When a theatre develops a close and long-term working partnership with a production company, as Worthing Theatres have with Paul Holman Associates, it gives the creative team the opportunity to make improvements to their show year after year and to develop a better understanding of the theatre and the audience – and the subsequent productions just get better and better.
As a result of this strong collaboration and understanding, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is, quite simply, the finest and funniest pantomime that has ever graced the stage of the Pavilion Theatre with a superb cast of amazing singers and dancers, a small band that really make a big sound, good lighting, sound and costumes and even a special video appearance by Jo Brand as the Magic Mirror.
The One and Only Chesney Hawkes headlines the show and, despite the fact that his massive number one hit was more than a quarter of a century ago, he really hasn’t changed a bit. Looking much younger than his real age (46) he is able to carry off the role of Prince Benedict really well and his amazing voice is as clear and powerful as ever.
Another tremendously powerful voice comes from Niki Evans, as the evil Queen Grizelda. Whether it’s the opening number, Nina Simone’s Feeling Good or Rag’n’Bone Man’s monster hit, Human, Evans just opens her mouth and her huge voice effortlessly lifts the rafters.
Simon Howe and Joseph Elliott, as Dame Dolly and Muddles, supply a plethora of seriously corny jokes throughout the show and work very well together as the very best friends of Snow White, played beautifully by West End star Cassie Compton. Louise Cannon provides rhyming continuity in her role as the Forest Fairy.
The choreography is clean and tight and the six dancers, Ellice Head, Izabel Oliver, Emily Parfitt, Dulcie Holdaway, Faizal Jaye and Michael Scotland all give 100% in the many and varied routines that appear throughout the show.
Of course, no production of Snow White would be complete without the Dwarfs. In this show they are played by children. Not masked children, with voices replaced by adults – but children who dance, act and sing just as well as the rest of the cast, and who win the hearts of the audience as soon as they make their way through the auditorium to the stage.
In what can only be described as a show-stealing performance, Richard David-Caine is just incredible as wonderfully camp Herman the (German) Henchman.With an accent that owes much to Allo Allo!, he delivers a succession of one-liners (many of which are not part of the script) and, in the traditional “messy kitchen” scene he, together with Dolly and Muddles, brings the house down. He is a master of the comic art who, with just a small gesture, or pursed lips, or a raised eyebrow manages to have the entire audience in stitches – even though the younger ones probably have no idea why they are laughing!
This fantastic, traditional, pantomime really shows that Worthing Theatres and Paul Holman Associates are just getting stronger and stronger as a team. It will be very interesting to see how much further they can go with next year’s production, Aladdin.
***** Five Stars
