Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at Bradford Alhambra Review

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

Reviewed by Jenny Bray

I love the Christmas pantomime tradition and seeing lots of children enjoying the theatre and interacting with characters on the stage.

There wasn’t a traditional dame as such in this production. The wicked step mother, Queen Lucretia (Myra DuBios) was the equivalent, with several outfit changes and a large, brassy, blonde wig. As a stand up comedian and drag queen, she had all the moves and gags down to a tee. Queen Lucretia and The Man in the Mirror (Billy Pearce) were the main characters in this production. The Spirit of Pantomime (Sinitta) joined them for several sketches too. Princess Snow White (Sarah Pearson) and Prince William of Wakefield (Callum Connolly) were featured a lot less as, although this show was based around the story of Snow White and even had ‘The Magnificent Seven’ dwarfs all as actual dwarfs (Jamie John, Josh Bennett, Richard Blenkiron, Andy Herd, Kyle Herd, Paul Monaghan and Craig Salisbury), there were several sketches that were only very loosely linked to Snow White.

The stage was shared well between the key characters and the banter between them was brilliant, including when discussing how a pheasant needed preparing for dinner and an alternative rendition of the 12 days of Christmas, which included smelly socks, toilet rolls and pots and pans! There were a couple of points where people ended up adlibbing, with quite hilarious effect. These were sometimes due to one of the cast giggling too much, which is always infectious when seen.

The stage itself had three layers of edges, which mainly had sparkly blue snowflakes, but changed according to the scene. There were several different backdrops for different settings, although one less tonight after Billy fell on one and pulled it down (Luckily no-one was hurt and there was quite a bit of giggling once this was realised!). The outfits were colourful, with many being sparkly. I especially liked the dancing snowflakes and the candy cane style sequins!

This pantomime was refreshing to watch as it was less about the Snow White plot and more about raising laughs with the audience. The actual Snow White storyline didn’t particularly progress during the first half.

However, there were lots of songs, dancing and sketches with gags, some of which were different to the usual regurgitated panto gags although you always have to encourage the audience to boo at the baddy every time they appear. There were lots of references to local areas, which went down well. One song was even sung as ‘Living the Bradford life’. The start time for the show was slightly earlier at 7:15, which is always better for the younger members of the audience. This is quite a long show, with a run time of 2 hours and 20 minutes, but didn’t feel that long as there was always something entertaining going on.

The choreography worked well with the ensemble and the junior members, known as the ‘sunbeams’ perfectly complementing the story going on while they are on stage.

However, of special note has to be the special effects, put on by The Twins FX. The visual effects when people are travelling are amazing and caused many gasps and other reactions from the audience (without wanting to give too much away as to what they are).

The Bradford Alhambra is easy to get to, with cheap parking by the National Science and Media Museum which is only a short walk away and costs just £1 to park after 6pm. There was a snow machine above the entrance that really added to the excitement and suspense entering the theatre. There is a massive Christmas tree inside the entrance and there was a special appearance of a certain man in a red suit tonight, which also kept the children entertained before the show started.

The magic of the interactions between the main characters really made the show for me tonight, with plenty of gags aimed at children, alongside some aimed purely at the adults. The special effects also added the wow factor for me and we really enjoyed it.

Rating: 5/5

Tickets cost between £15 and £50.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is on at the Bradford Alhambra between 6th December 2025 and 18th January 2026.

For more information or to book tickets visit www.bradford-theatres.co.uk or call the Box Office on 01274 432000.