Dear mummy, we’re feeling very festive on the blog this week. Not only have I seen Father Christmas I’ve also experienced my first ever Panto (at the age of 3 and a half ).
We went to a traditional pantomime featuring glittering costumes, slap-stick humour, sensational songs and dazzling dance routines with a few pyrotechnics thrown in for good measure! What made it perfect for me that it was one of my favourite stories, Sleeping Beauty (or at least an interpretation of it). When my folks told me I was going to the BIG theatre I was super excited and skipped into the foyer with a massive smile on my face.
The Anvil is a lovely theatre, with fresh carpets, modern features, sparkly lights and a beautiful foyer area. There is plenty of space to collect box office tickets, not feel overwhelmed by the crowds with a large bar area and great coffee spot and plenty of seating. My folks are ashamed to say in the twelve years they’ve lived in Basingstoke they’ve never been! They were really impressed with the theatre and their facilities. The staff at the box office were friendly and knowledgeable and the foyer attendants helped find a booster seat for me and guided us to our seats.
The theatre is spacious and the seats are comfy (we should know as we sat on them for 2 hours) everyone seemed to have a good view of the stage too as the seating was like that of a cinema and super tiered.
Excitement was at fever pitch when the house lights went down and the Good Fairy (Sarah Jane Buckley from Hollyoaks) appeared. She blessed Sleeping Beauty’s Christening with fairy dust and magic gifts. Pink sparkly lighting and children dancing was swiftly interrupted with the entrance of Carabosse the Evil Fairy (played by Sue Holderness famed for her role in Only Fools and Horses) as she appeared high in a tower in a plum of green smoke and evil cackles.
Cursing Baby Princess Rose to prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die. I gasp in horror and put my hands over my ears and eyes visibly frightened of this character, however I slowly peeked through the gaps in my fingers and came around the to the idea of booing her whenever she appeared on stage. My little voice carried along with other children’s voices.
My folks were impressed with the stage production of the show. My daddy used to dabble with stage management at college so was interested in the sets, pyrotechnics and more innovative screens which depicted more elaborate scenes like the castle, forest of thorns and a huge dragon.
It really was a spectacular show and kept me hooked for 2 hours. I stayed in my booster seat until the last 10 minutes, when I sat on my mummy’s lap to clap at the end. There was something special about seeing one of my favourite Disney stories come to life on the stage and I wasn’t disappointed. The nods, winks and jokes on popular culture, Snapchat, Hashtags and Brexit kept my folks entertained too. Some quite controversial and bad taste like the Bruce Forsyth gag. Which raised a smile and a couple of eyebrows.
The characters were all strong, which is unusual for a pantomime cast, there were no weak players. My mummy’s favourite was Nanny Glucose (Charles Burden) and her…I mean ‘his’ fascination with a member of the audience called Paul (poor man). His wit and personality really stole the show and a lot of his comments went over my head. Slap Stick comedy at its best especially with the mop scene. The King (Phil Cole) who started to rap like X-Factor contestant Honey G, shades and all had the whole audience laughing and joining in.
My favourite characters were *cough* the Prince (played by Ben Harlow) much to my Daddy’s horror, I’m only a toddler after all and Silly Billy the court jester. His references to Pokemon and the Pen Apple Pineapple Pen song had us in stitches. We’ve never laughed so much, plus we loved the way he rapped and twerked throughout the performance. He was very ‘down with the kids’.
My daddy liked Sleeping Beauty played by CBeebies star Katrina Bryan and she had a really strong and effortless voice. Her rendition of Justin Timberlake’s ‘Can’t stop the feeling’ song along with the prince had us toe tapping and singing along. It was a really entertaining pantomime and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The director did a great job and it’s perfect for families of all ages.
Sleeping Beauty is on from 8 Dec 2016 – 2 Jan 2017 at The Anvil, Basingstoke, Hampshire.
Tickets range from £26, £25, £21, £19; Over 65s £2 off, under 16s and f/t students £3 off (includes £2 booking fee). Family ticket, Schools and Group rates available and you can book via this link, here.
We’d recommend this, a great first panto for kids…..and adults especially if you have never been to the Anvil before! Can I go back again please…………oh no you can’t……..oh yes I can!
Love Bella x
Disclaimer: We were invited down to The Anvil in order to write our review. All purchases on site were our own.
dearmummyblog.com 
Looks like you had a great time at the panto, can’t wait to go and see my local one next week x
Aww looks like you cuties had a fab time! I used to love going to pantos as a kid.
Way too cute. This looked like a fantastic production and you’re never too young or old for pantos xo
Bella, you’ve had another fantastic time at the theatre! How fun to see a favorite Disney story come to life in a live production. I’m so glad everyone had such a fun time.
The Prince sounds like a great character, I love that he was twerking that is too funny! Sounds like a good show!
Aaaahhhh what a cutie. It sounds like the first panto visit was a good one and fun too. Sounds like sleeping beauty did a great job on the song 😉
Aw this looks like such a lovely panto to go to. I went to see one a couple of weeks ago at the customs house in south shields. I go every year and its always my fave night of the year! xxx
Ahh this looks and sounds lovely, Im dying to get to our local panto this year! xx
I’m off to a panto this week, though it is one for adults which I’m quite looking forward too x
I used to love panto when I was a kid. This one looks like fun!
I’m pleased you enjoyed your first panto Bella, Sleeping Beauty is one of my all time favourites x
This looks like so much fun!! I would love to go to a panto, haven’t been to once since I was a child #TriedTested
It sounds as though a great time was had by all and will be remembered for a very long time.
Panto’s are a must at Christmas, I’m so sad I can’t make one this year x
Small world. I’m in Basingstoke too and have been thinking about booking tickets to take my two to the panto this year but I’m just not sure if t hey will sit through it or not. My son is currently being assessed for autism and I saw they do an autism friendly screening so I’m thinking about taking them along to that. Although I think Panto’ are money well spent, it’s a lot of money if they suddenly decide they’re bored or overwhelmed. At present I’m still undecided.
Bu the way, I love how you write your posts as if in the voice of your child. Genius.
#twinkly-tuesday
Aww thanks! I’ll let my mummy know 😉 They do relaxed performances, so might be worth looking at that, it’s a fairly relaxed theatre too, not stuffy and very friendly staff x We must try and catch up for a coffee sometime x
We went to see this and thought it was great too! #TriedTested
It looks like you had a great time, I love a good Panto!
#DreamTeam
Nothing like a traditional pantomime to put you right on the festive mood!
It looks like you all had a great time! I love it when a production gets it so right and manages to be bang on trend for both little ones and their parents. A perfect family event by the sounds of things! Thanks for sharing with us at #DreamTeam x
Oh wow for 2hrs and you sat almost the entire time how cool is that. And sounds like you really enjoyed this panto
That looks like a lot of fun – mine would be excited to see any CBeebies presenter 🙂
Looks like a great show!!
Looks like a lovely panto with lots of sparkle. I love going to pantos at christmas.
It sounds like you guys had a great time! I loved going to the panto as a kid, it was so much fun x
I loved panto as a child, it’s always good to do these things with kids they make such fantastic memories.
Sounds like a really fun panto! Love them at this time of year.
Aw looks like you had lots of fun! Love the picture of you in front of the tree!!
Looks like a nice show with very good costumes. Kids must love it!
Mika
I really love the viewpoint of this post! I’ve actually never been to a panto (from what I can remember anyway) but I keep seeing everyone’s posts on them, I really want to go! x
It looks like you had a wonderful time at the panto! It is so much fun to shout and Boo at the baddies, isn’t it? You look so happy in your photos too. Hope you get to go to the big theatre again soon xx
oh my, i haven’t been to a panto since i was a kid and would actually love to watch it. but it’s too far for me 😦
This looks like a great show! I love musicals!
Looks like you had great time at this show.
The stage costumes are so impressive!
Pantos are always great fun and it looks like the costumes and production at this one were spot on too!