Show: Dick Whittington
Format: Pantomime
Genre: Comedy
Date: December 15 2015
Location: Empire Theatre, Liverpool
Liverpool‘s Empire Theatre is in panto season, and its festive production this year is Dick Whittington. It stars a good number of famous faces and featuring plenty of funny scenarios and eye-catching moments. This ensures that theatregoers of all ages would love this show.
Dick Whittington
Description Of Dick Whittington
The plot is a little less clear than in other shows, as the story takes some unexpected twists and turns. But the main story arc is that Dick Whittington (played by Kurtis Stacey) and his cat Tommy (Hayley Goold) have arrived in Liverpool looking for work, and not only do they find a job quickly working at a shop belonging to Alderman Fitzwarren (Pete Price), but he also finds love in the form of the shop owner’s daughter Alice (Leanne Campbell). The city has a problem with rats, hence why the cat is of great use to Alderman, but King Rat (Warren Donnelly) still has plans to spoil everybody’s plans.
For, as the main characters prepare to embark on a long trip across the sea, King Rat manages to hypnotise Dick into taking money from the Fitzwarren safe and hiding it in his travel bag, thus seeing him blamed and sent away when the discovery is made. However, Alice manages to convince her family to let Dick and Tommy join them for the journey. But this takes an errant turn too when King Rat strikes again and causes a ship-wreck, leaving the characters to swim their way to safety. They make it to Morocco (where they meet the Sultan of Morocco, also played by Pete Price), where a stand-off occurs between Dick and King Rat. Can Dick clear his name? Will King Rat get what he deserves? And will Dick and Alice get the opportunity to live happily ever after?
Analysis Of Dick Whittington
I really enjoyed this show. All the characters do a good job in their respective roles. Eric Potts is the highlight of the show due to his over-the-top portrayal of Sarah the Cook. This includes some over-sized costumes that get as many laughs as the character wearing them, and a number of risqué jokes (including some involving sausage pies). Liam Mellor also provides some giggles as Idle Jack with some deliberately awful jokes, his laid-back approach to the problems that come up, and his local slang which makes some of his lines sound funnier than they are.
Kurtis and Leanne are effective in the leading roles. They display their singing talents via some modern hits that have the audience clapping and dancing along. The backing dancers (some of which dress as rats) perform well too in their scenes. And we also have Sally Lindsay starring as the Fairy Fazakerley.
Scenery
Perhaps the most memorable parts of the show were the spectacular scenery, from a suitably old-fashioned town setting to a glittery, opulent Moroccan palace, and the unique 3D video which was shown during the second half. The video looked at the adventures of a turtle (carried out by Idle Jack throughout the show) after the shipwreck, as he encountered fishes and even a shark.
Due to the 3D effects (complete with 3D glasses for the audience) and the cool artistry of the scene, it enhanced the show as a whole, and took the production to a level above your everyday (well, every Christmas) pantomime. The opening video to the show was also unexpected, as it charted the history of English pantos and even had an X-Factor-esque intro, complete with a sing-along countdown.
Summary Of Dick Whittington
So, I feel that this is a must-see panto for the family this Christmas. Adults will recognise the older names and will get some jokes that may fly over the heads of younger ones. (One double entendre, in particular, was really funny if a bit awkward in this setting.) The kids will love the special effects, the colourful characters, the superb settings and the general feel of this show. Make it a priority to see Dick Whittington this Christmas at the Liverpool Empire; it’s a first-class Christmas extravaganza for all.
