Dick Whittington - Theatre Royal Wakefield - Until January 4
IT was written in the stars – Dick Whittington was set to save London town and yet again Wakefield's panto was ready to thrill both young and old.
As the latter, I always approach panto with trepidation but it took only minutes to win me over and I was booing and hissing louder than any of the kids.
Dick arrives in London with his faithful cat Tommy and almost immediately lands himself into bother.
And, like a typical bloke, falls for the beautiful but mean Alice – or should I say Alicia – without noticing his perfect woman right under his nose, all the while his fair maiden is plotting London's downfall with the evil (hisssss) King Rat.
But it's not long before our hero turns it around and a happy ending is had by all – especially the audience.
Writer/director Jonathan Stone was right to add a few extra characters into the mix and give this traditional tale a fresh new feel.
As always, there were brilliant takes on this year's chart-toppers choreographed by Louise Denison and directed beautifully by Dean McDermott.
Michael Vinsen's Dick and Ruthie Stephenson's Sally's gorgeous take on Take That's Rule The World sent shivers down your spine and the big dance numbers, like Duffy's Mercy were very entertaining.
The script was incredibly funny – both the obvious jokes and slapstick for the kids courtesy of Jay Webb's Silly Billy, and the rather more risque covert jokes for the adults from the brilliant Dame Sarah, played superbly by Cameron Jack.
You can always rely on Wakefield for a great dame, and Jack certainly was one.
The costumes were amazing, and even a wardrobe malfunction didn't put him off.
Graham Lappin was scarily good as the evil King Rat, and provided a great double act with the squeakily silly Alice Fitzwarren, played perfectly by Tanya Robb.
But it was Dick and Sally who stole my heart, especially cockney sparrow Sal, who was all you need in a panto heroine – likeable, sweet and most of all funny and gutsy.
And I couldn't go without mentioning the fantastic ensemble and chorus.
Vicki Holmes, Jake Mitchell, Katie Moulton and Josh Jones all proved to be fantastic movers, and the troupe of chorus girls were brilliant as the rats.
Yet again the production team have come up with a fantastic show that ties up a brilliant year for Theatre Royal Wakefield – long may it continue.
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Weather for Wakefield
Tuesday 22 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North east
