I last saw this panto at the Hippodrome in 2009 and greatly enjoyed it. I think it was the first time I saw Andy Ford (Muddles on that occasion) in a Bristol panto and I have been a fan ever since - a man with the true spirit of Panto in every lame joke he tells! Brilliant. I really enjoyed the panto then, but this time it has been taken up a notch - a very big notch - by the inclusion of Warwick Davis.
Don't expect many surprises, this is a traditional panto with a traditional story and format (I think this is still an Eric Potts script) - thank goodness I say - even the inclusion of Shaun the Sheep seems to fit without spoiling the traditional feel.
Kim Ismay's Mogiana is a real delight, beautifully evil and with a great stage presence and sense of the absurdity of the average panto villain. Andy Day (CBeebies) took on the Muddles role this year which surprised my a bit but Andy Ford as the henchman found himself a new panto role and made it his own - complete with some of his panto standards that do not pale even after 7 years of repetition!
Warwick, needless to say perhaps, plays Prof, the lead dwarf and is a master of every scene he is in - singing, dancing, acting and interacting with charm and charisma by the bucket load. A delight to watch him on stage and a real treat for his many fans ... a touch of Star Wars and Harry Potter come to pantoland.
Bristol Hippodrome's best panto to date? Possibly, yes, it really might well be - tickets selling fast (apparently) and a joyous night out; I actually laughed out loud. A lot!
Thanks to this fabulous production I have a new happy place and it involves Andy Ford in a tutu and Warwick Davis dressed as a cheerleader. Is that wierd .... ?
