In a flash and with a twinkle of fairy dust, the Grand Opera House’s iconic stage magically transforms into Neverland for our most breath-taking, thrilling seasonal spectacular yet.
There’s no doubt that The Grand Opera House panto is the big one, with over 50,000 ticket sales, the massive stage, the big costumes and even the ensemble is bigger.
We start off with a big song and dance number and it’s dazzling to see how many people can fit on the stage. There are fireworks, flying, acrobats and of course Dame May McFetridge!
There’s a little plot to talk of but it gives room for lots of boos and hisses when Hook appears, cheers when Peter and Tink appear and laughter when May, Paddy Jenkins and Adam C Booth are on.
The youngster pull their weight too with local boy Jordan Walker as Peter Pan and Georgia Brierley-Smith as tink floating around and filling in some plot points.
Jolene O’Hara stuns as Hook, with a wig that would make Brian May blush and a swagger that’s been hard-earned in her many years on the stage.
It’s really nicely timed, with a 2-hour run time including the break, which prevents the wee ones from getting too tired as the night wears on. We took our 9 and 10-year-olds, and they had a ball, shouting, singing, and leaving their mouths open when the biggest crocodile we’ve ever seen appeared.
The Opera House opened in 1985 with a pantomime and has been doing them regularly (with few exceptions) since then, and it’s easy to see why. There’s something for everyone from 3 to 93 and I imagine they’ll continue for a long time to come.
The Pantomime Adventures of Peter Pan is on at The Grand Opera House until Sun 12th January. For more info and tickets see here.
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