Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs Is The Fairest Panto In The Land At Theatre Royal And Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham Review

Reviewed by Katy Nettleton

Mirror, Mirror on the wall, which is the Fairest Panto in the land? Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is The Fairest Panto in the Land at Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham.

Panto season is back, with a bang!

This is a truly fun, light-hearted production with a modern take on a traditional fairy tale. It was an evening of belly giggles, boos, and cheers. But no – he’s behind you’s! There were the traditions of pantomime land, whilst immersing it with modernity and technical expertise to appeal to the child in all of us.

A star led production, where Joe Pasquale playing the infamous, loveable, but dim character of Muddles led the audience into the fantasy land. With lots of light-hearted humour (and jokes for adults and children alike), it got my children and husband laughing loudly (who is not a panto enthusiast, unlike me!). Their favourite part was when Muddles sang a whole song falsetto at another level – they all thought that he had hurt himself!

The audience were engaged from the start, with clapping along to the Seven Dwarfs within 5 minutes, and the engagement from the audience did not stop until after the last Act. I do not want to spoil the end, but it had the whole audience on their feet, with some questioning moves from many of us. The only problem with this was for my son (aged 9), who couldn’t see due to everyone being on their feet, however, this did not deter him dancing along. But it is something to be aware of if you struggle on your feet or have little ones. (There are booster seats available, so if I was to go again, I’d get one of them at the ready for him.)

There were times, when you wondered if the script was being following closely especially with the “Spollow flot” where we were questioning if it was planned or an ad-lib, but honestly it was brilliant! Whether this was planned or not, it was pure brilliance and brought the panto spirit alive.

Faye Tozer played the role of the evil Queen Lucretia. Her character was not too scary, but definitely not someone you would like to find in the woods offering you a nice, tasty piece of fruit! Her vocals were strong, and even with the untimely presence of Muddles (played by Joe Pasquale) did not deter her from portraying a strong character and amazing singing.

David Robbins played Mrs Nelly Nightnurse and what a performance he did, a true Dame bringing the humour and light to the production. The costumes were pure brilliance, and really made you notice the colours and design, these were not ordinary costumes, they related to the set changes and acts so easily, and brought an audience laugh each time they were introduced! David played the part expertly.

The one thing I did note, was that although there were “stars” of the show, they did not overshadow the other characters, with each one worthy of their place on the stage.

Jamal Kane Crawford played the role of the darling, hunk of Prince William and you could see his enthusiasm and happiness of being on stage, he truly looked like he was enjoying being part of such a production.

Lucy Iredale played the role of innocent and sweet Snow White, and her vocals and protrayol were perfect. The innocence of her character oozed out on to the stage, and made you warm to her and want to protect her from the evil Queen Lucretia.

The Spirit of Pantomime, played by Natalia Brown was pure brilliance, and made you think about Christmas and the role of pantomimes as part of my childhood memories. Honestly, this was a lovely extra touch, that really played with the audience’s minds (in a good way).

A Snow White review would not be complete without mentioning the Magnificent Severn, who all played their roles cheekily, with light humour and expert dancing. You felt their love for Snow White and all things magical.

It is not something I would normally mention in a review, but the programme was brilliant and engaging for the children. My children 9, 12, 12 loved it, and were happily completing the puzzles at the start and during the interval. The programme was informative, but easily understood by all, and for me, it was lovely to see them reading the programme and getting excited to see the characters and show, before it started.

What made the panto for me, was the sight of my children laughing non-stop for nearly 2 hours (plus the non-stop talking about it on the way home!). The show started at 6pm, with an interval at 6.50pm, start of the second half at 7.10 and then finished at 8pm. So perfect length of time for the children to engage and follow the show.

It was a truly engaging performance from start to end.

Rating: Overall, I give this a 5 out of 5, and will be recommending it to everyone! If you want to see a high quality, engaging, modern Pantomime this is the one to go to!

The show is on from Saturday 3rd December 2022 until Sunday 8th January 2023

Tickets cost from £16.50

For more information or to book tickets, please visit Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Theatre Royal, Nottingham (trch.co.uk) or phone the box office on 0115 989 5555

Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall, Theatre Square, Nottingham, NG1 5ND