Craig Revel Horwood as the Wicked Queen in SNOW WHITE. Photo Credit: Phil Tragen
Fresh from the ballroom, Craig Revel Horwood shines as the Wicked Queen to make SNOW WHITE the fairest panto in all the land
With its jaw-dropping dance sequences, side-splitting comedy and sensational special effects, SNOW WHITE proves itself to be the fairest panto in all the land – or in Manchester at least, this Christmas.
Fresh from the ballroom, Craig Revel Horwood leads the cast as the extraordinarily adorned Queen Lucretia, whose outfits are worth the ticket price alone.
The calibre of the cast is cracking here, making the very well-rehearsed stage and set ‘accidents’ – which includes characters falling over and losing their wigs, props flying into the audience and exploding electronic equipment – all look real.
Eric Potts as Dame Nora Crumbles in SNOW WHITE. Photo Credit: Phil Tragen
Ben Nickless kills it as the hapless sidekick Muddles, hitting us with impressions galore from David Attenborough to the entire Take That line-up. Throughout, Nickless’ improvisation, even when things don’t always go exactly to plan, is inspiring.
Eric Potts’ Dame Nora Crumbles is equally magnificent, delivering a performance as over-the-top as his wardrobe, but ultimately extremely lovable.
The sets are very well done, in particular, the Magic Mirror which descends from the heavens and is digitalised. Lucretia’s lap dragon which flies suspended from the ceiling is also a sight to behold, especially for the younger members of the audience who are transfixed and more than a little terrified for a brief moment in some cases.
Zoe George as Snow White in SNOW WHITE. Photo Credit: Phil Tragen
I was wondering how they were going to tackle the Seven Dwarfs’ appearance, but I wasn’t disappointed. Daniel Breakwell, Tyler Jay Dobbs, Barney Fritz, Jack Buchanan and Matt Faull, Dale Mathurin and Nathan Routledge made up the band of Snow White’s ‘Forbidden Forrest’ posse. Their outfits and presence on stage has the audience in stitches and their musical number – which is a firm favourite of mine – along with the 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS skit which sees some of the biggest staged set catastrophes occur, are both fantastic.
The whole ensemble is excellent here. The decision to feature two same-sex dance couples is refreshing to see and the whole show is tailored very well to the Mancunian audience with plenty of local in-jokes and Northern references.
SNOW WHITE is riotous fun for the whole family. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a panto as entertaining as this in Manchester this Christmas.
SNOW WHITE runs at the Opera House, Manchester until 29 December 2019.
Lola Maguire leases cars by day and has evolved to live off movies, books, gin and sarcasm; probably the best cheese eater in the world. Guitarist and singer in a band, co-creator of two kids, currently writes for Frankly My Dear.
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