Definitely a "Beauty" not a "Beast!" FIVE STARS!
For 130 years the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre panto has been the jewel in the crown of the festive season in our city, and this year is certainly no exception.
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Sprinkling fairy dust across its audiences, panto royalty comedian Tam Ryan and Dame Ian Adams, lead a dazzling cast of exceptional entertainers in “Beauty and The Beast” which will grace the stage at the city centre venue until January 4.
This is the perfect home-grown panto with no expenses spared and the hard work the Chief Executive and Artistic Director Adrian Jackson and his team has put into the show is evident, making it an absolute Christmas Cracker!
Written by the panto dream team, Ian Adams and Tam Ryan, it may seem a tall order to create and star in the show, but these two exceptional performers take it in their stride.
I feel as if I make the joke every year, but there really is “nothing like a dame” and Ian Adams delights on every level, with flamboyant costumes, wild and whacky wigs and the best pair of legs in the business, as Madame Fifi Fou-Fou, but there is so much more to this performer. Ian is Mr Showbiz; an all-round entertainer, an extremely talented singer and dancer and has that essential quality of a panto dame, natural rapport with the audience and his fellow performers.
A highlight of the night had to be Ian’s signature tune, “I Don’t Care” which the regular panto theatre goers were waiting for. Donning a red, white and blue Can-Can dress he even went down in the splits at the end of the number! Sorry for the spoiler, but it is a sight to behold!
Panto is fun, but can be tricky, and experience shows, as Ian has the ability to ad-lib and keep a straight face (well, most of the time!) when the inevitable on-stage crazy chaos takes over.
