Last week we headed to the Opera House in Manchester to watch the Dick Whittington Panto starring John Barrowman and The Krankies. We love a good Panto and this was definitely a good panto. At one point I had tears streaming down my face from laughing and my cheeks were aching by the end of the night because I was smiling so much.
The show includes some fantastic special effects including a flying reindeer pulling a sleigh and an underwater 3D scene which was a little bit scary for some of the younger kids in the audience but my girls loved it.
John Barrowman was absolutely fantastic as Dick Whittington and I was really surprised by his singing voice as well as his ability to command your attention whilst he was on stage.
There were enough rude points that passed over the kid’s heads to make it fun for grown-ups and The Krankies were amazing with their old school slapstick routines that had people of all ages rolling around the aisles. Now there has been some feedback that the rude bits were a bit too rude and that there were too many of them. I suppose I can see their point but at the same time, my girls aged 8 and 9 had no idea what I was laughing at most of the time. There was certainly no doubt about John Barrowman’s partner preference by the end of the show and I don’t think we needed quite as many “Alice liked Dick” comments but I didn’t feel that it spoilt the show.
I am never sure at these productions whether all of the things that go wrong are supposed to or not but the way that John Barrowman reacted to each thing that went wrong made it even more hilarious. From the door that failed to open to the mysterious disappearance of the trumpet, you will be laughing along as he tries to hold himself together.
You can tell that the actors on stage are having as much fun as the audience and the way that John Barrowman and the Krankies work together shows this fun spirit that makes watching the Dick Whittington Panto even more fun.
I am too young to remember The Krankies but after seeing them in this Panto I am tempted to go on Youtube and see if I can watch some of their older stuff as their comedy slapstick reminds me so much of Cirque Du Hilarious due Clive Webb and Danny Adams who we absolutely love.
If you want to see a Panto that will have you laughing so much it hurts then I would definitely recommend that you head along to The Opera House Theatre in Manchester to catch Dick Whittington Starring John Barrowman and The Krankies.
Check out this link for tickets and even a special offer
http://www.manchestertheatres.com/emails/dickwhittington-003.htm