You could feel the anticipation in the Swansea Grand on opening night of SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, this has been a long time coming, and the audience were more than ready for the show.
It must have been pretty tense backstage too, as this was the first public staging of the show, in fact any panto in Swansea for two years. For one of the stars, Olympian COLIN JACKSON, even more so, as this is his first ever pantomime – oh yes it is, and a mighty fine job he made of the Man In The Mirror.
The Cardiff-born sporting hero won a silver medal at the 1988 Olympic Games, three world championships and has an unbeatable reputation as one of our best-loved and highly respected athletes. The crowd loved him, although he did have a few hurdles to jump at the mention of ‘Cardiff’ that was very funny.
Snow White was going to be last year’s seasonal offering but was pandemic postponed until this year. The last time the theatre didn’t stage a pantomime was 70 years ago when it was as a cinema for a short time.
The theatres annual show has been on the festive calendar for families every single year since 1947 – apart from last that is. There’s something about the Grand which makes it the perfect setting for a traditional panto, and this is most certainly that.
Before we go any further, let’s find out what the Lord Mayor of Swansea, COUNCILLOR MARY JONES thought of the opening night. She was there with her grandchildren, and like the rest of us, was delighted to see pantomime back in the city.
All the usual panto rules applied – we all screamed ‘he’s behind you’, we booed and hissed at the Wicked Queen, played by ZOE GEORGE. She had a few set routines, all of which were performed well, our favourite had to be I Put A Spell On You.
The show is firmly stuck together however by the very funny, and Swansea regular KEVIN JOHNS, who play the cook. Kev is Wales through and through and the audience love him for it.
Kevin won’t mind us saying this, I’m sure, but he’s been around a while, and has an incredible career to his name. Everything from musical theatre, stand-up comedy, and pantomime. In fact, he’s been a Dame at the Grand for twenty years now, so has entertained thousands over the years.
It occurred to me watching the show, there’s a fair chance that Kev was entertaining parents in the audience who came to see him when they were children. No wonder they went wild when he ‘drove’ onto the stage.
JON CLEGG who played Muddles has a fantastic rapport with Kev, the two had a natural flow between them, which comes from more than just rehearsals. Jon on his own however, is a seasoned, and incredibly funny entertainer.
If he looks familiar it’s probably from Britain’s Got Talent where he was a finalist in 2014. But Jon has been a regular on stages across the country with his unique celebrity impersonations and quick wit. He appeared on the ITV topical comedy sketch show Newzoids and regularly entertains international audiences performing his one-man comedy and impressions show on cruise ships and hotels across the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.
Here’s a little reminder of Jon’s moment on BGT.
Cast as the Man In The Mirror, Colin Jackson is up for all the fun, particularly in the ghost and ghouls number and the final ‘if I wasn’t in panto what would I be’ routine. These are perfectly choreographed, with the cast working around a sticking door and broken trombone, although this is panto, so who knows what is real.
Which brings me nicely to the Seven Dwarfs. Like most Christmas illusions, we would hate to shatter them, needless to say, the seven not only had to sing and dance, but also work extra hard throughout the show with special costumes helping them with their roles. I get down on my knees to the dedication they put in to the roles.
Seeing the Dwarfs so early on in the show is a little unusual, but the way they set the story worked well, and the kids really enjoyed the opening number.
This is a show with a big cast. Theres the seven dwarfs, of course, but equally as many in the ensemble, and they were really good too. Switching from Royal Palace, to Wicked Queen’s lair, to the Dwarfs Forest with ease. They felt a real part of the show, rather than just plonked in like a bit of an after thought.
Of course, you need a Snow White in this show and that is played beautifully by EMMA KIRK.
The show is very funny – thanks to Kevin and Jon, who are on stage a lot, and rightly so, they are a great paring, but also have some funny solo routines. The story is everything you’d want from Snow White, with some nice modern updates thrown in for good measure. Would we recommend it? Oh yes we would, 100 per cent, but for me it was the kids in the audience who were the best critics, and they went crazy from start to finish.
They’re expecting over 30,000 theatregoers to attend the pantomime at Swansea Grand Theatre, so booking early is clearly the way to go.
The SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS runs through to Sunday the 2nd January 2022 with a variety of performance times and ticket prices. You can get all the details HERE.
