Wirral's independent local news website
It’s panto season again. Oh no it isn’t! Oh yes it is!
If you’re looking for a solid show, you’re in safe hands at the Floral Pavilion. This year’s Christmas spectacular is Beauty and the Beast and it offers most, if not all, of the usual pantastic features, from traditional skits to men in skirts.
It’s a bit panto by numbers, it doesn’t exactly attempt to reinvent the genre, but the tiny troupe of only 8 actors and the crew behind the performance really went all out.
Covid restricted certain traditional fun, such as the annual ritual humiliation known as audience participation, and the show was sadly lacking in water pistol action.
But the production made up for it with dazzling special effects and stunning costumes, and the songs had all the audience on their feet clapping along.
A beastly Shaun Dalton blasted out the ballads and special mention goes to Phil Atkinson as the dastardly Hugo (aka Gaston for Belle purists.)
And, after the cancellation of last Christmas, it’s a joy to return to the trappings of a traditional Christmas.
We’ll have to do it again, then, won’t we?
Beauty & the Beast runs until Sunday 2 January 2022 at the Floral Pavilion, Marine Promenade, New Brighton, Wirral, CH45 2JS
Box Office: 0151 666 0000 You can buy tickets here
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