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Robin Hood – The Pantomime Adventure at the Alhambra Theatre, review by Kathy Grillo.
Little and Large in 1981 with a guest appearance from Norman Collier (does anyone else remember his broken microphone act?) and a memorable rendition of the rather annoying ‘Shaddup You Face’. That was my last visit to an Alhambra pantomime.
So with slightly jaded memories of the concept I needed convincing, even though many have sung the praises of stalwart comedian Billy Pearce’s regular appearances in the annual show.
But I needn’t have worried – myself and my six-year-old daughter were completely blown away by the spectacle.
From the moment the lights go down the show grabs the audience by the lapels and takes it on a journey of magic, adventure, belly laughs and camp musical numbers.
Pearce, despite being at least 20 years older than many of the cast bounces through from beginning to end with the energy of a schoolboy and a rapport with the audience very few could achieve. From the moment he lands on stage, dangling from the ceiling, he is welcomed by many like an old friend.
Hilary O’Neil as the Sorceress, another panto regular, effortlessly lurches from impersonations including Stacey Solomon and Joe Pasquale to belting out big songs.
The villain of the piece, the Sheriff, played by Jay Worthy was brilliantly camped up and over-acted. And Andrew Ryan’s outrageous Nurse Nelly competes with Pearce for laughs with his/her increasingly eye-popping costume changes, such as a crazy striptease which became a washing line and turns as both Susan Boyle and Anne Robinson.
The laughs came thick and fast with topical jokes (“I’m taking her to a deep, dark place. No, not Skipton!”) and slapstick like Jamie Capewell’s vainpreening, Will Scarlett wooing Maid Marion (Emma Cannon) with a cheesy version of Bryan Adams’ ‘Everything I Do’ with Pearce trying to pull him off the wall he is sitting on.
The wonders of modern panto technology are also on display with a beautiful ‘waterfall’ which spells out words and a flying dragon.
We left the theatre as pantomime converts, chatting about it all the way home. But for younger children, an earlier performance is a must, as the show is nearly three hours long, with a 15-20 minute interval for frantic toilet trips.
Runs until 5 Feb – www.bradford-theatres.co.uk
