‘The Fairest Panto in the Land’ Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Pantomime) – Churchill Theatre, Bromley. 10.12.24

It’s Panto season! One of my favourite times of year. First up on the review list for this year was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at Bromley’s Churchill Theatre. Dubbed on its advertising as ‘The Fairest Panto in the Land’, I dusted off my best ‘HE’S BEHIND YOU!’ and headed over with high expectations.

I’m sure that the story of Snow White is familiar to pretty much everybody reading, so I won’t waste words summarising. There were a few fun panto tweaks in this version:

1. Prince Gareth arrives to celebrate Snow White’s 21^st birthday, unwittingly the target of Queen Dragonella’s plot to marry him herself
2. The character of Muddles (Queen Dragonella’s jester and Snow White’s best friend) – our comic for the evening but also put under a spell to fulfil the Huntsman’s role to kill Snow White
3. The Magnificent Seven (seven dwarfs) were Snow White’s guardians at birth; banished by Queen Dragonella to the forest
4. There is a twist with true love’s kiss at the end, but that’s all I’m saying for that one!

Our Panto opens with The Magnificent Seven setting the scene, and it was good to see that Bromley was able to achieve what Hollywood has recently been criticised for not doing around representation; casting seven actors with dwarfism for these roles. Led by the talented Fergus Rattigan, the Magnificent Seven introduced us to the Kingdom of Bromley, now ruled by the evil Queen Dragonella, the stepmother of Princess Snow White. Isaak Dalglish also caught my attention for his strong vocals in this and later numbers.

Dutch actress Britt Lenting is our villain Queen Dragonella, and what an incredible villain she is! She has undeniable stage presence and an exceptionally powerful voice. Her opening number is ‘I Put A Spell On You’ – a bold move when the direct comparison is Bette Midler in Hocus Pocus. Most people would be overshadowed by this, but Britt was certainly up to the challenge and shone throughout the show.

On a side note, she had some completely fabulous villain costumes, so kudos to the costume design and wardrobe teams for that (in particular the one she makes her entrance in, WOW).

The comedy for the evening was predominantly provided by Simon Fielding as Muddles, the bumbling court jester with plenty of one-liners. He also caused chaos for the other actors, most notably in the classic ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ rendition, throwing everyone else’s props all over the place. His comedic chemistry with Dr Ranj (portraying the man in the mirror) caused plenty of laughs in this and other scenes, such as their dance off.

Snow White is played by Laura Emmitt and Prince Gareth by Gareth Gates (runner up in the UK’s first Pop Idol); they make a very handsome couple. As I alluded to earlier, there’s a fun twist in their love story that you might not expect, so look out for it!

It would be wrong not to mention the ensemble cast – made up of just six – who delivered a lot of high energy dance routines and rapid costume changes to help bring the production to life. The set design was also enchanting, my favourite being the dwarfs’ cottage.

This production had all the staples of a great pantomime: lots of laughs, a great villain, and plenty of audience participation. WARNING: if you opt to sit in the front few rows, there is a part akin to being in the splash zone at Seaworld (I may be exaggerating slightly but be prepared to put a coat over your head). It is a great night out that will have children of all ages on their feet, yelling and singing along. And isn’t that the point of panto?

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is on at the Churchill Theatre until Sunday 5^th January 2025, which means there’s plenty of time to get tickets and enjoy this fun-filled, festive, family show before it finishes. You can buy tickets here but hurry, these tend to sell out fast!