Plenty of family fun at Norbury

THERE has been plenty of fun for all the family at The Norbury Theatre when this year's pantomime Dick Whittington has been staged.

Enthusiastic packed audiences of all ages have turned out to see this annual offering so far and the equally enthusiastic cast - also a good mix of all ages - has duly delivered.

Like all good pantomimes, Dick Whittington had a great mix of foot-tapping music, well-choreographed dance routines and bucketfuls of one-liners to have the audience laughing along.

The musical highlights came from Louisa Ford who showed off her range with her renditions of Starship's Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now with Amelia Lakin, who played Dick, and Blondie's classic The Tide is High.

Dance-wise, the routine to 'It's a Hard Knock Life' was head and shoulders above the rest, with crew members superbly synchronising, using mops and buckets to great effect.

Mike Richter grew into the role as panto dame Sarah, working up a rich and raucous rapport with the audience and delivering some great lines.

Tam Weir livened the stage and the crowd as the flamboyant Long John Tinfoil and he delighted the audience with many a humorous moment - the pick of these was the line: 'I should've been a banker - that's the easiest kind of piracy there is' which was met with the loudest applause of the evening.

Glynis Smith also put in a good performance as the lovable Cockney spirit and there was cracking comedic chemistry between King Rat's henchmen Nip and Tuck, aka Natalie Bull and Kate Goode.

But, in all honesty, it was a pretty fault-less performance all-round and with it being staged until January 29, it is a show well worth seeing.

The next performances are at 7.30pm on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and next Saturday (January 18 to 21). There is also a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm.

The final shows will be at 7.30pm on January 26, 27, 28 and 29, with matinees at 2.30pm on the Saturday and 4pm on the Sunday.

For more, or to book tickets (£10 and £8 concessions), visit: www.norburytheatre.co.uk or call 01905 770154.