A stellar cast climbs the heights!
The City Hall, Sheffield hosted the opening night of Manor Operatic Society’s Jack and the Beanstalk last night to a packed and lively family audience. Reputed to be the largest amateur pantomime in the country, Manor yet again pulled out all the stops not to disappoint. With a strong, polished and large cast, they filled the large City Hall stage to the brim with laughter and pantomime traditions in their ‘bucket’ load! This pantomime is fully immersive and not one expected ‘pantomime must have’ is missing. From the expected messy baking scene to the tune of Sweet Caroline, to the children invited on stage, and the obligatory ‘it’s behind you’ mayhem – to the audience participation – retorts filled the auditorium and MOS gave the audience what they wanted. The simple backdrop cloths and occasional castle walls are dressed to perfection by glorious costumes, fabulous lighting design with the clever use of UV and neon costumes to create the Beanstalk growing all with a never ending array of pyrotechnics!
I must first mention the band under the Musical direction of Andy Collis with Assistant musical direction by Michael Woodward – What a full sound from the ten musicians. The vast domed building was filled beautifully with a wall of sound and as last year, this is probably the best I have heard any band sound this year, so I also tip my hat to Dave Gregory Productions for their sound mix.
Directed and produced by MOS regular Richard Bradford – and although the storyline is more than a little tentative in places and doesn’t quite flow, the excellent cast and exuberance on stage more than makes up for it. I mean what is a pantomime about? Tradition – yes! and there is that in abundance. I do however; even in a panto; have trouble suspending disbelief and question – Why a Neanderthal land with a pair of huge dinosaurs on stage? It was a little confusing. The dance ensemble, filled the enormous stage and were well drilled and expressive and I particularly enjoyed the Act one finale of ‘Here I go Again’ and ‘The UV Scene’. A good job, done well by Choreographer/Director Linda Kelly and her Dance Captain Evie May Bradford. Watch out for the UV ‘Beans’, they really make the men in the audience laugh!
The ensemble were fully engaged and there were some lovely moments of cameo work on the stage – No ‘deer in the headlights’ from any of the cast as each obviously had the motivation for each scene. There is some stellar performances by the Principal cast, however here is my biggest issue with this production – there are too many Principal characters, which resulted in an overlapping of characterisations and Principals such as the title character Jack had unfortunately nowhere to pitch his character. Stuart Daniel Box is exceptional as the hapless Simon Trott, he had the whole audience in his hand and like his ‘Little Willy’ of last year was the runaway favourite with the audience! This young man really has found his niche! Simon Hance as Dame Tilly Trot (sadly minus the wigs) delivers some hilarity for the adults with his tongue in cheek humour but is equally witty and in control when 100+ children invade the stage for the bucket game! Unfortunately, Hance (I imagine due to scripting) was overshadowed by the sheer exuberance of Box’s on stage time and delivery. It was a similar situation for Dylan Lambert as Jack, although he came into his own with his superb vocals in numbers such as ‘Larger Than Life’ and his lovely duet ‘Without Love’, with Princess Lily (Daisy Cook).
Sniff – Sam Symonds (how he sang with the prosthetic teeth I do not know!) and Whiff – Ben Rossiter (prosthetic nose) added to the hilarity and had a plethora of verbal diarrhoea in the toilet humour department! Callum Fellowes as King Dandelion and Emily McGeoch as Queen Thistle gave a strong performance with a ‘Thenadier’ touch to their roles.
A change of roles from last year’s Dame for Chris Hanlon but with equal flair, as the Tax collector Farcart, Hanlon gave an assured and commanding performance which was mesmerising. I think this was my favourite performance of the night!
Katie Ann Dolling played a comedic Flower Fairy and her energy and accent are hilarious and very detailed – however can you tell ‘Shaz’ to hang up the phone – (too much of a good thing loses impact). Dolling’s little ‘jiggle’ of the Tutu and facial gymnastics are a real highlight and are the perfect Nemesis/contrast for Emily Mae Hoyland’s Witch Weed. Hoyland plays this role with great sophistication and commitment, she is really impressive. I would have liked to see more of her on stage with a larger singing role, as she has a strong singing voice that her ‘Playing with Fire’ number didn’t fully exploit. A special mention must go to the beautiful Buttercup the cow who is so cute! and the girls who are inside the costume. Also, the large Giant puppet was pretty impressive and Leo Appleton who was inside must have had a nightmare operating it and seeing anything! The Golden Harp (Jorjia Morris) sang ‘A Million Dream’ as a duet with Daisy Cook and there were some lovely harmonies. Paige Benison as the Golden Hen just made me smile whenever she laid her egg… so sweet!
Jack and the Beanstalk runs until Sunday 5th January 2025 at the Sheffield City Hall and is well worth a family visit, that’s if you can secure any tickets! It is the perfect way to introduce your family to the joys of theatre and a wonderful couple of hours of British tradition and escapism. There isn’t anyone that could call this an amateur show, the budget must be as large as the cast’s exuberance! Thank you to the Manor Operatic Society for a wonderful evening’s entertainment and I am looking forward to your next production 14th-17th May 2025 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Buy your Golden Ticket now to avoid disappointment.
Reviewer: Tracey Bell
Reviewed: 28th December 2024
North West End UK Rating: