Christmas is rapidly approaching and what’s more festive than a trip to see the Pantomime? So last night myself and Mr Purple took the children (all except Wonder Girl who’s a bit too small) to Bristol Hippodrome to see Dick Whittington. This was the kids first pantomime, and neither Mr Purple nor I have been since our own childhoods.
Dick Whittington at the Bristol Hippodrome stars Ashleigh and Pudsey, of Britain’s Got Talent fame as Alice Fitzwarren and her dog. Ben Faulks (Housewives favourite, Mr Bloom) as Dick. Andy Ford (local Bristol pantomime regular) as Idle Jack, Eric Potts as Sarah the Cook and Brenda Edwards (X-Factor finalist) as Fairy Bowbells.
The theatre was full, and buzzing. The atmosphere at the pantomime is definitely festive, excited children, multi generational families all out for a night at the theatre, it’s lovely. The show did not disappoint. You definitely need to let go of some of your critical faculties at pantomime. It’s cheesy as heck the humour is childish and silly, the choreography is very traditional and the singing isn’t always perfect. However none of this matters, in fact it just wouldn’t be pantomime if it wasn’t this way. So we got stuck in, joined in with ‘oh no it isn’t’ , shouted when commanded, danced when asked, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
Andy Ford is brilliant, his comic timing was spot on, he was a joy to watch and I couldn’t help but laugh at even the really cheesy jokes. His scene with Eric Potts and the erect sausage had all of us in stitches. The rest of the cast were committed and enthusiastic, and (as an ex acrobat) I particularly enjoyed Hayley Jane Goold’s acrobatics as Tommy the Cat. I really loved Eric Pott’s pantomime dame costumes, at one point he wore a cupcake on his lower half with a chelsea bun bra top. His gold bikini is also worth a mention, you have to see it. The production is pantomime perfect.
I would definitely recommend a trip to see Dick Whittington at the Bristol Hippodrome. It’s on until January 4th 2015, so there’s still time to book tickets. For more information visit the booking site here.
* Disclosure: I received press tickets to see Dick Whittington for the purposes of this review.