ROBIN HOOD till 1 February
ROBIN HOOD: written by Paul Elliott.
Birmingham Hippodrome till Sunday 1 February.
www.birminghamhippodrome.com
Runs: 2h 25, one interval.
Review: Alexander Wray, 29 December.
A seasonal delight, not to be missed.
Rid of the bits of pantomime that hold up the story, yet holding on to the best bits of panto to give the show a seasonal flavour, Robin Hood is terrifically paced. Here’s a tale to hold the attention of children of all ages (0 - 90 and beyond) with a host of superb performers to boot.
Paul Elliott, in creating this version, throws off the shackles of myth and legend and introduces a witch, a dame, and a gigantic robot, Titan. The witch, Casandra, conjures up an image of Robin and Marion in the future, which gives us half the company ice-skating; and to top this close of the first half, the second half opens with a jaunty number showing us a joyous Nottingham Fair, replete with pantomime elephant - what more could you want?
John Barrowman performs Robin for us; he returns to Birmingham after creating a sensation last year. He’s a marvellous all-round performer, acting, singing, dancing with great style and driving the show along with mega-tons of personality and energy.
Robin is assisted by Paul Zerdin’s Will Scarlett, a hugely talented ventriloquist. Zerdin and his puppet, Sam, are a true delight. Zerdin has a great sense of comic timing; in the show he creates two moments of, to my mind, comic genius. One is when Sam is left alone on a forest seat, the other is when Zerdin selects (I choose the word carefully) an audience volunteer to be a live ventriloquist doll. Joy, oh, joy.
Don Maclean, a Hippodrome regular, plays Friar Tuck - who cunningly seeks employment as the Sheriff’s cook - the dame, see? His warm personality is a delight, his performance of Nissan Korma a revelation, and his frocks an hilarious haute couture nightmare.
Helen Baker’s Maid Marion is attractive and feistilly modern with Malinda Parker’s witch, Casandra, a larger-than-life, pleasure.
Although many traditional elements are on show, ROBIN HOOD feels refreshingly different and will continue to wow us all until the final word is acted, note is sung and step is danced. Oh yes, it surely, will.
Robin Hood: John Barrowman.
Will Scarlett: Paul Zerdin.
Friar Tuck: Don Maclean.
Maid Marion: Helen Baker.
Sheriff of Nottingham: Pete Gallagher.
Casandra: Malinda Parris.
Speciality Skaters: Natalia Pestova and Alexei Kislitsyn.
Titan: Himself.
The Merry Men:
Little John: William Kenning.
Mutch the Miller’s Son: Harry Smith.
Alan A Dale: Philip Andrew.
Achew: Andy de Vito.
Torben of Russia: Alexei Kislitsyn.
Simon of Solihull: Zoltan Lang.
Tom the Cobbler: Jason Beeston.
Clive of Coventry: Charlie Adams.
Wally of Wolverhampton: Matt Byham.
Sid of Sparkbrook: Andy Barke.
Villagers: Caroline brooks, Jess parker, Sarah-Jane Preedy, Jasmine Verplancke.
Juveniles: Birmingham Stage School.
Writer and Director: Paul Elliott.
Choreographer: Paul Robinson.
Musical Director: Robert Willis.
Designer: Hugh Durrant.
Lighting Designer: David W Kidd.
Associate Director: Steve Marmion.
Fight Director: Karl Magee.
Musical Supervision: Gary Hind.
Magic Consultants: The Twins.
2008-12-30 10:20:29