REVIEW: pretty much panto perfection at the Kings in Southsea

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Dick Whittington, Kings Theatre, Southsea until December 31.

And so it begins… and as always, the Kings Theatre has set the bar extraordinarily high.

This year is Pompey legend Jack Edwards’ tenth year at the venue, this year as Dame Dolly, but it isn’t remotely the Jack Edwards show, brilliant though he is. Certainly he embodies the heart of the great Pompey panto endeavour, but the show is a proper collaborative effort which fires beautifully on all cylinders, with not a weak link anywhere.

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Hugely in its favour is the choice of music which is first class – even if some of the performers were regularly drowned out by the band. The balance was a bit ropey at times.

But there are some great songs in here which are very nicely delivered. The repeated riffing on Hamilton is very clever; the finale celebrating the songs of a certain supergroup is terrific; but maybe the highlight is the Les Mis-inspired first-half conclusion. And goodness. Wow, what singing from Jack.

Elsewhere, without maybe quite the usual number of jokes, there is consistent appealing wit, especially when Dame Jack is taking the liberties we expect him to take. His costumes are great – even if his skimpy bikini will probably give most of us nightmares.

Alongside him Britain’s Got Talent winner George Sampson is a thoroughly engaging Dick Whittington, a stage natural – just as is his love interest Imogen Bailey as Alice Fitzwarren. Either end of the sliding scale from good to wicked, we have got lovely performances from Julia Worsley as Fairy BowBells and Pompey girl Lorraine Stanley on her homecoming as Queen Rat.

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Joe Rowntree keeps up the energy as Silly Billy, and Jacob Bailey is great fun too as Dick’s cat. Put it all together, and you have a genuine sense of an ensemble, everyone working together with complete understanding for a real festive treat.

The whole thing looks great; the costumes are a huge part of the spectacle; and the young dancers move beautifully in their assumed ratty-ness. Beautiful too is Dame Dolly’s undersea trip on a high-flying turtle.

And The Twelve Days of Christmas is a riot in a panto which doesn’t just tick all the boxes: it fills them with warmth, laughter and a genuine distillation of just what it is that keeps us coming back to panto year after year. In our mad, baffling world, there is something oddly reassuring about the even madder world of panto when it is done right – and this particular one nears panto perfection.

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