Pinocchio at The Alhambra Theatre Bradford Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by Deborah Banasko

Every year I am told by a friend that the Bradford Alhambra Theatre Pantomime is the best one around, and that the comedian Billy Pearce is the star of the show.

I was delighted to receive this review as I could finally see what all the fuss was about. I went along with my 10 year-old son, who loves a Panto and going to the Alhambra Theatre as it’s just so gorgeous inside, has comfy seating and we have never had a poor view yet. A point worth noting is that we arrived just a few minutes before it started and there were still plenty child booster seats left.

Most people will be familiar with the tale of Pinocchio (played by Ewan Goddard), the wooden puppet whose nose grows whenever he tells a lie. Billy Pearce plays his Father as the toymaker Geppetto, and with the help of the Blue Faerie (Drag Queen Courtney Act) and Jiminy Cricket (Nicholas McLean) they want to teach Pinocchio the importance of telling the truth so that he may become a real boy. However, the evil Stromboli (Coronation Street’s Chris Gascoyne) wants to kidnap the puppet and make him the star of his show.

My son and I agreed that the main take-away from the show was boy, was it funny. We both laughed hysterically throughout, as did what felt like the entire audience. There were laughs sprinkled into most of the dialogue, but it was the entire scenes which were dedicated to a running joke which really had us chuckling. They were genius, and I haven’t seen this type of humour in a Panto before. I didn’t realise that Pearce miming to various lines of popular songs, timed perfectly with prompting dialogue from Gascoyne, could be so hilarious. Even Gascoyne struggled not to laugh on two occasions, and that is down to the comic timing, comedy acting and relentless energy of Pearce. He absolutely performs to the maximum and is simply fantastic at what he does.

A second point to make is that this show is very much for the entire family and not just children. Some jokes would have gone over the heads of children, but have been written (or improvised) in a clever way so that it was not inappropriate for them to hear.

Gascoyne plays the part of the bad guy well, is a great actor and for me was a bit of eye candy if I’m honest. He lapped up the “boo’s” and really engaged well with the audience.

I loved Courtney Act; fantastic vocals and perfectly cast as the Faerie, as their acting and timing were faultless.

I have to acknowledge the unexpected performance of Spark Fire Dance during the show. They specialize in stunts, special effects, fire manipulation and pyrotechnics, and I haven never seen anything quite like it. Just spellbinding.

The show relied on backdrops, pyrotechnics, lighting and dancers to create most of the scenes rather than props, but your eyes were on the actors most of the time. However, one particularly genius piece of engineering coupled with clever twinkling lighting allowed Pearce to get a little closer to the audience, which was a stand-out moment for me. I won’t spoil it, but he managed to make my son and probably every child in the auditorium feel that he was waving directly at them. Audience engagement is something that he does very well.

The storyline was glossed over a little, which is the case for most pantomimes as we were there for the laughs and audience participation rather than a complex tale. We both left with smiles on our faces, with my son re-telling his favourite jokes and scenes through laughter. If that isn’t a sign of a good show and a top night out then I don’t know what is.

I have to refer to the speech by Pearce at the end of the show; he acknowledged that times are hard and thanked us for trusting them with our money, and he thanked the audience for the laughs that we gave them in return. It was a sweet, sincere finish to a great show.

Stars: 5/5 stars

The show runs from 7th December- 19th January, and tickets are priced between £14.75 and £45.75.
You can purchase tickets from www.bradford-theatres.co.uk.