Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Birmingham Hippodrome

Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs
Birmingham Hippodrome Review
Saturday 21st December (evening performance)

If you see one professional pantomime this season let it be Birmingham Hippodrome's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This production really has it all...a star studded headline cast, jaw dropping special effects, stunning sets and costumes and enough laughs to last you a lifetime! Qdos Entertainment have provided a very traditional pantomime plot which really has something for everyone - in terms of all round entertainment I'd go as far to say this is the best professional panto I've ever seen! 

Making his pantomime debut - TV favourite Gok Wan shines as 'The Man in the Mirror.' As you would expect Gok is a real crowd pleaser and firm favourite with the ladies of the audience. He provides plenty of his comical 'Gokisms', and dressed in a figure hugging catsuit he really shows us 'How to Look Good in Panto.' Gok performs a fantastic rendition of the Sister Act classic 'Fabulous Baby' and teams up with the brilliant panto dancers to give a really 'confident' performance. Channel 4 have followed Gok through his panto journey and you can catch 'Gok does Panto' on Channel 4 on Monday 30th December at 7:05pm. Read more...

Gok's evil Alias is The Wicked Queen, convincingly played by Dallas actress Stephanie Beacham. She is perfectly cast as the oh so glamorous Panto Villainess and oozes evilness. Beacham has the audience in the palm of her well manicured hands and used this to her full advantage to lure both the cast and the audience under her wicked spell!

Eastenders favourite John Partridge makes a very handsome Prince, and gave a show stopping performance in his rendition of the all singing and dancing 'Runaway Baby.' He is teamed perfectly with 'Over the Rainbow' winner Danielle Hope as leading lady Snow White, and the pair gave a lovely duet of 'The Voice Within' amidst the magic of Act 1. 

Appearing for his first time as pantomime Dame, theatre favourite Gary Wilmot provides many of the laughs as Mrs Nora Crumble, with his quick wit and outrageous outfits. Wilmot is very much a traditional Dame and I particularly enjoyed his 'Birmingham Balti.'

The real stars of this production are comedian Matt Slack and ventriloquist Paul Zerdin as Oddjob and Muddles respectively. They provide many of the show's laughs and both were side-splittingly funny. Zerdin in particular with his puppet sidekick Sam is a real national treasure. I am a firm fan of ventriloquist acts and although I had seen some of his material before in pantomime, I was nevertheless thoroughly entertained by the action and loved Zerdins new puppet pals spontaneously selected from the audience! A particular highlight of the production for me was 'If I did not work for the Queen' which was hilariously performed by Gok Wan, Gary Wilmot, Paul Zerdin and Matt Slack. This comedy number was well polished and perfectly timed with props - slapstick at its best!

Snow White's Seven Dwarfs although appearing sparingly in this production were costumed and modelled very carefully to create the illusion of the 'mini men.' Without spoiling the effect for future audiences, it very much reminds me of 'Lord Farquaad' in "Shrek the Musical" and of the 'Oompa Lumpas' in Sam Mendes' new production of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" with the way in which the Dwarfs were operated. This was unique and pioneering way to represent the Dwarfs and really enhanced the Panto magic spirit. 

With flying dragons, slapstick comedy and plenty of Birmingham and the Black Country topical references, this Pantomime is the perfect family outing and I would highly recommend the UK's biggest pantomime as truly unmissable. Runs til Sunday February 2nd.

Producers and Directed by Michael Harrison, Choreography by Karen Bruce and Musical Directed by Robert Willis.

'Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs' Pantomime Launch - Birmingham Hippodrome

It's not your average Monday Morning when you are invited to the launch of Britain's Biggest Pantomime! In truly spectacular style Birmingham Hippodrome and QDOS Entertainment invited the local press to their star studded event to welcome the celebrity cast of their Christmas Pantomime Production of  'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.' Birmingham Hippodrome certainly pulls out the stops with their biggest panto to date featuring famous faces from London's West End as well as A-List TV personalities!

This for me was a most magical morning seeing so many stars of stage and screen in one room - a really overwhelming experience. It is rare on a day to day basis you meet one famous face let alone seven!

As we waited for the arrival of the Principal cast we were invited into Snow White's colorful cottage - a really lovely stage set - complete with seven little beds, seven porridge bowls and spoons everything you would expect for a fairytale adventure. It has been many years since Snow White has been performed in Birmingham, yet this cottage seemed quite at home in the Hippodrome ready for its Christmas stay!

Danielle Hope as Snow White

It was announced at this morning's launch that 'BBC's Over the Rainbow' winner Danielle Hope would join the cast in the title role of 'Snow White' and this West End leading lady really looked the part of the Principal Girl. Having recently played the role of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz and Eponine in Les Miserables, Danielle swaps her Ruby Slippers for a Handsome Prince to join the star studded line up for her first Pantomime performance.

John Partridge and Danielle Hope

Joining Danielle for this year's production is former 'Over the Rainbow' judge John Partridge. Better known as Eastenders' Christian Clarke, Partridge is no stranger to Theatreland having amongst numerous West End roles just completed a run as Zach in 'A Chorus Line' at the London Palladium. At the launch John said '... it is an honour to be playing opposite Danielle Hope as her Handsome Prince...' and believes that A Birmingham Hippodrome Pantomime is the equivalent to a London Palladium Production!

Adding a touch of glamour to this year's pantomime is none other than stage, TV and film actress Stephanie Beecham as 'The Wicked Queen.' Most well known for her role of Sable in Dallas as well as other appearances in Tenko, Bad Girls and The Colbys, Beecham looked spectacularly sinister in a stunning red and black costume.

Joining the cast for his pantomime debut is Fashion Guru - Gok Wan, who I must say looked stunning in a silver sequinned number! This year Gok is playing 'The Man in the Mirror' and if today's interviews are anything to go by Birmingham audiences are in for a treat as he is absolutely hilarious! If this panto is as successful as his string of credits including the ever popular 'How to look Good Naked' it is sure to be a HIT!

One of Birmingham' audiences favourite stars Gary Wilmot dons the Bloomers for his debut production as Pantomime Dame and I must say he looked fabulous in a frock! No stranger to the stage, Wilmot has performed at the Hippodrome on various occasions playing roles including Buttons in Cinderella and Caractacus Potts in the phenomenon Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Also joining the cast are ventriloquist Paul Zerdin, and comedian Matt Slack who are playing the roles of 'Muddles' and 'Oddjob' respectively. Having seen Paul Zerdin and his ventriloquist buddy Sam in pantomime at the Wolverhampton Grand - he really is 'sidesplittingly' funny and I very much look forward to seeing him again onstage with his puppet pals. Matt Slack's previous credits include Boogie Nights and Blood Brothers and I am sure he will be a superb asset to this fantastic line up.

As you can imagine I am now feeling really festive and in the panto mood (Oh yes I am) and am so excited to see my first pantomime at the Birmingham Hippodrome. There really is no better family theatre experience than Pantomime and with tickets ranging from £12-£39 with discounts for concessions this is A-list affordable family fun! 

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs runs at the Birmingham Hippodrome from Thursday 19 December-Sunday 2nd February 2014. Book your tickets here!