:: This review originally appeared in the Bridgnorth Journal on December 30th 2008 ::
It's panto time again - oh, yes it is! - and the swashbuckling presentation of Peter Pan is at the Grand Theatre in Wolverhampton to entertain an audience of young and old.
Just Good Friends actor Paul Nicholas stars as the villainous Captain Hook alongside Jack Mongomery (Torchwood) as Peter Pan and Becky John as Wendy, but the real stars of the show are the legendary comedy duo The Krankies, who kept the audience laughing from start to finish as they appeared as pirate shipmates Smee and Jimmy.
Credit must also go to pupils from the local Dance2gether who appeared as pirates, Lost Boys and indians, and especially to Luke Bennett and Jamie Carter who played Wendy's brothers Michael and John.
There is plenty of audience participation - including a scene where we threw foam 'rocks' onto the stage to chase off the baddies - and we all left the theatre having had a good time.
Peter Pan tuns until Saturday January 25. telephone the Box Office for further details on 01902 42 92 12.
Tuesday 30 December 2008
Wednesday 24 December 2008
Action-packed way to rock with laughter on pirate ship
:: This review originally appeared in the Birmingham Post on December 24th 2008 ::
This most middle-class and twee of children's classics gets quite rough and raucous treatment here - but that's the way the Wolverhampton audience likes it, to judge from its evident enthusiasm.
With the London nursery scenes kept mercifully brief, this show cuts straight to the action.
It then continues to set a crackling pace, except for the moments when its creeches to a halt so that the Krankies can treat us to another routine.
They were also featured in last year's panto at the Grand, Dick Whittington, so it was hard to believe that they hadn't been packed away backstage somewhere with the tinsel (actually, they've been in Australia). They bring a touch of genuine music hall, something which is extremely rare nowadays. The comedy is corny (and a bit smuttier than I remembered from last year) but Janette obviously finds it hilarious and somehow you don't like to disagree with her.
Her impersonation of Amy Winehouse performing on a pirate ship (don't ask) is certainly among the more remarkable things I've seen this year.
And she demonstrates that having a straight man who can't always gets his lines out quite right is far from an inconvenience for a seasoned ad-libber.
Paul Nicholas is a suitably villainous Captain Hook, though perhaps a little underpowered at this performance as he appeared to be suffering from a rough throat.
Jack Montgomery, who made his stage debut as Chip the Tea Cup in Disney's Beauty and the Beast at Birmingham Hippodrome when he was only 10, and is still at school in Redditch, is a serious, no-nonsense Peter who has the flying all to himself.
The Indians' jungle is attractively designed y Ian Westbrook and its young inhabitants deliver some energetic and well-drilled dancing.
The best bit, though, was when we were invited to bombard Hook and his crew with foam rocks - a novel take on audience participation which brought an ethusiastic, if not particularly disciplined, response.
Running time: Two hours, 35 minutes. ntil January 25.
- Terry Grimley
This most middle-class and twee of children's classics gets quite rough and raucous treatment here - but that's the way the Wolverhampton audience likes it, to judge from its evident enthusiasm.
With the London nursery scenes kept mercifully brief, this show cuts straight to the action.
It then continues to set a crackling pace, except for the moments when its creeches to a halt so that the Krankies can treat us to another routine.
They were also featured in last year's panto at the Grand, Dick Whittington, so it was hard to believe that they hadn't been packed away backstage somewhere with the tinsel (actually, they've been in Australia). They bring a touch of genuine music hall, something which is extremely rare nowadays. The comedy is corny (and a bit smuttier than I remembered from last year) but Janette obviously finds it hilarious and somehow you don't like to disagree with her.
Her impersonation of Amy Winehouse performing on a pirate ship (don't ask) is certainly among the more remarkable things I've seen this year.
And she demonstrates that having a straight man who can't always gets his lines out quite right is far from an inconvenience for a seasoned ad-libber.
Paul Nicholas is a suitably villainous Captain Hook, though perhaps a little underpowered at this performance as he appeared to be suffering from a rough throat.
Jack Montgomery, who made his stage debut as Chip the Tea Cup in Disney's Beauty and the Beast at Birmingham Hippodrome when he was only 10, and is still at school in Redditch, is a serious, no-nonsense Peter who has the flying all to himself.
The Indians' jungle is attractively designed y Ian Westbrook and its young inhabitants deliver some energetic and well-drilled dancing.
The best bit, though, was when we were invited to bombard Hook and his crew with foam rocks - a novel take on audience participation which brought an ethusiastic, if not particularly disciplined, response.
Running time: Two hours, 35 minutes. ntil January 25.
- Terry Grimley
Friday 19 December 2008
There's no place like home!
:: This article originally appeared on the Express & Star website on December 18th 2008 ::
They say there is no place like home, and one glance around the dressing room of showbiz star Paul Nicholas shows how apt that saying can be.
He may be more than two hours away from his Highgate home in north London, but the legendary performer has taken a bit of everything with him to Wolverhampton.
From the Kellogg’s Cornflakes to the apples, the rows of neatly assembled Christmas cards from his family and enough winter clothing to keep himself set for a while, his home for the next few weeks will be a tiny dressing room at the Grand Theatre.
The 63-year old, who lives a stone’s throw from Arsenal’s Emirates stadium, is starring at the Grand Theatre in the Peter Pan pantomime as the booable Captain Hook.
He admits that he does miss his family when he is away on tour, but his second wife Linzi, aged 59, does not complain when he is away.
His six grown up children have all moved out of the family home, leaving his wife in freedom while he dons the eye catching costume and entertains thousands.
He laughs: “Very rarely, if ever, has my family told me they don’t want me to go. They are probably keen to see the back of me.
“Seriously, I am only 2 hours 20 minutes from my home and I always make sure I travel back on a Sunday and stay until the Monday, before coming back up to Wolverhampton.
“I am staying in a hotel in the city and to be honest, because we have two shows a day there isn’t much time to do much else.
“The dressing room is very small but that is the kind of thing we get used to. The people at the Grand Theatre are great to get along with.
“Performing is what I do and my family understand that, it’s part of who I am. I like being here to be honest, it keeps me busy and the crowds have been superb so far.”
Mr Nicholas has done it all in his career - starred in the West End, appeared on TV dramas including hit BBC sitcom Just Good Friends, directed plays and played in a rock band.
His latest role in Peter Pan has seen him team up with comedy duo The Krankies, something he says he will not be forgetting in a hurry.
He said: “The show opened last week and typically, I probably had the worst cold of all time, it was streaming all down my face.
“But I still went out there and performed, and having people like The Krankies with me helped. They are great comedians, but unlike many duos out there they are not too greedy.
“Some shows I do are supposed to last two hours, but they end up lasting two hours twenty minutes because the comedy actors take it too far.
“The Krankies are not like that. They are very professional and of course very funny. I have to say I get on really well with them.
“I’m over my illness now and looking forward to the shows ahead. The cast are excellent so we are confident of putting on a real performance.”
Mr Nicholas, who was born in Peterborough, also reckons that despite spending so much time at the Grand Theatre, up until now he has seen very little of the actual city.
He said: “Someone has told me that there is an excellent Italian restaurant in the city, so I want to go there.
“I do want to see more - I was driving the other day and reversed around and found myself by the Wolves ground, it looks great. I don’t follow football much but I heard that they were doing well.
“I like it here and the crowds at the actual theatre have been very welcoming, which always helps.”
Peter Pan runs until January 25. Tickets cost between £9.50 and £23.50 and are available from the box office on 01902 429212.
They say there is no place like home, and one glance around the dressing room of showbiz star Paul Nicholas shows how apt that saying can be.
He may be more than two hours away from his Highgate home in north London, but the legendary performer has taken a bit of everything with him to Wolverhampton.
From the Kellogg’s Cornflakes to the apples, the rows of neatly assembled Christmas cards from his family and enough winter clothing to keep himself set for a while, his home for the next few weeks will be a tiny dressing room at the Grand Theatre.
The 63-year old, who lives a stone’s throw from Arsenal’s Emirates stadium, is starring at the Grand Theatre in the Peter Pan pantomime as the booable Captain Hook.
He admits that he does miss his family when he is away on tour, but his second wife Linzi, aged 59, does not complain when he is away.
His six grown up children have all moved out of the family home, leaving his wife in freedom while he dons the eye catching costume and entertains thousands.
He laughs: “Very rarely, if ever, has my family told me they don’t want me to go. They are probably keen to see the back of me.
“Seriously, I am only 2 hours 20 minutes from my home and I always make sure I travel back on a Sunday and stay until the Monday, before coming back up to Wolverhampton.
“I am staying in a hotel in the city and to be honest, because we have two shows a day there isn’t much time to do much else.
“The dressing room is very small but that is the kind of thing we get used to. The people at the Grand Theatre are great to get along with.
“Performing is what I do and my family understand that, it’s part of who I am. I like being here to be honest, it keeps me busy and the crowds have been superb so far.”
Mr Nicholas has done it all in his career - starred in the West End, appeared on TV dramas including hit BBC sitcom Just Good Friends, directed plays and played in a rock band.
His latest role in Peter Pan has seen him team up with comedy duo The Krankies, something he says he will not be forgetting in a hurry.
He said: “The show opened last week and typically, I probably had the worst cold of all time, it was streaming all down my face.
“But I still went out there and performed, and having people like The Krankies with me helped. They are great comedians, but unlike many duos out there they are not too greedy.
“Some shows I do are supposed to last two hours, but they end up lasting two hours twenty minutes because the comedy actors take it too far.
“The Krankies are not like that. They are very professional and of course very funny. I have to say I get on really well with them.
“I’m over my illness now and looking forward to the shows ahead. The cast are excellent so we are confident of putting on a real performance.”
Mr Nicholas, who was born in Peterborough, also reckons that despite spending so much time at the Grand Theatre, up until now he has seen very little of the actual city.
He said: “Someone has told me that there is an excellent Italian restaurant in the city, so I want to go there.
“I do want to see more - I was driving the other day and reversed around and found myself by the Wolves ground, it looks great. I don’t follow football much but I heard that they were doing well.
“I like it here and the crowds at the actual theatre have been very welcoming, which always helps.”
Peter Pan runs until January 25. Tickets cost between £9.50 and £23.50 and are available from the box office on 01902 429212.
Wednesday 17 December 2008
Krankies treat for Beatties staff
:: This article originally appeared on the Express & Star website on December 17th 2008 ::
Turkey with trimmings and memories of the good old days were not the only treats on the menu when former Beatties workers got together for their annual Christmas party.
Special guests The Krankies also made it a great festive day out for more the 120 diners. The Scottish comedy duo, real names Janette and Ian Tough, took time off their hectic Wolverhampton panto schedule to join the annual celebration.
And the husband and wife team had them in fits of laughter as they chatted to the former Wolverhampton co-workers s at the city’s Britannia Hotel.
John Shenton, 84, of Wombourne, who worked for Beatties for 30 years, said he loved every minute .
“They were the best years of my life,” said 78-year-old Shirley Richards.
“We are like one big family.”
Husband and wife Arthur and Joan Evans, of Bradmore, who met when they worked in the store in the 1950s, were also among the guests.
After catching up with old friends, the diners were entertained by special guests The Krankies. “I’m standing up here so I can see you,” she announced, as she balanced on a chair.
“But I don’t know if I should be doing this as it’s the four year anniversary of the beanstalk collapse.
Janette was injured when she fell 20ft from a beanstalk during a panto in Glasgow.
The couple also chatted to guests, including 83-year-old Connie Horton.
“I’m 4ft 6in – the same height as Janette – so we were talking about size,” said Connie, who worked as a Beatties cashier for 33 years.
Turkey with trimmings and memories of the good old days were not the only treats on the menu when former Beatties workers got together for their annual Christmas party.
Special guests The Krankies also made it a great festive day out for more the 120 diners. The Scottish comedy duo, real names Janette and Ian Tough, took time off their hectic Wolverhampton panto schedule to join the annual celebration.
And the husband and wife team had them in fits of laughter as they chatted to the former Wolverhampton co-workers s at the city’s Britannia Hotel.
John Shenton, 84, of Wombourne, who worked for Beatties for 30 years, said he loved every minute .
“They were the best years of my life,” said 78-year-old Shirley Richards.
“We are like one big family.”
Husband and wife Arthur and Joan Evans, of Bradmore, who met when they worked in the store in the 1950s, were also among the guests.
After catching up with old friends, the diners were entertained by special guests The Krankies. “I’m standing up here so I can see you,” she announced, as she balanced on a chair.
“But I don’t know if I should be doing this as it’s the four year anniversary of the beanstalk collapse.
Janette was injured when she fell 20ft from a beanstalk during a panto in Glasgow.
The couple also chatted to guests, including 83-year-old Connie Horton.
“I’m 4ft 6in – the same height as Janette – so we were talking about size,” said Connie, who worked as a Beatties cashier for 33 years.
Monday 15 December 2008
Wee Jimmy Krankie is talk of the town
:: This article originally appeared on the Express & Star website on December 15th 2008 ::
What is it about Wee Jimmy Krankie that the coolest of showbiz stars cannot resist? When departing Doctor Who actor David Tennant was asked recently about who he wanted to see take over the role, he suggested his pint-sized fellow Scot.
And Coldplay frontman Chris Martin has revealed he would like to record a Christmas album with the Krankies. “I’d sound great singing with Wee Jimmy, both of us dressed as elves,” he told an interviewer.
And now Janette Tough, who plays Jimmy, finds her name cropping up in episodes of Coronation Street. “It’s all quite fascinating,” she says.
“The Chris Martin-thing actually created a lot of work for us – people kept inviting us on to game shows and quizzes, asking whether it was true. I think he was just frustrated with being asked about who he was going to record with next. The same with the Dr Who job, which would be very nice but, honest, no one has approached me – yet.
“Now it’s happening with Corrie. Can you imagine what it’s like sitting in your living room and suddenly hearing your name pop out. I was ‘Where’s this come from?’ I’m certainly not offended, in fact I think it’s an honour.”
The pair are back in panto at The Grand this year for the second season running. The Wolverhampton audiences adore the duo’s knockabout humour – and the feeling is mutual.
“We love the audiences here – they’ve got character,” says Janette. She and comic partner Ian, her husband, are 61 and semi-retired now but they still have more get-up-and-go than performers half their age.
In the summer, after returning from their four-month sojourn in Australia, where they have a holiday home, the couple set off on a Best of British Variety tour with Frank Carson, Cannon and Ball, Paul Daniels, Jimmy Cricket and Brotherhood of Man.
“It was great to rekindle old friendships,” says Janette. “When we bumped into each other back in the 80s we used to talk about the business, now we discuss what medication we’re on.
“We worked out that our combined age was 701. Apart from Nicky from Brotherhood of Man, who’s 59, we all have bus passes.” She believes the tour was timely and says the popular TV programme Britain’s Got Talent has shown that there is more to entertainment than singing.
“It’s not a show where there is any bad language. Comics, certainly not comics of our age, don’t need to do that. The Press say we’re not very politically correct but our audience is our age group and we know what makes them laugh. We leave the swearing to the celebrity chefs.Frank Carson never stopped telling gags. I said to Tommy Cannon: ‘It’s a good job we haven’t got a tour bus, or you and I would need therapy by the end’.” She chuckles: “Frank’s 82 now, and he’s marvellous.”
Although they’ve always been a favourite with the young and the elderly, the Krankies’ old-school humour fell out of favour in certain quarters in the early 90s when TV executives failed to renew their contract. It was the only wobble in 40 years of otherwise continuous work.
Nowaday’s the veterans’ popularity has reached cult status with appearances alongside Peter Kay and on Absolutely Fabulous.
They enjoy an enviable lifestyle with a house in Devon and an apartment on Australia’s Gold Coast. They spend February to June swimming, cycling and playing golf in their Down Under retreat.
“We just relax. After all our years in the business, if we don’t do it now, we never will,” says Jeanette, who met Ian when they were 18 at the Glasgow Pavilion where she was working as a dancer and he a theatre electrician. They formed a song and dance act before creating the character of cheeky schoolboy Wee Jimmy for Janette with Ian playing Jimmy’s long-suffering father.
Last year the pair stayed in Theatre House in Springfield Road, the same place they were put up during a panto stint 17 years before. This year they are staying near Bridgnorth. “We’re hoping to get out and explore but with matinees every day, we’re not sure when that will be.”
* Peter Pan runs at The Grand until January 25.
What is it about Wee Jimmy Krankie that the coolest of showbiz stars cannot resist? When departing Doctor Who actor David Tennant was asked recently about who he wanted to see take over the role, he suggested his pint-sized fellow Scot.
And Coldplay frontman Chris Martin has revealed he would like to record a Christmas album with the Krankies. “I’d sound great singing with Wee Jimmy, both of us dressed as elves,” he told an interviewer.
And now Janette Tough, who plays Jimmy, finds her name cropping up in episodes of Coronation Street. “It’s all quite fascinating,” she says.
“The Chris Martin-thing actually created a lot of work for us – people kept inviting us on to game shows and quizzes, asking whether it was true. I think he was just frustrated with being asked about who he was going to record with next. The same with the Dr Who job, which would be very nice but, honest, no one has approached me – yet.
“Now it’s happening with Corrie. Can you imagine what it’s like sitting in your living room and suddenly hearing your name pop out. I was ‘Where’s this come from?’ I’m certainly not offended, in fact I think it’s an honour.”
The pair are back in panto at The Grand this year for the second season running. The Wolverhampton audiences adore the duo’s knockabout humour – and the feeling is mutual.
“We love the audiences here – they’ve got character,” says Janette. She and comic partner Ian, her husband, are 61 and semi-retired now but they still have more get-up-and-go than performers half their age.
In the summer, after returning from their four-month sojourn in Australia, where they have a holiday home, the couple set off on a Best of British Variety tour with Frank Carson, Cannon and Ball, Paul Daniels, Jimmy Cricket and Brotherhood of Man.
“It was great to rekindle old friendships,” says Janette. “When we bumped into each other back in the 80s we used to talk about the business, now we discuss what medication we’re on.
“We worked out that our combined age was 701. Apart from Nicky from Brotherhood of Man, who’s 59, we all have bus passes.” She believes the tour was timely and says the popular TV programme Britain’s Got Talent has shown that there is more to entertainment than singing.
“It’s not a show where there is any bad language. Comics, certainly not comics of our age, don’t need to do that. The Press say we’re not very politically correct but our audience is our age group and we know what makes them laugh. We leave the swearing to the celebrity chefs.Frank Carson never stopped telling gags. I said to Tommy Cannon: ‘It’s a good job we haven’t got a tour bus, or you and I would need therapy by the end’.” She chuckles: “Frank’s 82 now, and he’s marvellous.”
Although they’ve always been a favourite with the young and the elderly, the Krankies’ old-school humour fell out of favour in certain quarters in the early 90s when TV executives failed to renew their contract. It was the only wobble in 40 years of otherwise continuous work.
Nowaday’s the veterans’ popularity has reached cult status with appearances alongside Peter Kay and on Absolutely Fabulous.
They enjoy an enviable lifestyle with a house in Devon and an apartment on Australia’s Gold Coast. They spend February to June swimming, cycling and playing golf in their Down Under retreat.
“We just relax. After all our years in the business, if we don’t do it now, we never will,” says Jeanette, who met Ian when they were 18 at the Glasgow Pavilion where she was working as a dancer and he a theatre electrician. They formed a song and dance act before creating the character of cheeky schoolboy Wee Jimmy for Janette with Ian playing Jimmy’s long-suffering father.
Last year the pair stayed in Theatre House in Springfield Road, the same place they were put up during a panto stint 17 years before. This year they are staying near Bridgnorth. “We’re hoping to get out and explore but with matinees every day, we’re not sure when that will be.”
* Peter Pan runs at The Grand until January 25.
Sunday 14 December 2008
Fandabidozi pirate pair are icing on the top
:: this review appeared in the Sunday Mercury on Sunday December 14th ::
The Krankies should be prescirbed free of charge on the NHS - as a much-needed, midwinter tonic.
The daft as a brush comedy duo steal the show in this swashbuckling panto adventure.
The Krankies have that rare gift of making audiences start tittering before they even say a word.
And when they launch into their barmy antics - including cheeky and candid asides - only the saddest souls fail to laugh out loud.
The Krankies - real life husband and wife Janette and Ian Tough - play the hopeless pirates The Smees in support of fading heart-throb Paul Nicholas, who attracts the children's boos in traditional fashion as the evil Captain Hook.
Jack Montgomery (Young Captain Jack in TV's Torchwood) is just right in the title role, while super-slender Amra-Faye Wright is doubly convincing as both the sultry Mermaid and the prim Mrs Darling.
The three Darling children who fly off to Neverland, the Lost Children and the muscular but dim pirates are all excellent.
The Krankies really crank up - rather than shore up - this panto because it ticks all the boxes with great dancing, good singing, plenty of fights and colourful sets and costumes.
Peter Pan is billed as The UK's Favourite Pantomime. Few could argue with that.
This fandabidozi panto runs until Sunday, January 25.
- Bob Haywood
The Krankies should be prescirbed free of charge on the NHS - as a much-needed, midwinter tonic.
The daft as a brush comedy duo steal the show in this swashbuckling panto adventure.
The Krankies have that rare gift of making audiences start tittering before they even say a word.
And when they launch into their barmy antics - including cheeky and candid asides - only the saddest souls fail to laugh out loud.
The Krankies - real life husband and wife Janette and Ian Tough - play the hopeless pirates The Smees in support of fading heart-throb Paul Nicholas, who attracts the children's boos in traditional fashion as the evil Captain Hook.
Jack Montgomery (Young Captain Jack in TV's Torchwood) is just right in the title role, while super-slender Amra-Faye Wright is doubly convincing as both the sultry Mermaid and the prim Mrs Darling.
The three Darling children who fly off to Neverland, the Lost Children and the muscular but dim pirates are all excellent.
The Krankies really crank up - rather than shore up - this panto because it ticks all the boxes with great dancing, good singing, plenty of fights and colourful sets and costumes.
Peter Pan is billed as The UK's Favourite Pantomime. Few could argue with that.
This fandabidozi panto runs until Sunday, January 25.
- Bob Haywood
Saturday 13 December 2008
Krankies are a real treasure
:: This review appeared in the Birmingham Mail on Saturday December 13th ::
It's not full of spectacle and it has turned its back on slapstick - but The Krankies ensure that this panto is never short of laughter for long.
It must be ten years since Janette, in her familiar guise with short trousers, school blazer and cap, was halfway through their remarkable ventriloquist's dummy routine on this same stage and gasped that she was getting too old for this sort of thing. She clearly wasn't, because they are still doing it.
Paul Nicholas equips Captain Hook with a naughty smile that says he's not all wicked and Jack Montgomery is a determined Peter Pan in partnership with Isobel Hathaway's characterful Tinkerbell.
This is a panto that has lots going for it, including dancers who become long-legged pirates when Captain Hook assembles his crew to return the cubes of sponge that the audience has been invited to throw at them.
The run runs to January 25.
****
It's not full of spectacle and it has turned its back on slapstick - but The Krankies ensure that this panto is never short of laughter for long.
It must be ten years since Janette, in her familiar guise with short trousers, school blazer and cap, was halfway through their remarkable ventriloquist's dummy routine on this same stage and gasped that she was getting too old for this sort of thing. She clearly wasn't, because they are still doing it.
Paul Nicholas equips Captain Hook with a naughty smile that says he's not all wicked and Jack Montgomery is a determined Peter Pan in partnership with Isobel Hathaway's characterful Tinkerbell.
This is a panto that has lots going for it, including dancers who become long-legged pirates when Captain Hook assembles his crew to return the cubes of sponge that the audience has been invited to throw at them.
The run runs to January 25.
****
Thursday 11 December 2008
Not perfect panto but giggles and glamour
:: This review appeared in the Wolverhampton Chronicle on Thursday 11th December ::
Second star to the right and straight on until Wolverhampton where a Peter Pan-tomime is delivering lots of laughs and a little magic too.
With the opening in the nursery of the Edwardian London home of the Darling family, where Peter Pan glides through the window in search of his runaway shadow, one might have imagined a straightforward musical version of JM Barrie's classic tale.
However, the transformation of the green fairy (courtesy of a laser beam) Tinkerbell into a leggy, ditzy blonde on rollerskates summed up this production's clunky gear changes between magic and mirth.
But there is much to recommend this production that has taken up residence at the Grand until January 25. Chiefly, it has The Krankies, a double act steeped in musicl hall tradition and naughty Carry On humour.
They are the best comedy act in a Grand panto since, well, lat year when the Krankies starred in Dick Whittington. Anyone who saw that show will get a sense of deja vu, especially when the pintsized Janette Tough does the expanding bust and bum routine, only this time instead of Barbie Girl it's as 'Amy Shorthouse,' beehive wig askew as she sings 'I ate too many kebabs, does it show, show, show.'
Subtle they ain't but nor is the panto, and the eight year old next to me was in hysterics at Wee Jimmy Krankie's antics.
Other pluses include Paul Nicholas as a camp toff Captain Hook, on Tuesday soldiering on despite a croak in his voice that threatened to finish him off before the croc with the clock, and Broadway performer Amra-Faye Wright, an excellent singer who doubles up as Mrs Darling and a wise-cracking American mermaid.
The music is an uneven mix of tuneful and tuneless originals (I didn't like Tiger Lily's R&B cacophony) plus 'Follow The Leader' from the Disney animated movie, and choreography from director Barbara Evans is jerky.
The young leads are actually played by youngsters, with panto debutant Becky John a splendid Wendy but Jack Montgomery is a too bland Peter Pan - the original wild boy should have a hint of danger about him, after all, he did lop off a pirate captain's hand and toss it into the jaws of a crocodile.
The panto could have done with moe "it's behind you" and "oh, no they didn't" moments but made up for that with the change to throw sponge rocks at Captain Hook, tempting a few members of the audience to hold back their ammunition for less appropriate moments.
Not the perfect panto, for sure, but Peter Pan delivers the giggles and, thanks to colourful sets and costumes, glamour too.
- Leon Burakowski
Second star to the right and straight on until Wolverhampton where a Peter Pan-tomime is delivering lots of laughs and a little magic too.
With the opening in the nursery of the Edwardian London home of the Darling family, where Peter Pan glides through the window in search of his runaway shadow, one might have imagined a straightforward musical version of JM Barrie's classic tale.
However, the transformation of the green fairy (courtesy of a laser beam) Tinkerbell into a leggy, ditzy blonde on rollerskates summed up this production's clunky gear changes between magic and mirth.
But there is much to recommend this production that has taken up residence at the Grand until January 25. Chiefly, it has The Krankies, a double act steeped in musicl hall tradition and naughty Carry On humour.
They are the best comedy act in a Grand panto since, well, lat year when the Krankies starred in Dick Whittington. Anyone who saw that show will get a sense of deja vu, especially when the pintsized Janette Tough does the expanding bust and bum routine, only this time instead of Barbie Girl it's as 'Amy Shorthouse,' beehive wig askew as she sings 'I ate too many kebabs, does it show, show, show.'
Subtle they ain't but nor is the panto, and the eight year old next to me was in hysterics at Wee Jimmy Krankie's antics.
Other pluses include Paul Nicholas as a camp toff Captain Hook, on Tuesday soldiering on despite a croak in his voice that threatened to finish him off before the croc with the clock, and Broadway performer Amra-Faye Wright, an excellent singer who doubles up as Mrs Darling and a wise-cracking American mermaid.
The music is an uneven mix of tuneful and tuneless originals (I didn't like Tiger Lily's R&B cacophony) plus 'Follow The Leader' from the Disney animated movie, and choreography from director Barbara Evans is jerky.
The young leads are actually played by youngsters, with panto debutant Becky John a splendid Wendy but Jack Montgomery is a too bland Peter Pan - the original wild boy should have a hint of danger about him, after all, he did lop off a pirate captain's hand and toss it into the jaws of a crocodile.
The panto could have done with moe "it's behind you" and "oh, no they didn't" moments but made up for that with the change to throw sponge rocks at Captain Hook, tempting a few members of the audience to hold back their ammunition for less appropriate moments.
Not the perfect panto, for sure, but Peter Pan delivers the giggles and, thanks to colourful sets and costumes, glamour too.
- Leon Burakowski
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