The Wizard Of Oz At St Helens Theatre Royal Review

Reviewed by Kathryn Harrison

Last night my husband and I visited St Helens Theatre Royal with our two daughters, aged 10 and 6, to watch Regal Entertainment’s The Wizard of Oz.

Now I’m sure most people are familiar with the story of The Wizard of Oz and this pantomime stayed true to the motion picture version with added laughter, song and dance included. It was a small cast with just seven characters supported by a company of wonderful dancers. The only thing missing was the traditional panto dame.

The main character of Dorothy was played by Maddie Hope Coelho, a wonderful actress with a lovely singing voice. Dorothy starts the show in Kansas, living on her Aunts farm with ‘the boys’ Hickory, Dickory and Dock. Following a terrible storm and twister Dorothy is whisked away to the Land of the munchkins where she meets some very interesting characters!

First up she meets Glinda the Good Witch played by Hayley Russell. Glinda explains that Dorothy has been given the protection of the Ruby slippers which will keep her safe as she travels through Oz to the Emerald City. Before long the Wicked Witch, played by Bethany Grace, appears and it becomes apparent why Dorothy will need protection. Bethany Grace made an excellent villain. She had the crowd happily booing her and kept everyone entertained. She also had an excellent voice and I really enjoyed her rendition of Bat Out of Hell.

Next in Dorothy’s journey she comes across the Scarecrow, played by Reece Sibbald who also directed the show. My kids loved the Scarecrow and it was clear they weren’t the only ones! Reece got the crowd engaged and participating in the panto. He kept both the children and adults entertained throughout the show.

As Dorothy continues through Oz she meets the Tin Man, played by Adam Melverley, and the Cowardly Lion, played by Michael Alan-Bailey before reaching the Emerald City and The Wizard of Oz, played by Warren Donnelly.

This pantomime had lots of the familiar aspects you expect to find in a family panto. Lots of audience participation, with the traditional shouts of “he’s behind you” and “oh no it isn’t, oh yes it is!” They had also updated the often used panto sketch of “We’ll have to do it again then won’t we woo!” into a more modern “We’ll have to do a tiktok won’t we woo!” which had my 10 year old giggling away. There were also some parts that I’ve seen many times at the Theatre Royal and felt a little stale. In particular the neon circus scene, the first couple of times I saw this it was fun and interesting however if you’ve seen a few St Helens Panto it begins to feel a little stale and like an obvious stalling tactic.

A good pantomime walks a very fine line between keeping children entertained whilst having jokes for the adults that go over the children’s heads. It’s that innuendo that keeps pantomimes fun for all the family. At previous Theatre Royal pantomimes I’ve felt the line had been crossed from innuendo to crudeness, this show was better than a lot of previous ones I’ve seen at St Helens but there were still jokes I felt unnecessary and inappropriate. Even my 10 year old commented “there was a lot of adult things in the show wasn’t there!” A joke about transgender people felt particularly distasteful considering recent local events. I also felt they made a lot of “gay jokes” which felt very unnecessary and dated to me. Do we really need to make jokes about people’s sexuality in 2023?

Overall there were lots of good things about this panto, my children enjoyed most of it, as it seemed along with a majority of the audience. It was a nice half term activity to enjoy as a family but once again I’m left feeling a little uncomfortable about some of the “humour” in the show.

Rating: 3/5

Tickets cost from £12 plus 50p booking fee.

The Wizard of Oz is at Theatre Royal, St Helens from 14th-19th February.

For more information or to book tickets visit sthelenstheatreroyal.com or call the box office on 01744 756 000

St Helens Theatre Royal, Corporation Street, St Helens, WA10 1LQ