Dick Whittington at the Opera House Manchester Review

Reviewed by Melanie Allen

When I heard that The Krankies were starring alongside John Barrowman in this year’s Christmas panto, I was amazed that they were still performing after all these years. As a child, I adored the unique comedy humour of the Scottish duo, but thought they were solely children’s entertainers. How wrong was I?

Me, my husband and 2 children aged 10 and 12 arrived to a bustling purple carpeted entrance and upon collecting our tickets, we were handed some 3D glasses, which was a first for me at this packed and busy theatre.

The opening set is a myriad of dazzling colours. We are introduced all the usual characters, the evil dark villain King Rat (Phil Corbitt), the fairy godmother Spirit of Bow Bells (Jacqueline Hughes), the beautiful councillor’s daughter, Alice (Lauren Hampton) and of course the leading man who has had fame on both sides of the Atlantic, Dick (John Barrowman). As with all panto’s, smutty references to his name has the audience in stitches almost immediately. The audience all cheered as the stars of the show, Councillor Krankie and Jimmy came on stage. As quick witted and funny as ever, I’m in awe of the way that ‘Jimmy’ is still able to be thrown about like a puppet by her husband. This pair of risqué septuagenarians were just hilarious. Their saucy jokes went way over the kid’s heads but were still funny for the kids too. The trumpet scene with Dick, Jimmy and Councillor Krankie was highly entertaining and the fact that the set door got stuck just added to the fun.

For me, panto’s are all about how well the actors can ad lib after deviating from the script and how quickly they can think on their feet. It’s also how well they interact with the audience and this panto has to be one of the funniest performances I have seen on stage. Ever! My face ached from all the hilarity and I needed tissues to wipe my tears of laughter away. This panto isn’t just side splitting, it is body splitting! John Barrowman was fantastic at thinking on his feet when the children in the audience shouted out the plot of the story to him.

The scenery and special effects were exceptional, and I could actually hear the younger children gasp with glee when the reindeers flew through the sky and when Jimmy was in the shark’s mouth. The 3D part was also very impressive and realistic but maybe was bit frightening for little ones (who could just not wear their 3D glasses). The funniest act was the 12 days of Christmas song. I’m not sure if half of it was scripted but it was brilliantly done.

The whole cast created an amazing performance, I can’t express just how incredible this panto is, you really do have to go and see it for yourself and take all of your family and friends of all ages. It truly is the best panto in the galaxy.

Rating: 5/5

Tickets cost from £12 to £52.50 (plus £4 transaction fee).

Dick Whittington is at the Opera House in Manchester from 9 December 2017 to 7 January 2018, for more information or to book tickets visit www.atgtickets.com/operahouse or call the box office on 0844 871 3018.

Opera House, 3 Quay Street, Manchester, M3 3HP | 0844 871 3018