Tickets were gifted in return for an honest review
I simply LOVE a pantomime! The glitz and glamour, the double entendre, the family interaction; it is truly the beating heart of British theatre during the Christmas season. This year, Derby Arena present Dick Whittington in a spell-binding story that makes for the perfect family day out.
Dick Whittington, perhaps one of panto’s lesser known story lines, tells the tale of a young boy from Derby who travels with his cat companion Kit to seek his fortune in London Town. London is facing its own problems, with the city overrun by rats who are led by an evil rat queen. Dick joins forces with The Alderman, his daughter Alice and our ever-famous dame to try and defeat the Queen and rid London of rats in a bid to become Lord Mayor of London. Along the way we find ourselves aboard a cruise ship, under the sea and even in a cheese-themed hotel! This may not be the most coherent storyline, but certainly in panto that isn’t our primary aim and thus hilarity and fun is had from start to end. With a little help from fairy Bow Bells, a happy ending is certain! ✨
Derby Arena has a huge stage and therefore a lot of space to fill and accomplishes that brilliantly. The sets are impressive, interactive and of course glittery from head to toe. We are transported through scenes with some wonderful and intricate back drops and 3D elements with some fun additions throughout including wire tricks and neon characters! The costumes also live up to the wonder and awe created in the staging; Morgan Brind’s costumes in particular as the dame only get louder and more fabulous as the show progresses and their finale outfit was my stand-out favourite. Indeed, as a frequent traveller to London it was lovely to see so many nods to London right from the entrance into the theatre (with a tube-style show sign on stage awaiting the audience), ‘oranges and lemons’ nursery rhyme elements and a wonderful nod to Big Ben. Again, even in the backdrops we see wonderful puns including a wonderful ‘B&M’ glittery shop sign and hotel named ‘The Stilton’. The puns started from the get go and continued tirelessly throughout the show. There are constant jokes and references for audience members of every age making this the perfect panto for anyone and everyone this Christmas period!
I always like to play a fun guessing game in Panto season regarding the show’s modern music and references from the year and this show managed to include plenty of my guesses whilst blending this with more timeless references too. The song choices brought a perfect blend of viral hits (including K Pop Demon Hunters, 6/7, Benson Boone and The Ordinary) and musical theatre bops (from Wicked, Anything Goes and Hairspray to name a few). In addition, we feature all the Panto gags and moments of interaction you would expect including some slapstick comedy, a ‘search’ for the bad guys and opportunities for back and forth with the audience. Our audience simply loved booing and hissing for Queen Rat!
The show features many returning performances to the Derby Arena Panto with some new faces joining the crew too. Morgan Brind once again returns as our Dame as well as being one of the production team behind the scenes. Brind has total command of that stage every single time he graces it and I heard more than one audience member commenting that he was the best dame they had ever seen! Even in a couple of moments of technical issue (microphone issues), Brind kept total control of the ‘ship’ and made light of the situation in the most hilarious way possible. His rapport with the audience is second to none and when he selected a new ‘boyfriend’ from the audience, this then became a running joke without being at all overplayed or getting tiring. He truly is the beating heart of Derby Arena panto and audience members feel totally safe and strapped in for a ride of hilarity every single year.
Also returning to the Derby Arena stage is Kristian Cunningham, this year in the show’s title role. Cunningham has a strong musical theatre voice making every song delightful, and he also performed some impressive choreography with skill alongside Alice and the ensemble. Cunningham also looked like he was having the time of his life on stage, again making light of his microphone issues and continuing as a consummate professional. The audience totally root for him as a protagonist and he had wonderful chemistry with the other core cast which included Roddy Peters and Nicola Martinus-Smith. Every cast member worked together perfectly to bring the magic this festive season!
Our villain this year is Coronation Street’s Wendi Peters. Whilst one or two mentions were made to her soap opera past, Peters really shone in her own light because of her wonderful, campy villainous acting and very strong singing voice. Her rendition of Lady Gaga’a Abracadabra was a highlight moment of the show!
Whilst Dick Whittington’s storyline may not at times be the strongest, the performance and execution of this story at Derby Arena this Christmas is simply magical. You will come away feeling warm and fuzzy and perhaps even with an aching jaw from all the laughter! The show runs until New Years Eve and tickets are available from https://www.derbylive.co.uk/whats-on/buytickets?event=412025.
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