Cinderella at the Tivoli Wimborne - Pantomime Review

 Wimborne, a quaint town nestled in the heart of Dorset, has once again transported its residents and visitors to a world of enchantment and magic with its annual pantomime. The Tivoli Theatre, with its historic charm and intimate ambiance, served as the perfect stage for Cinderella's enchanting tale.

Cinderella at the Tivoli, Wimborne

We were excited to be invited along to opening night of Cinderella and knew we were in for a treat from the very beginning. Regulars to the Wimborne panto will recognise lots of faces from previous shows and I was excited to hear that Courtney Jackson was returning, this time playing the the role of Fairy Godmother. Also returning to the Tivoli are Luke Attwood and Brandon Nicholson - we saw these two as the ugly sisters back in 2018 and they were very funny.

Courtney Jackson and his pumpkins

The auditorium was full of families and large groups of beavers and cubs (including my children!) and there was a real buzz in the air as the lights dimmed and the panto began.

The show was full of high energy singing and dancing, and plenty of jokes that sailed right over the children's heads! The set design was vibrant and each scene moved flawlessly into the next. The carriage scene was absolutely magical and children will gasp in wonder! The costumes were fantastic, and a special nod must go to the Ugly Sisters who had quite the wardrobe and wig collection!

Ugly Sisters and Cinderella

Cinderella's cast were all so talented and leading lady Lucia-Jade Barker had great chemistry with Prince Charming. Buttons, played by Lee Redwood (who also writes and directs the panto) was a joy to watch. From his hilarious DVD gag, to his emotional solo (which the kids loved!), he had the audience rooting for him from the start.

I love the bits in the panto that go wrong, although you're never quite sure whether the calamity is actually meant to be happening or not! One such moment involved a sock, an ugly sister and a wig and we were in absolute stitches. My kids said this part was the highlight for them!

This is our 5th Wimborne panto that we have seen and my son Elliot said this was the best yet. We had a fantastic night and left feeling full of cheer. Thank you for having us!

You can catch Cinderella the Tivoli right up until 2nd January, so don't delay, go and book those tickets!

*Disclaimer - We were invited along to the panto in exchange for an honest review

Dick Whittington Pantomime - Lighthouse Poole - Review

We have been taking the children to the local pantomime at the Lighthouse for the last few years and always had a really fun time. The productions seem to get better and better and this year was no exception!

Dick Whittington was written and directed by Peter Duncan and Chris Jarvis - Chris also plays the role of Dick. Parents with kids a certain age will no doubt be very familiar with Chris from his CBeebies shows! He's definitely one of our favourite CBeebies stars and we knew we'd be in for a treat with him involved.

I have to admit I wasn't familiar with the story of Dick Whittington - we all know that he goes to London in search of fame and fortune but that was about the limit of my knowledge! I was looking forward to seeing how the story would come to life...and were the streets really paved with gold?

The story of Dick Whittington begins with Fairy Bow Bells and a bang and the energy, laughter and entertainment didn't let up through out the whole show! Chris Jarvis makes a brilliant Dick, he is instantly likable and the crowd really get on his side. His sidekick Tommy the cat was fantastically played by Sammy Phillips - she might not have had a speaking part but she certainly captivated the audience with her facial expressions and movement!

Allo Allo favourite Richard Gibson is back on stage playing the lovable, but dippy Alderman Fitzwarren while his daughter Alice, and future Mrs Whittington is played very well by Katie Arundell.

Panto wouldn't be panto without a dame to bring the comedy and this year Dame Dolly Donuts (played by Dereck Walker) had the audience in fits of laughter with her cheeky innuendos and dazzling outfits!

The stars of the show for me though were the rats. We know there are lots of rats in London but I have never seen one in a leather jacket until now!! Led by King Rat (and expertly played by Craig Rhys-Barlow), they were brilliant villains and had Elliot booing and hissing at the stage!

It was a fantastic production and the cast and crew worked their socks off to entertain us. From the sets, to the costumes, to the music, to the local jokes, even the Baby Shark underwater scene, there was something for everyone! My favourite part was the 12 Days of Christmas musical number - it was fast, bonkers and I will never be able hear the original in the same way ;)

The panto finished with a big old singalong to Abba which had the audience on their feet and it's safe to say, we were thoroughly entertained!

You can catch Dick Whittington at the Lighthouse until 31st December - for more info and to book tickets click HERE

FAMILY FUN OVER CHRISTMAS 2017

Elliot broke up from school on the 15th December so Christmas holidays felt like quite a long two weeks stretching ahead of us. I wanted to make sure we squeezed lots of exciting things in and spent some quality family time together - we're all so busy these days! The dreaded sickness bug hit 3/4 of us at different points over the festive period but fortunately Christmas Day was germ free :)

Here's what we got up to:

Fresh air and Freedom

Despite the freezing weather we wrapped up warm and headed out to one of our favourite local attractions, Farmer Palmers Farm Park. It's a brilliant place to visit with the kids and we have annual passes so we visit alot. We met up with some friends and had a brilliant morning - and as you can see from the photos, it's never too chilly for a bit of fun outside!

We also visited another favourite of ours, Kingston Lacey which is a beautiful National Trust property nearby. The gardens were all illuminated for the festive period so we had a magical walk around just as it started to get dark.

The days between boxing day and New Years Eve were a bit of a blur and each day rolled into one, I didn't really have a clue what day it was! We did venture out for some fresh air though - much needed fresh air!

We met up with some friends and visited Arne, which is a local RSPB nature reserve - it was abit muddy in places but the kids had a great time jumping in icy puddles and ticking things off their nature checklists.

Meeting Father Christmas

We ended up meeting Santa three times in the days leading up to Christmas Day - turns out Erin was not a fan!!! She didn't scream the place down on the 3rd and final meeting so there's hope for next year ;)

Family Time

I'm not at all religious so Christmas for me means more about spending time with family and friends than anything else. We've not seen as much of them as we'd normally do due to the sickness bug thats flying around but we still had some fun times!

Happy New Year!

We spent the last day of 2017 having a nice lunch out and then onto the pantomime in Poole which was excellent. I never thought I'd be someone who enjoys pantos but having kids changes you!! 

Elliot is back to school tomorrow so I'm looking forward to getting back to normality and getting the house back to a tidy state - I have washing and toys coming out of my ears!

I hope you had a lovely Christmas - Wishing you all a Happy New Year xx

Aladdin at Lighthouse, Poole - Panto Review!

At the grand old age of 35, I have never been to a pantomime. It never appealed to me...that was until I became a parent! I really enjoy taking Elliot to the theatre and now he's 4, his attention span is so much better so he's able to sit through longer shows without getting too fidgety. This year seemed a perfect time for our first ever panto!

This years local pantomime at the Lighthouse Centre for the Arts in Poole was Aladdin, written and directed by Peter Duncan who readers of a certain age (ie old like me!) will remember from Blue Peter back in the 80's. It promised to be lots and fun and we were excited to see how Elliot would enjoy it!

When we arrived there was a real buzz in the theatre and rather than having to wait for the show to start, there were already circus performers on stage entertaining the crowd. They asked for a volunteer to walk along the tightrope and a young lad jumped up on stage but after he fell off and banged his head, it became clear to the audience that it was actually Max Bowden (Waterloo Road) and ta da, Aladdin had begun!

We were soon introduced to the other characters including the hilarious Widow Twankey, the evil Abanzer (Peter Duncan) and beautiful princess XiaoXue, played by Emmerdale actress Sapphire Elia.

Photo Credit - Richard Budd

The Aladdin storyline hasn't been tweaked too much but there was plenty of audience participation, lots of booing and hissing (Elliot loved this!), brilliant songs and choreography and even a flying carpet ride!

The leading characters all have great chemistry but the star of the show has to be Miguel Angel who plays the Genie...the Genie as you've never seen him before!

Photo Credit - Richard Budd

Belting out hits from rock gods of the past including David Bowie, Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson, he really stole the show and I couldn't wait to see what he'd sing next!

The best bit of the show for me was when the storyline went off track and the genie's magic made everyone sing about what they'd be doing if they weren't in panto. Great singing and acting from the whole cast but what made it was the 100+  cubs and scouts in the audience joining in with the Honey G dancing - absolutely hilarious and it was certainly a sight to see!

Our first panto experience was alot of fun and Aladdin is a real family friendly show. The pantomime isn't too long so it's perfect for little ones and they are sure to be entertained.

Photo Credit - Richard Budd

We will definitely back for next year's pantomime!

For more info and tickets, visit the Lighthouse website here