Worthing Theatres new General Manager, Amanda O’Reilly, has made a very bold, but incredibly sensible, decision this year. After so many years of having two Christmas pantomimes chasing after the same Worthing audience, this year she has ditched the Pavilion Theatre panto and has replaced it with the massively popular, and wonderfully festive, Santa Claus – The Musical.
The first, and very noticeable, change that this decision has prompted is that, inside the auditorium, the usually rather compact stage area has cleverly morphed into a vast expanse. By extending out, and sideways, we now see a huge proscenium and a curtain decorated with penguins, a polar bear and Santa Claus, himself – a few hints of the delights that are in store for us.
The band sit, very comfortably, over to the left of the audience and this, although probably necessary due to the stage extension, actually serves to remove the distraction that musicians, and musical directors, can sometimes be. So, with all eyes focussed and the packed house eagerly waiting, the curtain opens to reveal … well, actually, a surprisingly tiny bedroom set.
In the bedroom we meet a little girl called Anna, played, with bags of innocent charm, by Chrissy Kett, and her mother Jenny, played by Naomi Slater. Having lost her father a few years ago, Anna is writing to Santa, again this year, to ask him to find someone to make her mother happy again.
As her letter to Santa magically disappears up the chimney, the tiny set gives way and, as we head up to Santa’s workshop at the North Pole, we see, for the first time, just exactly how massive the new stage area is as the company of 16 dancers launch into a full West End style song and dance routine. During the routine we meet Carys Gray, who plays Santa’s Right Hand Girl, Miss Drift and Adam Kelly as Joe, the Head Elf – who was promoted after Jack Frost (Andrew Edwards) was fired.
Not to be outdone by such a spectacular entrance, The Ice Queen, played by West End and Television star Claire Sweeney, makes her first appearance floating gently across the stage aboard a huge snowflake – the ONLY way for an Ice Queen to travel! Although this is no pantomime, the audience still treat her to a chorus of boos and, loving every second of it, Miss Sweeney gives just as good as she gets and relishes every chance to tell the audience that they should shut up, and that they are ugly.
Back at the North Pole, Santa is coming to inspect progress in the workshop and, looking every inch the part because he doesn’t need a false beard and moustache, Peter Edbrook takes to the stage with a massive Ho Ho Ho. His costume, like so many of the others, is rich and warm and, together with the lighting, sets, pyrotechnics and even show machines, indicates just exactly how much this is a big budget show.
It would, of course, be unfair of me to give away the plot lines but, what I can say is, along the way we meet a colony of singing penguins, two seriously cool dancing polar bears, a horde of singing crows, almost all of Santa’s reindeer (including the one with the bright red nose) and all of this happens to a musical score that contains some of the best Christmas songs ever written.
There is no doubt that Worthing Theatres, and Paul Holman Associates, have hit on a winning formula for the town, one traditional pantomime and one, brilliantly choreographed, wonderfully designed and, above all, superbly performed festive musical. I heartily recommend this show and promise that, even if there’s still shopping to do, presents to wrap, food to cook and a million other things to try and fit in, you will leave the theatre just loving Christmas.
***** Five stars