Review: DICK WHITTINGTON, London Palladium

It's undeniably/unavoidably* panto season in theatreland (*delete as per your personal proclivity). Qdos Entertainment's production of Dick Whittington at the London Palladium has been hotly anticipated following last year's triumphant Cinderella. So does it live up to expectations?

There are more big names rammed into the cast than currants crammed in your Christmas pud. Panto stalwarts Julian Clary (Spirit of the Bells), Gary Wilmot (Sarah the Cook), Paul Zerdin (Idle Jack) and Nigel Havers (Captain Nigel) mix with bona fide musical theatre stars Elaine Paige (Queen Rat), Charlie Stemp (Dick Whittington) and Emma Williams (Alice Fitzwarren), whilst Ashley Banjo (The Sultan) and Diversity (The Sultan's Special Advisors) provide some non-essential but crowd-pleasing fireworks (a bit of festive flambé, if you will).

Unsurprisingly for such a huge-budget production, there are lavish costumes and sets with more sparkle than the tinselliest Christmas tree, and a couple of preposterously good visual effects that any long-running West End show would kill for.

The plot, however, is thinner than the paper hat you'll find in your cracker. In the first act we learn that London is overrun with rats, and whoever manages to rid the city of its plague will be awarded the office of Lord Mayor. Cue the arrival of Dick (with as many associated joke 'crudités' as you could wish for) to save the day, with some dubious help from his cat Eileen (Lukus Alexander) and Clary's Spirit of the Bells.

It's obvious too within the first five seconds of them meeting that Dick (played with just the right amount of wide-eyed naivety by the twinkle-toed Stemp) and Alice (an enthusiastic but somewhat underused Williams) will fall in love.

Aside from this, there's honestly no story to speak of. Perhaps that's not the point of modern panto. Instead, we're treated to a series of extremely well-executed and genuinely funny set pieces. There's a full-on Flash Bang Wallop pastiche dance number (complete with a gingerbread men chorus line) to introduce us Sarah's sweet shop.

Elaine Paige has tremendous fun switching from Chief Cat to Queen Rat, parodying songs from Sunset Boulevard, Evita and Cats (presumably with Lord Lloyd Webber's Christmas blessing, since he was sitting directly in front of me).

The consummate Zerdin and his cheeky companion Sam take a lead on the audience participation, expertly involving both adults and kids. Clary, Wilmot, Zerdin and Havers perform a delightful slapstick rendition of "The Twelve Days of Christmas", with some presumably very carefully choreographed chaos.

Havers also deserves a special mention for so gleefully subjecting himself to being the butt of so many jokes.

It goes without saying that Clary is 100% inappropriate but extremely funny. The sheer amount of innuendo he provides makes this feel like a panto that's aimed much more at the grown-ups than the little ones. This is quite possibly a legitimate choice to ensure success in the cavernous and expensively ticketed Palladium, but I did feel that it goes slightly against the spirit of panto as true family entertainment.

Although Clary is possibly the biggest draw, it's Wilmot who scores the most raucous ovation of the night as he expertly reels his way through the entire Tube map (ostensibly to illustrate how much Sarah is missing the capital whilst on a voyage to Morocco to meet the Sultan, but let's not dwell on that too much).

As well as an astonishing feat of memory, this - and the rest of Wilmot's performance - is simply the perfect demonstration of a true panto professional.

Call me Scrooge if you want, but my misgivings about the lack of plot and the clear focus on pleasing adults more than kids prevent me from giving the show full marks. But that aside, Dick Whittington is spectacular and full of festive cheer, and will have you stepping out into the crisp London air with a twinkle in your eye and a big smile on your face.

Dick Whittington at the London Palladium until 14 January, 2018

Photo credit: Paul Coltas

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