Reprising his father Paul Daniels’ legendary magic trick from the 1988 Royal Variety Performance, Martin Daniels’ turn as Martin McSmuttermutter was one of many spectacles to behold in Jack and the Beanstalk at Grimsby Auditorium. To reveal the trick would give it away, but it does involve Jack and a canon. . . enough said!
Joining Daniels in the ensemble was Allo Allo’s Sue Hodge, who sprinkled stardust on the performance as Fairy Mimi Le Bonk (aka the classic Fairy Godmother role). Cue jokes that only adults of a certain generation will understand, such as “I’ve made a fortune from repeats” when she said a line twice (deliberately). Hodge was effervescent and her energy was catching.
Central to the rip-roaring tale was Peter Lyall (Jack), whose nimble and athletic turn as the favourite fairytale hero wooed kids and big kids alike. Joining him for a love story befitting of a beanstalk was Alice Murray (Jill). Murray provided enchanting innocence and powerful vocals, giving a dramatic flavour to the otherwise comedic carry-on!
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And where would any panto be without the Dame – played with camp irreverence and wicked wit by the evergreen Ian Norton, who returns to the role for the sixth time at the venue. Expect lashings of glorious innuendo and raucous improv as Norton laid on a superb performance as Dame Trot. And Lyall was a true pro when he took the brunt of the guaranteed ‘script wobbles’ that accompany most first performances.
Ever get that feeling when your skin crawls in reaction to a real-life ‘wrongun’? Expect the same when Joe Connors first appears as the aptly-titled baddie Fleshcreep. Boos, hisses and rebukes of his Elvis impersonations got the family crowd revved up and ready for more compulsory audience participation – from “he’s behind you” to three local dads getting up to join the cast alongside Lyall and Daniels.
(Image: Jon Corken)
Medleys of music past and present popped up in all the right places, including riveting renditions of Thriller, Reach for the Stars, Ghostbusters and Elvis classics. Choreographed routines were brought to dazzling life by musical director TJ James, with a fabulous supporting cast of local dancers from Lesley Swaby Dance School.
Hats off to writer and producer Chris Moreno and associate producer Anne MacLachlan, who weaved together a brilliantly pitched panto this year, with the right balance of kids’ frolics, adult humour and lines that only locals would lap-up. Panto is notoriously hard to pull off: you have to make carefully crafted moments look like chaos. But the magic unfolded on stage as it should.
And the set design and stunts were seamless and really impressive, especially when it came to the magic trick. For a town that’s humble and small, the Auditorium can’t half pull of a panto to be proud of.
My final advice is this: go and see it, because on paper it’s my idea of hell but once you’re there, you’ll be clapping away, singing like no-one’s watching and chuckling like a kid.
Jack and The Beanstalk runs at Grimsby Auditorium until December 30. Buy tickets here
