The London Palladium has always been the West End home of variety and for a while as the posters on the proscenium arch remind us for a while was the leading venue for Panto too. This year they celebrate both British entertainment genres in a tailor-made show Pantoland at the Palladium. In recent years Michael Harrison has produced some spectacular pantomimes excelling in staging, special effects, costumes and choreography and versions of these productions now spend Christmas at the largest regional venues.
This show was designed as a one-off in 2020 but when it was cut short early by covid restrictions it became inevitable that it would return this year with some cast availability modifications. Indeed, those upgrade the show into a joyous uplifting celebration of the venue with Donny Osmond headlining and reminiscing about a royal variety show there some fifty years ago and the gorgeous high kicking Tiller Girls being reformed to grace the stage again. It is NOT a Pantomime but a celebration of some of the elements that are included in Pantomime and is billed as a “Feel-good spectacular”.
Donny not only provides the narration to link the acts as a Wizarding Master of Ceremonies, delivers a wonderful medley of his own hits (including “Crazy Horses” and “Love me for a reason”) to the delight of an adoring female following but also steals the show in the best routine of the show with Sam (Paul Zerdin’s dummy alone on stage) in a version of “Puppy Love”. Zerdin also returns to perform his regular ventriloquist act including the rather cruel embarrassment of a very game couple who he asks on stage. His trick of beatboxing while Sam hums is a wonderful demonstration of the art that he is a master of.Sophie Issacs and Jac Yarrow, two young musical theatre stars seem undervalued but do at least get some stage time and songs together and close Act 1 with a brilliant magic carpet ride over the audience including a mind-blowing 360 degrees upside-down spin. Musical Supervisor Gary Hind and MD Greg Arrowsmith create some original lyrics such as “Soho” and “Magic of Pantoland” which open the show effectively. Nigel Haver's continues his nonspecific role of walking on and off, this year in ridiculous costumes for the easiest pay cheque of his illustrious career.
Gary Wilmot demonstrates he is one of the most appealing of modern dames with his brilliant Tube song to the cancan, updating it for the new Queen Elizabeth line and an amusing confectionary-based story. The revival of “Twelve Days of Christmas “ with Zerdin, Wilmot, Clary and Havers literally brought the show to a stop when the cloth failed to drop in its final frantic rendition. It’s a routine that always gets a great reception the more chaotic it appears!
The headliner who has appeared in every one of the last five years Palladium pantomimes is Julian Clarey who appears on stage in some amazing outfits by Hugh Durrant. He clearly has a strong following but this year he has toned down his innuendo slightly for a more family-friendly audience and I assume for Donny's fan base. Nevertheless, his comic timing is perfect, and he does apparently delight in making those around him corpse so that it is difficult to spot the real breakdowns and the rehearsed ones! His best routine is with Donny Osmond in “Any Dream will do” again reminding us that these routines work best when the cast are integrated together rather than doing “their turns”.The posters around the proscenium arch show the titles of some of the past pantomimes and the great stars who graced the shows. It must be hoped that the Producer Crossroads will use their considerable creative talents to reinvent some of those forgotten or rarely seen titles like Puss in Boots, Babes in the Wood, Robinson Crusoe, and Old King Cole and give them a fresh life while at the same time giving more substantial female roles in their shows such as when Cilla Black appeared as Aladdin. Indeed, the posters remind us that the headliners were dominated by male stars like Jimmy Tarbuck, Arthur Askey, Ronnie Corbett, Cliff Richard, Frankie Howerd, Bruce Forsyth, and Norman Wisdom. Now is the time to rebalance the gender mix at the Palladium Pantomime with stars of the standing of Alexandra Burke, Jennifer Saunders, Miranda Hart, Sally Phillips, and Lily Allen. The posters announce Pantomime will be back at the Palladium in 2022 but does not give details. Let’s hope it is an exciting fresh show that breathes new life into the Pantomime genre and acts as a springboard for further development of this wonderful British Christmas tradition.
Review by Nick Wayne
Rating: ★★★★
