It’s not quite clear exactly which ‘yam yam’ frogs the team at the Wolverhampton Grand have been kissing of late, or what dark and forbidden tomes they may have been plundering, but there’s no denying there’s magic abound in the Black Country this Christmas.

It’s no fluke, either. The regional theatre has been swinging hard and hitting strong with its impressive slew of in-house panto productions in recent years, and with this gigawatt Beauty, they score a gorgeous, hilarious home run.

A panto with actual, legitimate plot twists? Colour me floored. One of the strongest winners in the entirety of the Drag Race oeuvre vamping and camping up the best panto villain you’ll see this year? Gagged and stupefied. A joyful homecoming for the theatre’s resident panto MVPs, Ian Adams and Tam Ryan? Tens across the board.

It’s a dizzyingly fun, colourful and vibrant evening of distilled panto magic, stuffed with signature set pieces (the year we don’t get an Adams ‘I Don’t Care’ sequence is when the pitchforks come out), a smorgasbord of impressions, slapstick fun and genuinely impressive song and dance numbers and production values that will whisk you away beyond even the West End.

“…a dizzyingly fun, colourful and vibrant evening of distilled panto magic.”

It’s Sleeping Beauty a la pantomime, so the core narrative beats are present, tried and true, this time housed in the whimsical kingdom of old Bilstonia (sound familiar?). Adams and Ryan have a lot of fun with the fairytale tropes and cultural postmodernisms alike. As is custom, they offer up plenty of jabs and swipes at everything from the likes of Rachel Reeves, Keir Starmer, that numerical craze… and, well, Smethwick (naturally).

There’s more conventional (see: extremely welcome) fare – such as when Ryan, as ‘Mickey Fortune’ mines lots of laughter from a fun but familiar extended bit about voice recognition and hit songs. Once again kids of all ages lap up his top-notch clownery throughout. Adams, as ‘Mary Fortune’, again delivers your quintessential panto dame with verve, double entendre and toe-tapping bonhomie to spare.

If the stalwarts again posit themselves as being amongst the best in the biz, the newcomers more than keep up, too. Comedy impressionist (and former Corrie star) Debra Stephenson is a kindly presence as ‘Queen Bertha’, but really shines when she’s cut loose to serve up her wheelhouse of impersonations. Whipping through the likes of Stacy Solomon, Lorraine Kelly and even Donald Trump, it’s quite disarming – and deliciously entertaining – being reminded just how bloody good she is at it. Sure, the likes of Anne Robinson may be mining the depths of relevancy a bit too far for some of the audience, but by the time a little Cilla croons in, at least Ryan is ready with a quip for the younger generation to ‘ask your grandparents’.

Georgia Iudica-Davies is lovely and in fine voice as the titular heroine, whilst TV star Zak Douglas offers up some great physical comedy as the hapless ‘Gerald the Herald’. Good luck finding a more perfect or dashing panto prince than musical theatre star (and local lad done good) Solomon Davy. Davy continues his ascent and showcases why a future Fiyero or similar is surely on the cards, and just you wait for his ‘I’m All Alone’ number in the second act… not least of all thanks to its utterly bonkers and inspired finale (particularly moving on the performance reviewed, for reasons patrons of the Grand will have appreciated).

“…a barnstorming performance and one that Beard makes worth the price of admission alone.”

Which leaves the inimitable, towering colossus of camp that is Danny Beard. It’s alchemy of the most malevolent and masterful sort, as not only does Beard utterly command the stage with every strut, stomp and even Fosse (seriously, Chicago fans will be in their element here) but so too is his Carabosse as raucously funny as she is delectably sinister. Whether belting out Conchita Wurst, ratcheting up the spectacle summoning pillars of flames or even a towering dragon for our heroes to do battle with, it’s a barnstorming performance and one that Beard makes worth the price of admission alone. That this particular reviewer was almost crying with laughter at just a ridiculous Irish drawl when Carabosse dons a disguise is testimony to the triple (quadruple?… clock the mug) threat that the drag champion represents.

Beard is helped in no small way by David Shields’ wonderful costume work, with Carabosse’s outfits in particular routinely threatening to steal the show. But Shields spreads his magic across the breadth of Bilstonia and its residents and, coupled with Sam Hilditch’s glorious technicolor bedazzlement and David Janson and Natalie Bennyworth’s spritely, energised direction and choreography keep this Beauty far too eye-popping to ever send you off to sleep. There’s zombie chickens, vaudeville style tap numbers, repeat nods to The Traitors, a villainous spin on the Cell Block Tango, and an anarchic riff on the Twelve Days of Christmas that, if something of a chestnut, is a spiritedly executed one at that.

Whilst Beard towers over the cast and company – clocking in at just over eight feet in full stilettos and regalia – and his brilliant, bombastic Carabosse threatens to do the same over the whole show, the truth is there is excellence on show everywhere you look here. It ticks so many boxes, gets so much right and is so crammed with wholesome, effortless family friendly fabulousness that you’d likely be able to sleep for a hundred years and rest assured that few better pantos would pass by in the time.

Breathlessly camp and colourful with production value to spare and boasting standout turns from old favourites and fabulous new friends alike, as the Grand continue to carve their identity as a go-to home for top drawer festive entertainment, they once more strike perfect panto gold here with a true ‘Beauty’, indeed.

“He’s making a list, he’s checking it twice…”

No, not that bearded fellow who clashes with the postboxes. We’re talking about Wolverhampton Grand Chief Exec (and artistic director), Adrian Jackson, the City’s very own Saint Nick this Christmas.

Seizing the moment, grasping the sleigh reins and bringing the Grand’s annual panto fully in-house for the first time in years (last year’s Aladdin having been co-produced with Evolution Productions), Jackson’s festive gambit has arrived. He isn’t shying away in the wings, either; as musical director, he’s front and centre from the off, conducting this year’s Snow White from upstage, and even a game part of a cheeky gag or two.

But has the Grand’s royal panto flourish paid off? Can this Snow White stand out amidst a packed crowd, as QDOS staples and Palladium transfers busy in about it?

In a word, yes. In two, resoundingly so.

Jackson, along with director David Janson, writers Tam Ryan and Ian Adams (more on whom, shortly…) and choreographer Natalie Bennyworth, have conjured up a rich, stonking feast of a pantomime that’s shinier than a fresh basket of golden delicious, glitzier than a rhinestoned dwarf (or puppet) and camper than, well, Christmas.

“It looks exquisite… a spectacle of real quality and polish all-round.”

Firstly, it looks exquisite. Cast aside instincts to throw in a ‘for a panto’ caveat there, too, for with its opulent and layered sets, glorious costumes (courtesy of local Midlands costume house, Triple C) and some truly splendid visual effects and lighting work, this is a spectacle of real quality and polish all-round.

And perhaps most delectable is, for all of its genuinely impressive production value, here is fundamentally a show steeped with local heritage and flavour. From an inspired, Lord of the Rings-style video prologue that introduces us to the history and plight of ‘Wulfrun’ (the show’s cypher for ‘Wolvo’ itself), featuring the likes of serial sponsor Dudley Castle and, naturally, a Steve Bull cameo, through to the reimagining of Snow White’s companions as seven ‘Peaky Miners’, there’s invention and local flavour aplenty throughout. By the time Niki Colwell Evans is skittering about as a nefarious old crone espousing full ‘yam yam’ slang as she tries to palm off her poisonous wares, Snow White’s spell of irrepressible Black Country charm is not only well and truly cast, it may very well spoil you for other, more generic, pantos altogether, too.

Loosely following the titular fairytale of a kindly Princess (returning CBeebies star, Evie Pickerell) banished away to a tower by a villainous stepmother (Evans), the plot is quintessential fun and fluffy pantomime fare. The creatives at play understand that, when it comes to panto, punchlines and set pieces trump plot, and it’s another area where the Grand pull no punches.

Whether it’s a rousing, fist-pumping invocation of Matilda the Musical’s ‘Revolting Children’ delivered via puppet, a joyous sojourn into vaudevillian excellence with a full-throated take on ‘Tap Your Troubles Away’, one of numerous bouts of slapstick chaos with Adams and Ryan (both returning from previous years to popular demand) or one of a number of truly roof-raising belts and showstoppers from Colwell Evans, Snow White is positively stacked with top-drawer panto moments.

It’s notable that its considerable length (panto or not, let’s not go there…) blitzes by, too.

“…what must surely be one of the hardest-working ensembles in all of panto land…”

Of course, this is in no small part thanks to a fantastic cast, including what must surely be one of the hardest-working ensembles in all of panto land, too. A tremendous company not only dance, sing and even ice skate up a storm, but so too do most of them puppeteer one of the seven distinctive ‘Peaky Miners’ to boot. Fantastic work across-the-board, with Elliot Baker-Costello peppering in some awesome vocals, Jack Skelton a hoot as a cantankerous Scot, and Leonie Wall offering some beautiful character work with her timid, mild-mannered ‘Peaky’.

Of the ‘poster’ cast, local-born Pickerill proves a welcome, delightful return, and Eternal’s Kelle Bryan gives great fairy godmother. Fellow CBeebies star Gyasi Sheppy is suitably dashing and game for later hijinks, as Prince William ‘Little Willy’ of Wombourne, and it isn’t difficult to see why the Grand can’t get enough of the award-winning Tam Ryan as a bundle of comedic energy and silliness in Muddles (‘this year’). Not to mention that, joke-for-joke, frock-for-frock, Ian Adams remains one of the finest, if not the finest, panto dames in all the land. Disagree? “I don’t care!”.

Camping and vamping her way to the throne, though, has to be the aforementioned Niki Colwell Evans as the dastardly Queen Dragonella. Not only is the West End star in staggeringly good voice – positively shaking the rafters with takes on ‘Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend’ and Bette Midler’s version of ‘I Put A Spell On You’ to name just a couple – but she also crucially never takes herself or the show too seriously, either. It’s a devilishly fun and impressive showing, and Jackson would probably do well to add coaxing her back onto his wish list for 2024’s recently-announced Beauty and the Beast…

“Not only is the West End star in staggeringly good voice… she also crucially never takes herself or the show too seriously, either. A devilishly fun and impressive showing…”

There’s no reason that Snow White had to be this good. Jackson, the Grand and all involved could quite easily have rested on their laurels and coasted on the knowledge that the City fairly consistently embraces panto as part of the festive calendar.

It makes the standard of production and performance assembled here all the more laudable and exciting. Here is a show that would not look one iota out of place on a West End stage. It bursts with variety, winning turns, stunning vocals and spectacle at every turn (just you wait to see how they handle the iconic ‘mirror, mirror on the wall…’).

Infused with wit, invention and ambition, stuffed with funny, fabulous performances and all delivered by a knockout company to a show-stopping calibre of sparkle and shine, Snow White is not just the best pantomime this particular reviewer has ever seen in the fair old City of ‘Wulfrun’, it’s also comfortably one of the best pantos you could hope to see this festive period.

An absolute fairytale.

Quite possibly, indeed, the fairest in all the land.

Midway through the second Act of Wolverhampton Grand’s shiny new in-house production of Aladdin, former Eastenders star, Michael ‘Beppe’ Greco, is swung around in a harness above blasts of flame, as his villainous Abanazar croons at the edges of Robbie William’s ‘Let Me Entertain You’. It’s as bizarre – and nineties – as it sounds, and cements one clear train of thought.

We’re certainly back in panto land.

That Greco’s warbling and aerial hijinks sort of work anyway is, if anything, testimony to the crackerjack, madcap quality of the show that the Grand have put together in this, their own panto adventure (in association with Evolution Productions). It’s a slice of panto easily as funny, visually engaging and colourful as any of the former QDOS’ offerings that were, up until relatively recently, annual Christmas fixtures for the theatre.

Look, we’re not talking about the reinvention of the wheel, here. Although discussions continue to abound about the progression of the art form of pantomime, and its place amongst 21st Century sensibilities, for the most part this is hearty, traditional British panto fare, brought to the stage by a game and vibrant cast. Aladdin is a particularly juicy choice, with its dastardly sorcerers, high flying carpets and powerful genies – not to mention, in this version at least, a rather scene-stealing (if disappointingly underutilised) elephant.

“Ryan’s a tremendously safe and spontaneously funny pair of hands as the show’s de facto comic relief, and it isn’t at all difficult to see why was invited back…”

It certainly looks the part, but the real measure of any successful panto is in how much it gets at the funny bone, and it’s here that Wolverhampton have a particularly giggle-worthy pair of aces up their sleeves. Comedian Tam Ryan, fresh from an award-winning run in last year’s Cinderella, returns to Wolverhampton as the loveable Wishee Washee, here sporting a burgeoning career as a rap (or is that tortilla?) artist. Ryan’s a tremendously safe and spontaneously funny pair of hands as the show’s de facto comic relief, and it isn’t at all difficult to see why was invited back, as the show’s earliest casting announcement. He’s also buoyed by the ever-fabulous Ian Adams, another Grand returnee, who, bedecked in an increasingly zany wardrobe as Widow Twankey, remains, pound for pound, innuendo for innuendo, one of the finest working panto dames in the ‘biz.

There are plenty of fun and boisterous set pieces injected throughout Aladdin to keep audiences of all ages entertained and involved, from an early spot of sud-soaked slapstick in Twankey’s launderette, some spirited spars of oral gymnastics (…careful), and an entire number dedicated to the old ‘he’s behind you’ chestnut, which saw the entire auditorium screaming and shouting along. Will Brenton’s script includes plenty of pokes and jabs at popular culture and the wider world, including not one, but two, barbs aimed Liz Truss’ way and jabs at everything from Boy George in the I’m A Celeb jungle to, well, Boris Johnson’s hair (…it wouldn’t be Christmas without it now, let’s face it). And then there’s the compulsory romance blossoming, this time between titular rascal Aladdin (CBeebies’ Ben Cajee) and young Jasmine (Sofie Anné), who is here daughter of the town’s cynical yet amusingly bumbling Notary (Ian Billings). Duane Gooden pops up sporadically throughout the second Act for the odd bit of song and dance silliness as the Genie of the Lamp, presented here as a kind of CliffsNotes riff on the same character from Disney’s West End and Broadway show.

“Pop Idol contestant turned bonafide West End leading lady, Zoe Birkett, routinely threatens to carry away with the whole show…”

Everyone’s clearly giving it their all, and it is, crucially, a whole lot of fun. Sure, Cajee isn’t the most effortlessly naturalistic of leading men, and he’s completely out-sung by the talent around him, but it’s panto; those expecting Chekhov should probably check out. On the subject of music and singing, though, Pop Idol contestant turned bonafide West End leading lady, Zoe Birkett, routinely threatens to carry away with the whole show. From Arabia (in London’s Moulin Rouge) to Arabian Nights, her feisty yet kindly Spirit of the Ring is a bundle of fizz and Northern warmth, lighting up the stage whenever she appears, whilst positively tearing through some seriously demanding sings, including Wicked tentpole ‘Defying Gravity’. She’s regularly one of the best things about an already solid production, though it has to be said, newcomer Sofie Anné delivers some top notch vocals throughout, too.

Charting a new course for their yearly pantomime adventures, the Wolverhampton Grand have certainly hit the ground running with this vibrant treasure trove of family-friendly treats in Aladdin. In Adams, Birkett and Ryan in particular, they serve up some serious panto wattage to power the engine of all things funny and fabulous, and, as a spirited bundle of classic panto riches, Aladdin proves itself a very easy recommendation to grant all your feel-good wishes this Christmas and New Year.

In the grand scheme of things, it seems a tad tone-deaf to complain that one of the real woes of 2020 was its complete absence of anything approaching an annual Panto season. Nevertheless, it makes this year’s return to the season of dames, damsels and double entendres a doubly exciting foray for audiences at Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre, with this also being the longstanding venue’s first in-house panto production – in conjunction with Imagine Theatre – in several years (having recently housed a string of QDOS offerings).

As a debut production and mission statement for Christmases yet to come, Cinderella rips up any hesitancy, doubt or tepid expectations and hurls them through its LED windows to present a dazzling, bombastic and frequently hilarious pantomime experience that is easily the equal of – and in some cases better than – its regional and West End peers.

The Grand and Imagine strike gold in realising the trifecta of a quality Panto being its cast, the laughs and the overall festive razzmatazz.

Bringing back one of the industry’s finest dames, Grand veteran Ian Adams – this time trotting out to the tune of Dame Penny Pockets – being the first coup. Adams is, pound for pound, one of the best Panto dames you can wish for, and he’s on top form once again here, from his trademark singalong (“he don’t care!”) to a suitably chaotic run on ‘The Twelve Days Of Christmas’, Adams proves once again a safe, funny and sarcastic presence throughout. He’s well-met by Tam Ryan as the loveable, bumbling Buttons, who ploughs through a carriage load of local quips and references (Tettenhall somehow seeming to come off both best and worst…) and proves himself a firm audience favourite with his jokey sidekick turn.

“Adams is, pound for pound, one of the best Panto dames you can wish for, and he’s on top form once again here.”

Speaking of local, Black Country born-and-bred Evie Pickerell, of CBeebies fame, is an engaging and likeable presence in the titular role, with some fun deadpan moments, dance sequences and a tune or two spicing up the normally bland and passive heroine. Elsewhere, Julie Stark, Ella Biddlecombe and Britt Lenting are all tremendous fun as the villainous Baroness Hardup and her terrible offspring, respectively. All three are in fine voice, Stark vamps up the show’s lead baddie with real relish and gusto, whilst Biddlecombe and Lenting are scene-stealing highlights; laugh-out-loud funny as they pick on unsuspecting members of the audience, and generally channel plenty of ‘Gen Z’ instagram, insta-fame obnoxiousness, whether strutting about on stage belting out The Eurythmics, or just generally being wickedly good fun.

Poster boys for Cinderella, Pritchard siblings AJ and Curtis strike suitably handsome and dashing presences on stage as Prince Charming and Dandini, with the former cutting a sharp rug throughout (though with admirably few Strictly references… although a glitter ball pun joke early on is particularly sharp), and Curtis displaying some unexpectedly impressive vocals in not one, but two, musical numbers. Whilst neither will likely be troubling the Oliviers any time soon, they are innately likeable and irrepressible, clearly game for a laugh, and pitch-perfect for these kind of dashing, occasionally self-deprecating, and frequently silly, roles.

“AJ and Curtis… are innately likeable, clearly game for a laugh, and pitch-perfect for these kind of dashing, occasionally self-deprecating, and frequently silly, roles.”

On the subject of funny, there’s plenty to laugh at here, with a surprisingly self-contained book that doesn’t oversaturate itself with intertextual and meta references, but is still positively stuffed with welcome staples (the old chocolate bar name number) and a heap of physical gags, set pieces and quintessential Panto tomfoolery. See, for instance: a double-barrel of fake leg and never-ending stocking silliness when the sisters attempt to try on the famous glass slipper.

With regards to its staging, Cinderella quite frankly knocks its predecessors out of the water, with designers Mark Walters, Nina Dunn and Jamie Corbidge crafting a visually stunning fairytale world on stage, namely courtesy of a series of enormous framing LED panels that beam transitions, effects and a myriad of storybook locales of a quality, scale and impact that wouldn’t seem out of place in London. The marriage of lighting, video and screens isn’t exactly new, even for Panto, but it is so colourfully, ambitously and seamlessly executed here that it truly elevates the production as a whole into something aesthetically splendid and, well, grand.

Ticking so many boxes, tickling plenty of funny bones, and with a game, likeable cast featuring some real Panto pros, there’s a lot to love here. Sure, some of it may be a touch familiar, but who would have it any other way? Technically and artistically, Cinderella works real theatre magic, and as a litmus test for Wolverhampton’s return foray into producing its own unique brand of pantomime magic, it passes with flying pumpkin colours.

Go to the ball at the Grand, and a ball you shall most certainly have.

A pair of balls…

It must be that time of year.

Welcome back.