We have been lucky enough to go the pantomime at the New Theatre for the last few years. It now feels that this is an important part of the build up to Christmas for our family so we were really looking forward to going to see “Peter Pan” this year.
Some of the adults were excited that David “the Hoff” Hasslehoff was appearing but we had never heard of him and were more excited to see Mike Doyle who we remembered as being very very funny in previous years.
We thought that we knew what to expect from the pantomime at the New Theatre – amazing sets, fabulous costumes and lots of laughs! We were also expecting a great “star turn” with H from Steps and Gareth Thomas really shining in previous pantos.
We weren’t disappointed by the staging – the sets really were impressive and we loved watching Peter Pan and Wendy fly across the stage. We also loved watching Tinkerbell glide around the stage on her rollerskates.
There were lots of costume changes and we were really impressed with how quickly the cast members, especially Mike Doyle as Mrs Smee, managed to change from one amazing costume to another. Our favourite costumes were Mimi the mermaid’s outfit and Mrs Smee’s “Marks and Spencer’s” outfit.
However we didn’t think that this was as good as previous pantos – there wasn’t much of a storyline and we weren’t actually that impressed by the Hoff! The standout for us again was Mike Doyle who was absolutely brilliant as Mrs Smee. We loved his impression of Honey G from the X factor and everyone in the audience enjoyed answering “Smee” to his “I say missus, you say…” We love the fact that he breaks into laughter himself at some points in the show and really looks as if he is having a huge amount of fun.
The singing and dancing was great and the show ends with a “party” where the cast take their applause with streamers dropping from the ceiling. We left the theatre having enjoyed the show but our overall impression was “good but could do better”.
By Nia, Rhydian and Megan Callaghan
http://www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk/
Until January 8