Another Christmas in Bath!

Thrilled to back for my seventh season at The Theatre Royal Bath this Christmas to celebrate my 25th year playing Dame. 

Sleeping Beauty Reviews

Daily Mail

And finally... Is a panto

good for us? Oh, yes it is!

By Bel Mooney for the Daily Mail 22 Dec 2023

It was a mad and magical evening. For the first time ever we took our four grandchildren to the panto and enjoyed a precious evening of festive family fun.

My son and daughter were there, too, and all of us (me at 77, the youngest five) were merrily yelling at the stage (‘Look behind you!’), booing the Wicked Fairy, and laughing our socks off at jokes so bad they were hilarious.

One or two quips were gloriously non-politically-correct too, which just added to the adults’ delight.

The Theatre Royal Bath was the scene for this wacky Sleeping Beauty. So what if the budget is smaller than lavish pantomimes in Bristol or London and there are no big stars?

As an audience you warm to sheer verve and enthusiasm, wondering how on earth the cast can get up and perform for the second time that day.

Bath audiences have their favourites; for example, for 15 years, actor Jon Monie has played a leading comic role, and as hapless Lester the Jester he didn’t disappoint.

Year after year of panto, generations giggling helplessly, just as we were — and children growing up to understand how stock audience reactions like, ‘Oh yes, you are!’ pass into the collective consciousness.

I sneaked a peek along the line of the eight of us, adoring the expressions on the kids’ faces. The littlest one looked quite dazed at times, mouth slightly open, bemused at being encouraged to shout out and loving the whole spectacle.

This is what’s meant by the expression ‘making memories’, isn’t it? Of we four adults, I’d guess three thought they were only there for the children, and yet ended up having a terrific time for their own sakes. That’s the magic of old-fashioned entertainment.

Don’t we all need to boo the baddies and cheer the Fairy Godmother? Whoever you are, I hope you can conjure up a little Christmas magic this year. It’s there. Look behind you.

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Bath Echo

Nick Wilton as Nanny Nora is as glorious as ever alongside the excellent Monie; it is hard to find a better pair in panto.

Full review

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The Bath Magazine

Nick Wilton as Nanny Nora once again proves that, if you’re looking for ridiculously raucous, rollickin’ good fun, there really ain’t nothing like a dame: jocular, ridiculous, a tad Les Dawson-esque and dressed, in all scenes, in outfits of the worst possible taste.

Laden with lashings of good-natured good fun, dollops of wit and endless sprinkles of memorable magic, Theatre Royal Bath’s Sleeping Beauty is a spectacular Christmas wake-up call; an uplifting sparkly celebration in the midst of the murky deep midwinter… oh yes, it very much is.

Full review

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The Bath & Wiltshire Parent

Sleeping Beauty at The Theatre Royal Bath – fantastic festive family fun!

Christmas is here which means panto time at the Theatre Royal is back – and this year, it’s an absolute cracker!

Sleeping Beauty stars EastEnders’ and West End star Neil McDermott as Prince Vincent, Bath favourite Jon Monie as Lester the Jester, EastEnders’ Nick Wilton as Dame Nanny Nora and Hollyoaks’ Sarah Jane Buckley as Fairy Snowfall. And across the board, the cast is just fantastic, delivering performances of real comedy and fun – just the thing for a pre-Christmas evening out!

From start to finish, Sleeping Beauty is comedy gold thanks to a top notch script by writer and silly man supreme, Jon Monie. The truly is every inch a panto classic, with all the traditions that you can imagine - oh yes there are - as well as new scenes and set pieces that will have you laughing in your seats. Add in great sets, a fantastic fairy, some surprise and very impressive special effects, plus the obligatory audience participation, and Sleeping Beauty is a ten out of ten surefire family hit. We loved it!

The Bath & Wiltshire Parent

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The Fine Times Recorder

The essential requirement of pantomime is that it entertains and enchants, and the Christmas show at Bath’s Theatre Royal always does that, aided and abetted by the sheer magic of the venue, as the lights twinkle around the beautiful auditorium and the excitement mounts, all ready for the arrival of the heroes and heroines, goodies and baddies and the comics.

This year’s show, Sleeping Beauty, has been written by the perennial favourite knockabout and local boy Jon Monie.

Anchoring the show, as always in the Bath pantomime, are Nick Wilton as the loveable Dame Nanny Nora, and Jon Monie, this time as Lester the Jester.

The children in the audience loved the excitement and adventure of this re-telling of the Perrault tale, which is a spectacular celebration of the original. 

The Fine Times Recorder

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Stage Talk Magazine

This is a traditional panto with all the colour, music and fun you could want from a trip to the theatre with your family.         

Graham Wyles.     ★★★★☆ 

Stage Talk Magazine

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Bath Chronicle

We all love Nick Wilton, he is just brilliant every year, and this year as Nanny Nora he is more outrageous and gaudily dressed than ever.

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Bristol Post

Nick Wilton, a firmly established regular as the Dame, wears one outrageous costume 

and wigs after the other to the delight 

of the young at heart audience.

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Global Mouse Travels

There’s no better way to usher in the festive season than by embracing the enchanting world of Sleeping Beauty at Theatre Royal Bath. This classic fairytale, reimagined with a touch of magic and a lot of laughter, is the perfect family show this Christmas, creating memories that will last a lifetime.    

Global Mouse Travels

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Weston Daily Press

A Christmas cracker of a panto in Scriptwriter Jon Monie’s reworked tale of the power of true love. Jon himself takes to the stage as Lester the Jester alongside iconic panto mum Nick Wilton as Dame Nanny Nora. The pair are as hilarious as ever, their comic antics often played as a threesome involving the King (David Pendlebury) ,fussy old father of the Princess.

Full review

It’s All about the Story-telling

Pre-panto interview in Fine Time Recorder

Back in Bath

Thrilled to be back in Bath this Christmas – Full cast now announced for “Sleeping Beauty”.

The fabulous family pantomime at Theatre Royal Bath promises a laugh-a-minute extravaganza with stunning sets, top musical hits, fantastic costumes and exciting special effects to keep audiences both young and old entertained! EastEnders’ and West End star Neil McDermottwill play Prince Vincent alongside Bath favourite Jon Monie as Lester the Jester, EastEnders’ Nick Wilton as Dame Nanny Nora, Hollyoaks’Sarah Jane Buckley as Fairy Snowfall and Maisie Sellwoodas Princess Rose.

Review - Globalmouse Travels

The magic of panto is back with Aladdin at Theatre Royal Bath

It’s time to welcome panto back to Bath and the brilliant new production of Aladdin is bringing Christmas cheer to Theatre Royal Bath, complete with magic lamps, genies and a whole lot of laughs.

Starring Emmerdale’s Tom Lister as the evil Abanazar, this family favourite tale sees Aladdin go from rags to riches on a wondrous fun filled adventure, which features Bath favourites Jon Monie as Wishee Washee and Nick Wilton as Widow Twankey.   

This is a hilarious and magical production for the whole family which will fill you with Christmas cheer. Alongside Wishee Washee and Widow Twankey’s hilarious routines this production is packed with songs and dance routines, great costumes and lots of audience participation. 

The cast is filled with the talents of Alex Aram who is a fun and dynamic Aladdin, alongside Kaysha Nada as Princess Jasmine. Audiences will also love Maddison Tyson who plays the Genie brilliantly and brings a touch of magic to the proceedings.  

We love that Theatre Royal Bath pantomime productions also give a chance for young stars to shine with dancers from Bath’s Dorothy Coleborn School of Dance bringing lots of energy to the stage. 

This new production joins a long line of pantomimes which have been staged at Theatre Royal Bath, which date back over 200 years and once saw the 19^th century comic Joseph Grimaldi taking to the board and performing in Mother Goose. This year’s panto is also written by Wishee Washee star John Monie, who has appeared at the Theatre Royal over 1100 times with this marking his 20th season in Bath. 

This is a brand-new telling of the classic story and in true pantomime tradition there’s plenty of comedy, slapstick and amazing effects which the whole family will love. 

Review 8 - Fine Times Recorder

MANY years ago, we used to read theatre or opera reviews by the great critics of the day, who would ccompare the latest actors or shows to people long gone. And it used to drive us mad! Now, after decades of reviewing and reporting, we realise we risk doing it, so we try not to.

But while it would be a bit infuriating for some readers if we kept talking about stars of the past, what this long history of theatre and concert-going does do is give perspective. When we say a performer or play or show or performance is great, we are comparing (in our memories) so many things we have seen. How many Hamlets – and yet there is always room for another angst-ridden young Dane!

And so it is with pantomime  – oh yes it is! (Sorry, that was so predictable!) We can look back to the late great Chris Harris or Jack Tripp and look at their successors, and congratulate ourselves that we have been lucky enough to see these legends in their heyday and now enjoy the dames and knockabouts and villains of today.

Bath is fortunate indeed in Jon Monie – rubber-faced, multi-talented, genuinely a very funny man who has become not only Bath’s own clever pantomime writer, but one of the country’s best. In his regular knockabout role, this time as the hapless Wishee Washee, he holds the whole audience, from toddlers to great-grandparents, in the palm of his hand! He knows just how to coax shy children to speak or even sing and he can fill in any awkward gap or lost cue.

Bath is also fortunate in Nick Wilton, a dame in the Jack Tripp tradition, sweet-natured and constantly surprised at the pitfalls and accidents that befall his family. You just want to hug him! Here he is in his element as one of the most endearing dames – Widow Twanky, always on the look out for love, and hopelessly trying to keep her adventurous son under control and her useless son employed!

The triumph of this year’s pantomime is completed by Tom Lister as one of the most handsome Abanazars ever, and he’s also VERY funny. His interactions with the audience are a lot more than mere boos. He is bad, very bad, very very BAAAD … and loving every minute.

This is a lively retelling of a familiar story, with a feisty Spirit of the Ring (Amy Perry) and an exuberant Genie (Maddison Tyson).  Michael Chance makes a welcome return to Bath, this year as the Emperor, and Kaysha Nada makes her professional debut as his daughter, Princess Jasmine. Alex Aram is energetic and courageous as Aladdin.

Lots of good songs, plenty of opportunities to clap or even sing along, a change from the usual audience song routine before the wedding walk-down, spectacular costumes and lots and lots of laughs  … whatever you want from pantomime you will find it at Bath Theatre Royal, where Aladdin runs to 8th January.

FC

Photographs by Freya Turland

Posted in Reviews on 11 December, 2022.

http://www.theftr.co.uk/aladdin-bath-theatre-royal/

Review 7 - The Bath Magazine

 

Words by Melissa Blease 
Theatre Royal Bath until Sunday 8 January

In 1788, Irish actor John O’Keefe dramatised an ancient Middle Eastern folk tale, laden with allegories based around the abuse of power, the misuse of supernatural forces and the enduring effects of love, and adapted it for ‘modern’ audiences. And so it came to pass that, centuries later… 

In recent decades, the fable’s popularity enjoyed a major resurgence, bolstered by the success of the spectacular 1992 Disney film version. Last year, Aladdin beat both Sleeping Beauty and Snow Whiteto top UK Theatre’s Nation’s Favourite Panto survey, joining Cinderella and Jack and the Beanstalk in the top three faves and further confirming the story’s iconic status – and it isn’t difficult to work out why: fast-paced, slightly surreal, exuberant, vibrant and funny, Aladdin, his magic lamp and a Genie offers multi-generational appeal. 

But despite all the magic and sparkle that really, really good classic panto delivers (and to say that this year’s Theatre Royal Bath production has plenty of both would be an understatement), the script that the bonds the whole extravaganza together is the star of the show – and yet again, award-winning actor and writer Jon Monie (who celebrates his 20th Christmas show at Theatre Royal Bath this year) has delivered in spades, blending good old fashioned, proper pantomime tradition with enough of a contemporary spin to keep contemporary attention levels up throughout. 

Monie stars in the show too, as Widow Twankee’s delightfully dim son Wishee Washee; the quick-fire repartee between son and mum (Nick Wilton, a very grand Dame indeed) is the gift that keeps on giving throughout the whole, superbly silly extravaganza. 

Tom (Emmerdale) Lister brings lashings of dashingly handsome, suitably camp boo-hiss to his Abanazar, Kaysha Nada is a perfect Princess Jasmine, Amy Perry’s pragmatic Spirit of the Ringkeeps multiple flights of fancy grounded, Maddison Tyson is an utterly swoonsome Genie… and Alex Aram in the title role takes the whole audience with him on his rather complicated journey from zero to hero. But ultimately, this big jolly Christmas outing comes to us courtesy of one big energetic ensemble including a live orchestra in the pit and an all-age assortment of high-voltage Dorothy Coleborn School dancers, all bought together with lashings of good-natured good fun.

Not a fan of pantomime? Oh yes you are! If, that is, you allow Theatre Royal Bath’s annual festive feast to work its time-honoured magic. 

Tickets available from theatreroyal.org.uk

Photography credit: Freia Turland