09 Dec 2024
Matt Adams heads to Harpenden for the first pantomime of the season…
It’s been a few years since I last reviewed a Harpenden panto, but thankfully the experience this weekend was a far cry from the days of sitting on the rickety chairs of a drafty Public Halls counting down the minutes until the interval drinks.
The Eric Morecambe Centre boasts state-of-the-art sound, lighting and staging, ensuring audiences no longer have to strain their ears to hear the dialogue and endure production values only one step up from your average school hall.
This year’s Polka Dot Pantomimes version of Sleeping Beauty was a quality effort almost comparable to the sort of show you see at the Alban Arena, it really was that good, and kept our youngest daughters Mollie (nine) and Connie (almost five) enraptured throughout.
Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK favourite Vicki Vivacious offered a show-stopping performance as evil fairy Carabosse, channelling a charismatic maleficence (excuse the pun!) which convinced Connie that she should actually win in the end! Of course, that may have been helped by the addition of Vicki’s real-life pooch poking its nose out of her shoulder pouch – cute and cheeky in equal measure!
But she was by no means alone on the talent front, with the whole cast giving their all, including the dancers and smaller roles.
Special mention must definitely go to Harpenden’s much-loved dame Josh Handley as Nanny Nora Knicker-Drawer and Oscar Carson as Chester the Jester, who were given all the best lines and delivered them perfectly, playing off each other the way only the best double acts can do.
There was plenty of innuendo for the adults – who would have thought Ann Summers would get a namecheck? – and some nice topical references ranging from Oasis tickets to former PM Rishi Sunak.
Their baking routine was hilarious, as was the traditional spooky woods sequence, and of course Nanny picked a victim in the audience to flirt with – hello dad Leon! – which always entertains, but perhaps she could be even more outrageous in future, as he seemed to get off relatively lightly?
Just as impressive, but in different ways, were Sam Makepeace-Beach as Prince Valiant of Hemel Hempstead and Jasmine Martinez as Princess Aurora, our eponymous Sleeping Beauty. Wow these two can sing! Their powerful rendition of Clean Bandit’s Symphony – reworked as a love ballad – was breathtaking, and both actors gave their roles a depth and character often missing from pantomime heroic leads.
The rest of the songs were a strong mix of original numbers and classic covers, including Don’t Stop Me Now, I’m So Excited, Just Haven’t Met You Yet and I’m a Believer.
The disco routine which accompanied Boogie Wonderland was quite exceptional and worthy of special praise, especially given the small stage the dancers have to work on.
We smiled at the opening night wardrobe malfunctions – the King’s changing socks and Aurora’s fallen crown – as part of the thrills of live theatre, and laughed at the usual digs at Luton and Stevenage (I wonder whether St Albans and Harpenden are similarly mocked in those towns?).
The Harpenden pantomime has definitely stepped out of the shadow of its St Albans’ peer and become a quality production in its own right; it no longer feels like the am-dram of old, but instead offers town audiences a show to be proud of.
