On Tuesday 17 112/19 I was lucky to be asked to attend the press night for one of the
biggest highlights in Southampton at Christmas.
The annual Christmas pantomime , This Year a Production of Peter Pan, began on
Saturday 14th December and I attended my first ever Major Pantomime
I have seen amateur Pantomime many times and they are all usually excellent.
But to go and see various celebrities starring in a Pantomime at Christmas put a tick on
the bucket list.
From the very start I knew we were in for a proper Yuletide extravaganza.
Darren Day , as Mr Smee , Immediately brought in audience participation and was very
entertaining throughout .
The dancing cast including the Lindsey Read School Of Dance were all on target.
The scene changes were very clever including the awesome animatronics of the flying
scene where Mr Smee soars above the stage on a Motorbike
And the fearsome ticking Alligator that stretched out above the audience nearest the
stage.
Jaymi Hensley who played Peter Pan was very convincing and also had a great singing
voice
Marti Pellow as captain Cook was menacing and showed his vocal skills on various
shanty’s aboard the ship
But for me what stole the show were The Grumbleweeds that had me in fits of laughter.
Mostly when one of them suddenly sped across the stage naked bar a small cardboard
box. His comedy partner then joked it was a good job he was wearing a box and suddenly
he shoots across the stage stark naked in a tasteful way.
The other highlight is the excellent Timbuktu Tumblers who’s limbo under a flaming
stick at a foot and a bit high without harming himself had us all on the edge of our
seats .
Tinkerbell played by Kellie Gnauck was sweet and very believable to kids , Cassie
Compton as Wendy played a great role and Micha Richardson who was Tiger Lily gave
a sensual samba dance in the jungle scene .
By the time the curtain went down I was grinning from ear to ear and feeling honoured
to have reviewed it .
All in all a fabulous Christmas treat as usual and worth a visit with the kids or just by
yourselves
Peter Pan is at Mayflower until 5th January - tickets still available here https://www.mayflower.org.uk/