15 mins and an extra act this time whom were really good. Donny in fine voice and such fun with Zerdin and Sam. Not sure why he insists so much the couple on stage are random though as were the same ones as last time! I have seen the show 3 times and seen 2 couples for that bit. I wouldn’t mind if he wasn’t so insistent they were genuine. Was the extra act added or was someone missing when you first went? |
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Post by sfsusan on Jan 3, 2022 9:30:05 GMT
It was Sparks Fire Dance ,weren’t on the last time I went that was a matinee. Oh, that was one of the best/freshest acts in the show! I would have rather seen more of them than the soppy duets between the 'young lovers'. |
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Post by mkb on Jan 4, 2022 0:23:07 GMT
It was the usual good fun at today's matinée, but Act 2 was spoilt when the sixty-something woman next to me whipped out her mobile to video Donny Osmond's medley. Her doing that was distracting, but, after I'd excoriated her for doing so and she stopped, I spent the rest of the time feeling bad with myself for being that kind of person and not allowing a bit of laissez-faire. It wasn't a serious piece of theatre, and no harm was being done after all.
We had all of the planned "mistakes", and one unplanned, when the curtain was brought down for four minutes in the second act.
I agree with those who found Paul Zerdin annoying with his blatant misinformation (twice) about the stooges not being stooges. The pair didn't even do a convincing job of acting like embarrassed audience members.
I would have liked a lot less Donny, more than the one variety act -- the hula-hoops-on-fire thing -- and some more musical theatre set-pieces. The flying/rotating magic carpet was particularly well executed, with little of the mechanism visible, even from the centre of the second row of the Stalls.
I am feeling generous, so four stars.
Act 1: 14:32-15:33
Act 2: 15:57-16:13 & 16:17-16:51 (including technical stop)
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