REVIEW: JACK AND THE BEANSTALK at the Grand Opera House
There are some excellent Christmas shows going on at the moment and there’s room for them all, including the Opera House pantomime which begins to gather speed a mile away from the theatre, park your car and join the families skipping towards Jack and his adventures up the Beanstalk and a happy night.
Two action packed hours (interval about 20 mins) spectacular from the word go. As promised tradition was observed, great scenery, great costumes, a speciality roller skating act – Armando Ferriandino and Giovanna Manuela Mar, The Belfast Roller Rollers – funny script stuck to most of the time, hilarious when things went wrong, great cast and especially fabulous band under the baton of Mark Dougherty. And a plus, we could hear every word. What impressed me was the freshness of this show, according to Ian Wilson chief executive we were in for a treat and he was correct.
Of course it wouldn’t be the Belfast Pantomime without a very energetic May McFettridge as Dame May Trott married to Farmer Paddy (Paddy Jenkins) with two sons Jack (Michael Pickering) who is in love with Princess Apricot (Georgia Lennon) and somewhat innocent Simon (Rikki Jay) who soon had the audience on his side with his special gang – “Wacka Wacka Simon”! The baddie is really evil, dressed in black, sooty eyes and a Shakespearian voice to match, David Bedella just lives Fleshcreep the giant’s right hand man, menacing and threatening everyone.
One young man of about six kept saying ‘May is cool’, another older boy liked the local references and the impossibly fast tongue twisters played out by the cast, and most agreed the animals were ‘brill’ and so they were.
When the chips were down the Trot family must sell their wide selection of loveable farmyard creatures, dogs, sheep, lambs courtesy of young members of McMaster Stage School, a pig, goats and worst of all the thought that Bella, the beautiful tap dancing cow, would have to go. I’m sorry those behind Bella, or more accurately under Bella, have not been credited in the programme. We lived every moment of the trauma but the animals and especially Bella had to go in exchange for a bag of golden nuggets, but guess what, they were actually beans. Thanks to Mother Nature (Joanna O’Hare) one beans grows right up to Cloud Land and the Giant’s castle and he’s hungry for a tasty Princess. And how did Dame Trot get up into the Land of Giants to rescue her? Well, that is one of the most spectacular parts of this pantomime – congratulations to all involved.
The rest is a fairy story and as you’d expect everything works out, Princess Apricot marries Jack Trott and the animals live to see another day.
A night of pantomime magic for both young and old.
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