At the close of Robin Hood – this year’s festive offering from the Birmingham Hippodrome – fan favourite Matt Slack informs the crowd of a genuinely impressive benchmark. It just so happens to be bonafide legend – and ‘special guest’ star – Christopher Biggins’ sixtieth panto outing.

It’s a crowd-pleasing denouement to what has been a legitimately inspired and hilarious running gag throughout, as Biggins is repeatedly wheeled out (sometimes literally) throughout the show for a brief few moments, only to be chastised and kicked straight back off stage, as it isn’t yet time for his King Richard’s return. It’s just one of many wrinkles that makes this production so fresh, fun and gleefully silly, and just you wait to see what they do with him in ‘If I Were Not Upon the Stage’.

Back to panto Top Trumps though, and it isn’t as though Slack himself is, well… slacking. Hood marks his own twenty-third pantomime production, and an impressive twelfth consecutive year in Brum. It’s clear from the moment he first comically struts onto the stage that the audiences clearly still eat him up, and from this red letter outing, it isn’t difficult to see why. Nipping at his heels with an eye-popping assemblage of utterly genius frocks and get ups is the wonderful Andrew Ryan, chalking up his ninth consecutive visit to the Hippodrome and once again proving there really is nothing like a great dame (yes, I said dame).

“It’s clear from the moment he first comically struts onto the stage that the audiences clearly still eat him up…”

The highly successful model of QDOS migrating last year’s London Palladium offering to the Hippodrome continues this year with Hood. If you paid a visit to Julian Clary and Jane McDonald’s iteration in 2024 you’ll already be familiar with the lavish production values, stunning costumes and general narrative bent (hint: it’s utter nonsense, but joyfully so), and yet there’s undoubtedly more than enough here that is fresh and new to make it a comfortable must-see.

Slack is, as mentioned, one of the major draws. It almost goes without saying now, but he is effortlessly entertaining and wheels out a host of materials, gags and routines old and new. We get the human jukebox hijinks and aforementioned ‘Not Upon the Stage’, in addition to new flourishes such as a spirited acrobatic interlude with The Acromaniacs and a genuinely jaw-dropping and side-splitting about-turn in one of his late show staples (hint: it involves younger members of the audiences). It’s a joy, and seriously impressive, to consider he’s been gracing the Hippodrome stage for over a decade and he feels as spritely, animated and irrepressible as ever.

Ryan is once again a delicious panto dame, this time as Robin’s mother, Henrietta, and although past years have offered stiff competition and set an astronomically high and elaborate bar, Teresa Nalton’s costumes and concoctions this time round have to surely be the best to date. From a mushroom masterpiece to practically an entire gazebo – trimmed bush and all – the invention and whimsy is off the scale.

But, as is par for the course with the Hippodrome, the wider cast and production fire on plenty of cylinders of their own, too. TV favourite Gok Wan returns and is an ebullient gem, with the genuine rapport he shares with Slack completely palpable and utterly infectious. They somehow even manage to make the frequent planned corpsing feel completely naturalistic and quite the hoot, when it can so easily feel grating. The two make a formidable comic pairing, as Gok Scarlett and the titular hero dabble about in heroics, slapstick and even a spot of bedroom mischief.

“TV favourite Gok Wan returns and is an ebullient gem, with the genuine rapport he shares with Slack completely palpable and utterly infectious.”

The X Factor champion Matt Cardle is suitably boo-hiss-able as a wolf-corralling Sheriff of Nottingham, whilst Steps’ Faye Tozer is a feisty and no-nonsense Maid Marian. Naturally, she riffs off a bit of ‘Tragedy’ and ‘Afraid of the Dark’, too, and sounds damn good doing so, to boot. And if that weren’t enough belting and heavy hitting for you, Robin Hood rounds out its vocal artillery with musical theatre veteran and powerhouse Sandra Marvin as the Spirit of Sherwood Forest.

Transmogrifying the already acclaimed spectacle and bombast of the Palladium’s serving last year (gigantic animatronic wolf and all) and infusing it with a great new cast, local favourites and a host of original ideas and unrelenting silliness has proven a recipe success at the Hippodrome for several years now. But even by that metric and expectation, Robin Hood is an especially joyful and colourful beast.

Grab your ‘old longbow’ and steal from the rich to nab yourself a ticket if you must. In over a decade of anticipating and reviewing the Hippodrome’s annual pantomime offering, Slack and his band of merry men and women may have just conjured up their finest hour to date, and the funniest, most glamorous pantomime this side of Gilly Gilly Ossenfegger Katzenellen Bogen by the Sea.

The theatre colossus that is Andrew Lloyd Webber committed a giggle-worthy gaff earlier this year, when accepting a WhatsOnStage award for his recent revival of Starlight Express in the West End.

“We’re bringing in new, young people to see a show and… okay, it’s not necessarily the greatest musical you’ll ever see.”

The room – not to mention swathes of TikTok – took it in good humour and relished in the Lord (not that one) offering up a splash of self-deprecation toward one of his earlier offerings.

It’s the kind of deadpan that could be levied at Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The debut collaboration between Lloyd Webber and Sir Tim Rice is a simple but pleasant thing. It has graced more school, amateur and professional stages than quite possibly any other musical that springs to mind and as such is peppy, family-friendly fun with catchy tunes that you’ll likely be humming long after the curtain falls.

But as a simplistic, sung-through piece it’s… well, not necessarily the greatest musical you’ll ever see.

Enter: Michael Harrison, Laurence Connor and team.

Stretching, pulling, rethreading and revitalising every nook, cranny and beat of Joseph, imbibing it with spectacle and a flurry of big-budget, song-and-dance embellishments, they serve up what is perhaps the biggest surprise of the theatre season so far.

Bursting with invention and joy, this is a rousing, technicolor marvel of a revival that truly sings.

“…a rousing, technicolor marvel of a revival that truly sings.”

For those who have somehow avoided the Joseph engine to date, its follows its titular character as he goes on his biblical adventure through slavery, imprisonment and beyond. Given its roots, Lloyd Webber and Rice’s book is refreshingly scarce on religiosity, with nary a mention of the big man upstairs. Instead, it is a decidedly child-friendly ode to fortitude, perseverance and decency.

‘Given the fact that any substance here is paper thin (at best), Connor, along with set designer Morgan Large and choreographer Joanne M. Hunter decide to go full throttle on the spectacle. Particular credit to MD John Rigby and the dance arrangements from Sam Davis, too. A cynic may call it padding, but the full-throated way in which the creatives here take the likes of ‘One More Angel in Heaven’ and explode into a full honkey-tonk hoedown of almost Rodgers and Hammerstein proportions is nothing short of genius. ‘Those Canaan Days‘ becoming ‘Can Can days? Inspired. This feels like Joseph the musical as it always ought to have been.

Given the abundance of different genres that Joseph’s score riffs through – jazz, country, rock, calypso to name but a few – the decision to have lots of freewheeling, expansive fun here pays off in abundance. Formerly pleasant toe-tappers turn into full scale song and dance show-stoppers, and Connor has a deft eye for injecting character throughout, to boot.

Of course, it helps to be working with such a strong company. Not least of all a selection of very winning child performers who have been integrated into the show far beyond the usual token pop-ups, which is a joy to watch. Even key roles such as Potiphar and the good-nature Benjamin are portrayed by some of the talented kids on stage.

In a similar vein, the irrepressible bundle of joy that is Christina Bianco takes her cheeky, fourth wall-breaking narrator and dips it in and out with bit parts such as Joseph’s father and Potiphar’s villainous, seductive wife. Bianco injects the role with a ton of energy and charm to spare, and her innate comedic skills are put to great use throughout. And if it that weren’t enough natural comedic talent to appreciate, the triumphant return of Birmingham Hippodrome favourite Matt Slack proves an utterly scene-stealing strike of casting gold.

“Hippodrome favourite Matt Slack proves an utterly scene-stealing strike of casting gold.”

By dint of his role as Pharaoh, Slack isn’t afforded a tremendous of stage time, but he mines it for every laugh, strut and cheeky reference to his panto staples as he can. It’s a gift of an extended cameo, and a surefire reason why audiences should check out the tour in Birmingham.

But arguably this production’s greatest ace is in it’s leading man; rising musical theatre star Adam Filipe. Recently impressing with knockout vocals in Titanic the Musical and Sideshow in Concert last April, Filipe steps into big sandals – not to mention a certain sizeable coat – and more than rises to the occasion, serving up an absolute dream of a Joseph. Injecting the admittedly rather one-dimensional lead with a likability, exuberance and even athleticism throughout, Filipe is tremendous. And yes, he absolutely raises the roof with a blistering rendition of ‘Close Every Door’.

To say this is a production that exceeds expectations would be an understatement. It may well be amongst the most inventive, characterful and exciting examples of injecting a whole new scale and life into an old favourite to date. It is a glittering, joyful manifesto of how to stage a revival with vision and purpose, and if it is a case of dazzling with style over substance, then colour me dazzled, then slap on some more.

Lloyd Webber best get practising the next iteration of that speech…

If last year’s Jack and the Beanstalk outing for the Birmingham Hippodrome was a bit of a manic cluster bomb that slightly underutilised some of its cast and didn’t quite live up to the ‘drome’s usual (admittedly stratospheric) standard, then all eyes were on this year’s Peter Pan, for this reviewer at least, to see if it could recapture that pixie dust of Brummie panto perfection.

The first move Michael Harrison and co get right is scooping up the return of national treasure – and bonafide Birmingham royalty – Alison Hammond. The This Morning and Bake Off host’s infectious, Earthy likability and proud local lilt was a perfect addition to last year’s lineup, and it’s undeniably great to have her back. The rapport she shares with honorary Brummie – and undisputed audience favourite – Matt Slack (returning this time round his eleventh consecutive outing at the Hippodrome), is palpable, genuine and buckets of fun.

But as magical a mermaid as Alison proves to be, and as terrific as it is to see Slack back on indefatigable, hilarious top form, Peter Pan flies because it is a much more rounded and satisfying piece of pantomime jugglery.

As is to now be expected, this is as lavish and opulent a feast for the eyes as you’ll see outside of the M25. The Hippodrome never fails to deliver a dazzling spectacle, and the piratey, Neverland trappings of Pan give designers Mark Walters, Ben Cracknell, Teresa Dalton and Mike Coltman a true nautical playground to go to town with. From flashing, zapping electric eels, ginormous animatronic reptilians to a cannon-inspired dame frock that would have even Julian Clary blushing, this is comfortably one of the most dazzling, visually arresting productions you could sink into this Christmas and New Year.

In fact, you’ll need to split some very fine hairs indeed to find pretty much anything here that’s anything less than grand. Harry Michaels and Slack himself have fashioned a hearty, hilarious panto offering that admirably starts out with a strong focus on the story of the boy who never grew up, before gradually folding the usual panto frolics and set pieces into the mix.

“…you’ll need to split some very fine hairs indeed to find pretty much anything here that’s anything less than grand.”

It feels a trifle cynical to get into the minutiae of structure in a pantomime, but there’s a far more even-handed balancing of all of Pan’s myriad, joyful elements this time round when compared with last year’s Beanstalk. Andrew Ryan’s wonderful Dame – this time one Mrs Sylvia Smee – gets to have far more fun this time round (after being relegated to a couple of mopey ballads last year), here vamping up a storm with some post-modern riffs to outright unabashedly camp mash-ups of Gaga and La Cage. As always, the frocks are to die for.

From a lagoon-inspired repurposing of Earth, Wind and Fire’s ‘Boogie Wonderland’ to returnee Danny Mac doing a sizzling job of reminding everyone that he’s got both the moves and vocals to match with a corker of a take on ‘Jailhouse Rock’, the big musical numbers are suitably show-stopping and infused with character and fun. And, naturally, there’s an abundance of funny, too, often masterfully conducted by the maestro of mischief, Slack himself.

There’s an ingenious skit of map-themed puns, the customary free-for-all of ‘A Sailor Went To Sea’ as Hammond, Slack, Mac and Ryan engage in increasingly chaotic slapstick shenanigans and, perhaps most hilarious of all, a truly masterful impressionistic take on The Proclaimers that is up there with the funniest and most impressive of bits that Slack has delivered in his impressive, eleven-year tenure.

It’s all great, funny fare, and an impressive cast and ensemble put in the legwork to keep the energy levels high and the laughs coming thick and fast. Noah Harrison makes for a great Peter Pan, impish and boyishly charming, the kids in particular will love him as a young hero to root for. Danny Mac, meanwhile, is inspired, shrewdly playing his villainous Captain Hook completely nefarious and almost entirely straight… though not without a few cheeky jabs of self-deprecation at how seriously he is taking it all.

“…a terrific spot of panto villainy, and one that makes his aforementioned big musical moment all the more disarming.”

It’s a terrific spot of panto villainy, and one that makes his aforementioned big musical moment all the more disarming. Hammond is once again a delight, and when you have Matt Slack at his best as he is here then there are few, if any, in the industry that can match him.

Reclaiming its heritage as one of the finest pantos in all of the (Never Never) land, the Hippodrome has a treasure trove of real 24-carat booty on its hands – and hooks – with Peter Pan. With a touching nod to the venue’s recent 125th birthday, Hammond, Slack and Mac are a magical, winning combo in a dream of a panto that, in all the best ways will make you feel like you never grew up, either.

Chart a course for the second star to the right, and be prepared to be giggling straight through until morning!

“Same jokes, different costume.”

You can’t help but admire the irrepressible tenacity of Brum panto favourite, Matt Slack. Much is (deservedly) made of this year’s offering, Jack and the Beanstalk, being his tenth outing on the Birmingham Hippodrome stage. No mean feat, and a rousing riff on Sinatra’s ‘That’s Life’ (‘That’s Pantomime’), recapping his various roles and co-stars over the years, is one of the evening’s highlights – moving and funny in equal measure. He even gets a cheeky slip in about his 2016/17 co-star John Barrowman being a bit of a ‘c*ck’.

Having done a masterful job over the past decade of strutting, tomfooling and improv’ing his way around the law of diminishing returns, it has to be said that this year’s Beanstalk, in which Slack plays the traditional fool in the form of Jack’s (Alexanda O’Reilly) older brother, ‘Jake’, feels like the first time the inimitable Slack magic and formula has begun to feel just that tiniest bit familiar.

He’s still, pound-for-pound, gag-for-gag, one of the most dependable funny men you could wish for on a panto stage (and mercifully already signed up for round eleven, in next year’s Peter Pan), but outside of a rather ingenious A-Z of impersonations and the aforementioned ‘That’s Pantomime’, there’s a recurring niggling sense that, by Slack’s own admission, we’ve seen and heard much of it before (hilarious though it may be).

The other big sell this year is the debut of local gal-done-good, Alison Hammond, in what is contrarily her first ever panto. Similar to Slack, not only does the This Morning and Bake Off presenter make for a natural fit for self-deprecating, giddy pantomime silliness as the ‘Spirit of the Beans’, lighting up the stage during everything from a goofy Strictly/Dirty Dancing mashup to the perhaps-inevitable TikTok interlude, but so too does she offer up some poignancy and even a tug on the old heart-strings. Most notably when paying homage to her late mom, drawing attention to the seat dedicated to her memory in the Hippodrome auditorium, and her own personal history with the theatre.

Together, Slack and hammond are spirited, vibrant and consummately entertaining, and there’s no denying the opulent, Olivier-nominated staging by Mark Walters somehow becomes even more dazzling whenever they take to it. It has become tradition for the Hippodrome to inherit the previous year’s London Palladium panto, so there’s little surprise that here is a show positively packed with at-times jaw-dropping production value and glitz. A towering trio of puppet giants early on are merely an appetiser for some of the spectacle and scale to come. By the time Hammond struts out in an enormous neon peacock plume (unsurprisingly a Julian Clary hand-me-down) and the titular McMuffin bursts out from the stalls to reach up to the Hippodrome ceiling, there’s no denying this Beanstalk is comfortably one of the biggest, richest and most visually stunning pantos in all the land.

“..there’s no denying this Beanstalk is comfortably one of the biggest, richest and most visually stunning pantos in all the land.”

It’s just a slight shame that, in what feels like a whippet-fast (some may even say hurried…) variety extravaganza, so many of the fantastic cast feel rather underused. The ever excellent Andrew Ryan gives great dame, and benefits from the best of Hugh Durrant’s hilarious, high-concept costumes, but he’s mostly handed a couple of poe-faced ballads and, outside of some customary cheekiness with the front row, and repurposed Act II favourite ‘If I Were Not Upon The Stage’, Ryan doesn’t get all that much time or space to truly camp it up. Similar can be said of the fantastic Gill Jordan as Doreen Tipton who, despite finally getting a true panto realisation of her ‘lazy cow’ persona, is mostly used for song and dance numbers and (admittedly funny) dairy puns, yet is afforded precious little opportunity to showcase her comedic chops (sorry, we shouldn’t mention chops!). She does at least get the chance to put in another roof-raiser, after last year’s very welcome Cats surprise. We shan’t spoil which classic musical gets the ‘my goodness, she can really sing’ treatment this time round, but someone get this lady on a West End stage post-haste.

Samantha Womack proves a terrific panto villainess as giant’s wife, ‘Mrs Blunderbore’, who could probably do with a few more outwardly boo-hiss-worthy moments. Still, Womack sings and dances up a storm, and crucially doesn’t seem to be taking any of it all too seriously. The decision to upgrade the show’s ‘Princess Jill’ from pure damsel-in-distress to co-giant slayer is a nice, empowering and modern twist, even if the talented Billie-Kay is, again, sadly underutilised.

Local talent Alexanda O’Reilly, in the lead role of ‘Jack’ himself, fares slightly better, and is a whirlwind of flips, kicks and knockout vocals. He elevates the traditionally rather flat and beige panto prince persona into something boyishly energised and electric, and by the time he’s wowing in a barnstorming (quite literally) variety show number midway through, or traversing the towering beanstalk come the Act I curtain closer, there’s a palpable sense that a musical theatre star is born (or rather, affirmed – this not being O’Reilly’s first outing by any stretch of the imagination).

It’s rare to wish for a pantomime to be longer – and at just over two hours including the interval, Jack and the Beanstalk is by no means short. And yet, perhaps as overspill from its Palladium roots, it regularly tiptoes to feeling more akin to a fabulous, decadent variety fest than a conventional pantomime. Ryan, Jordan and Womack in particular all feel like their fabulousness needs an extra set piece or two to bed in and vamp up, and if Slack’s trademark back-and-forth with a selection of tykes from the audience would need to be where the hammer stroke fell, I think audiences could probably live with that (although the performance reviewed featured probably the single funniest and feistiest young guest to date).

Quibbles such as these aside, though, this is still glittering, big-budget panto gold. Hammond is an infectious, lovable delight and an inspired addition to the Hippodrome’s storied line-up of panto greats, and although it perhaps isn’t Slack’s absolute best year, it’s nonetheless a moving anniversary outing that reminds audiences of his inherent brilliance in the panto field. You will also flat out not find a regional production in the country that can compete with the sheer size and wonderment of what Michael Harrison and Crossroads conjure up again here.

So toss your magic beans onto the compost heap, leave your worries on the farm, and climb a joyous, dazzling variety beanstalk to the very heart of Brum with two of its most beloved stars.

Birmingham can lay claim to its fair share of international boasts. It’s the home of Cadbury’s, officially the greatest chocolate in the world, bar none (this author shall not be debated on this). And, over a chunk of the past decade in particular, it has been repeatedly forging a strong case for it having one of – if not the – best pantomimes in the Country.

Recent years have seen the City’s Hippodrome Theatre inherit the previous year’s production from the London Palladium, along with all its inherent glitz, glamour, production value and sparkle. But for all of the Clary’s and O’Grady’s the capital can throw at its seasonal spectacle, Brum has shrewdly held on to a somewhat unassailable comedic gold nugget in the form of the inimitable – many would say unsurpassable – Matt Slack.

If there is a finer marriage of performer and material in the panto world, I welcome you to try and find them. Now on his ninth consecutive year at the venue (and next year’s 10th milestone already booked in, for 2023’s Jack and the Beanstalk), the local favourite has firmly ensconced himself in the fibre and fabric of Birmingham’s annual festivities, and this year’s Dick Whittington is a joyous, uproariously funny and show-stopping celebration of precisely why.

“If there is a finer marriage of performer and material in the panto world, I welcome you to try and find them.”

Stepping up to the titular role, Slack’s elevation to leading man sacrifices none of his effortless, seemingly endless comic elasticity and invention on the stage. There’s plenty of meta poking at his elevation to lead, being an honorary Brummie (“without the accent… thankfully”) and the fact he’s finally going to get the girl (or is he?), and any concerns that his inspired silliness could be somehow stifled by steering the ship are quickly allayed.

He is, once again, an absolute whirlwind of manic energy, uncanny impersonations, musical mimicry and general crackpot caricature excellence. Some of his tentpole set pieces return, from an extended, hilarious story time via confectionary names, to an increasingly manic, nautical restyling of ‘The Twelve Days Of Christmas’. Amazingly, despite some of these bits also being presented for the ninth time, they remain fresh, relentlessly funny and showing no signs of fatigue or formula.

So Slack is once again the MVP, for sure, and in his elevated role it means the audience are only treated to more of his irresistible schtick, which is no bad thing, but that isn’t to say the production and company around him are in any way slouches, either.

Another Hippodrome regular, Andrew Ryan, is on hand to dish out dame duties with suitably campy relish and fabulousness, with a panoply of increasingly elaborate (not to mention buxom) outfits that will have even Drag Race enthusiasts agog. Ryan vamps and sings up a storm as sweet shop owner Felicity Fitzwarren, whilst Black Country legend Doreen Tipton (played once again to deadpan perfection by local comedienne Gill Jordan) brings her idiosyncratic drollness to the part of Dick’s trust feline companion. When you’ve got a main character with that first name, accompanied by a trusty… pussy… the double entendres come flying fast, frequent and without apology, as you can imagine. There’s even a surprisingly bravura detour to Lloyd-Webber territory thrown in for good measure, too.

“Pellow shrewdly plays his turn relatively straight, investing the show with a baddy who genuinely presents as both sinister and threatening.”

Also marking a return to the Hippodrome, after portraying the villainous Abanazar in their 2015/16 production of Aladdin, Wet Wet Wet frontman Marti Pellow is the show’s resident big bad, this time round a suitably boo-hiss-worthy ‘Rat Man’. Pellow shrewdly plays his turn relatively straight, investing the show with a baddy who genuinely presents as both sinister and threatening. The singer croons and rasps his way through a number of nefarious solos, making for a suitably insidious foil to the lighter antics of Slack, Ryan, Doreen and co. Elsewhere, TV favourite Dr Ranj, and former popstar Suzanne Shaw (of HearSay fame) both offer up plenty of light, fun (if slightly more conventional) panto fare as the Spirit of the Bells and spritely love interest Alice, respectively.

Given the calibre of talent on stage, Dick Whittington could have been forgiven had it opted to rest on its laurels when it comes to spectacle and razzmatazz, but nothing could be further from the case, here. This is a grandiose, opulent and decadent slice of panto gold. Abigail Morgan’s costumes are a treat throughout, from a sweet shop chorus line bedecked with oversized Jammy Dodgers, to sparkling, rhinestoned buccaneers and shipmates, not to mention the explosion of camp and colour that are Felicity’s glorious adornments. The entire production is lavish and regularly show-stopping at practically every level, though, from an eye-watering Act II interlude from flame-flinging ‘Spark Fire Dance‘ (Dave Knox & Grace Billings), to set pieces such as a colossal King Rat animatronic that leers terrifyingly out over the audience early on, to an Act I closer that is as impressive and inspired as it is utterly insane.

‘Ninth time’s a charm’ would suggest that previous years’ pantomimes at the Hippodrome have somehow fallen short, or been works in progress, which is self-evident hogwash. What remains remarkable, though, is how every year, the standard of hilarity, energy and invention just seems to keep surpassing itself in jolly old Brum. There’s doubtless a kernel of magic and merit in the Hippodrome so wisely keeping hold of Slack, who is, pound for pound, likely the best panto performer currently out there, but the truth is there are glimmers of family-friendly magic and irresistible festivity in every nook, cranny, sequence and set piece of Dick Whittington.

It’s not only the best Dick you’ll find in Birmingham or beyond (itself no mean praise), but is, quite simply, the finest panto in all the land.

Long live Dick. And roll on the tenniversary next year, with the very welcome return of masterful Slack and his sack of magic beans…