Based on a true story? Well, yes indeed, Dick Whittington really was Lord Mayor of London no less than four times, actually did marry Alice Fitzwarren, and was a philanthropist who did a great deal to improve sanitation in the city, but that is pretty much where the similarity ends between the real man and the version of him that has been consigned to folklore. Who knows – in 600 years’ time we might be seeing pantomimes about Boris Johnson or Sadiq Khan – stranger things have happened!
At any rate, over the centuries, numerous writers and dramatists have romanticised the story, substituting Richard Whittington’s noble birth for a humble background, pitting him against a plague of rats, and even sending his trusty cat off on an ill fated sea voyage.
For the first time in their 25 years creating shows for St Helens Theatre Royal, producers Chantelle and Jane Joseph have turned their attention to ‘The Amazing Adventures of Dick Whittington and His Magical Cat’ in what is justifiably heralded as their most lavishly staged panto to date.
Under the watchful eye of director Chantelle Joseph, writer David Phipps Davis has penned a story that encapsulates all the familiar elements of the many different versions of the folk tale, and its first major triumph is in the casting of an ‘umble shopkeeper from the Yorkshire Dales in the title role. Matthew Wolfenden plays a thoroughly likeable and wholesome character as Emmerdale’s David Metcalfe, and it turns out that his portrayal of Dick is every bit as winsome on stage as the actor is on screen. Oozing charm and warmth of personality, Wolfenden proves to have a great singing voice too, and he makes one of the most successful soap-star-to-panto-star transitions I have seen in a long time. Dick has left the Dales and travelled to London to seek his fortune, but it is not going to be a straightforward ride.
The second big win for this show is in the casting that surrounds Dick. There’s his future wife Alice Fitzwarren, played by Chantelle Morgan, Rachel Wood as Fairy Bow Bells and Jenna Sian O’Hara as Tommi the Cat, who in this telling is magical enough to have actual dialogue. Pitted against them, of course, is the King Rat, intent on becoming Mayor himself. Who better than the ever popular Tim Lucas to fill this villainous role, which he does with obvious relish.
This being a panto, we have the addition of Dame Fitzwarren and her son Idle Jack. Richard Aucott is a panto dame in the most traditional manner, with an endless supply of extravagant frocks, wigs and hats, and is central to the humour. Jack is played by Lewis Devine, who has become an indispensible part of these St Helens shows, and he knows exactly how to keep the energy flowing in his numerous witty linking scenes in which he banters with the audience. With a Dick and a cat on the scene, the innuendoes are almost unavoidable (it is hard to write a review without inadvertently slipping one in) but we could possibly do without the vaigra jokes in a family show.
The show has a very lengthy first act into which it packs the majority of the familiar storyline with remarkable linearity and lucid storytelling. Phipps Davis has given strong writing to all the principals so that they all get equal chance to shine, and shine they do, with stunning costumes and a great selection of music.
The story of Dick Whittington offers no big, final ball/wedding/birthday celebration sequence that everything can aim towards, so the show actually finds its theatrical peak at the close of Act I, with a spectacular, glittering, dream-like Mayoral inauguration that wouldn’t look out of place on an MGM sound-stage.
After the interval, Dick heads for the hills (or maybe the Dales?) before Bow Bells call him back to his ultimate goal of saving the capital from a rat infested fate, the only other plot point that harks back the real Richard Whittington. Meanwhile his cat is sent packing on board the Good Ship Lollipop, which founders on voyage sending its occupants into the briny deep, which is a cue for this year’s 3D sequence to be viewed through the polarised specs provided. This is a remarkably effective affair that thrills the audience like a virtual rollercoaster ride.
It is not just the ship that sinks in Act II however. The plot also seems to run slightly aground too, as it presses headlong into an opportunity for the lucky golden ticket winners to come up onstage and join in with a song alongside Idle Jack. Meanwhile the scene is being reset for the big final cast walkdown, photo opportunities and general singalong.
The whole thing is supported by a very fine ensemble of dancers choreographed by Nazene Langfield, who bring us everything from the Broadway glamour of the big formal routines to a chorus of rats and cats in a dance medley from another well known feline musical extravaganza.
Some folk tales lend themselves to the overall structure of a panto better than others, and Dick Whittington poses a few problems in shaping a story with a big finish. Nonetheless, whilst it reaches its zenith before the interval, this new production from Regal Entertainments packs so much glitz and polish and so many strong performances into everything that it is another triumph for the team.
Dick Whittington is at St Helens Theatre Royal until 11th January, with a variety of show times from 9:30am to 6:00pm. Tickets are available here.
Star Rating 4 stars
The cast of Dick Whittington - Picture by David Munn
This review was originally written for publication by Good News Liverpool
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