Broken Legs Blog

It’s that time of year again (oh yes it is) – it’s panto time, and this year Nottingham Theatre Royal whisk us away to the foreboding mansion of Baron Hardup, for the timeless classic “Cinderella”. This pantomime is filled with so much singing, dancing, colour and fireworks that it is truly an assault on the senses, a mix of excellent comedy timing and impressive vocal performances that combine together to create a wonderful evening of entertainment for the entire family. Front and centre is the fab-u-lous Craig Revel Horwood as Evil Stepmother Demonica Hardup, although despite being the closest thing we get to a villain, the audience can’t help but cheer for his nifty dance moves and extraordinary singing. But the true joy comes from the supporting characters, who are all on hand to provide extra gags, boundless enthusiasm and a little bit of ad-libbing.

Neil Hurst’s Buttons proves to be an audience favourite, easily breaking the fourth wall to achieve desired reactions from the crowd, and straying from the script occasionally to squeeze out every last laugh. Some of his jokes are a bit near-the-knuckle, although sure to go over the younger audience members’ heads, and rest assured that there are plenty of fart jokes thrown in the keep the kids happy. Hurst is a natural pantomime performer, unafraid to respond to heckles with witty retorts – yet he shows his true prowess towards the end of the pantomime, when three children from the audience are brought up on stage to help perform a tongue-twister. He knows when to milk jokes, and when to cut them short – one little boy was clearly very nervous whilst on the stage, yet Hurst ably put him at ease by pretending to answer for him when the boy was too shy to speak. It is a masterclass in how to manage audience participation.

Hurst enjoys great camaraderie with the rest of the cast, although none more so than Horwood, as the two continually try to make each other corpse much to the audience’s enjoyment. Horwood is a real coup for the Theatre Royal – not only a well-known, current celebrity, but one with stage presence and musical talent to boot. Continually making his entrances to the Strictly theme may not always elicit the boos that Horwood clearly desires, but his Strictly connection allows for a multitude of dance routines to different styles, superbly supported by an excellent ensemble that provide huge amounts of energy throughout, all choreographed by Alan Burkitt. Horwood ends with a show-stopping rendition of “I did it my way”, suitably hammed up and over-acted as one would expect.

Stephenson Ardern-Sodje’s Prince Charming and Daniel Norford’s Dandini enjoy some shenanigans as they decide to swap identities for no discernible reason, although this plot line isn’t really used to it’s full potential, and is quickly dropped in the second act, as Ardern-Sodje and Norford lead us in a rendition of Bruno Mars’s “APT” (with the lyrics changed to ‘Our Party’). It is moments like this that make the pantomime feel current and up-to-date – sneaky references to the Oasis tour and The Traitors are also thrown in there – although other parts of the pantomime do feel a little tired, in particular a rendition of Gangnam Style, which seems to fall rather flat, mostly due to the fact that anyone under the age of 18 probably doesn’t even know the song.

Horwood’s daughters are the suitably named Tess (May Tether) and Claudia (Britt Lenting), and they fulfill the role of Cinderella’s nasty stepsisters suitably, prancing round the stage and trying to seduce Charming. Tether and Lenting join Hurst and Horwood for a rendition of “If I were not in pantomime” (now a Theatre Royal tradition, albeit this year renamed to ‘If I were not at Hardup Manor’). This is one of the best performances of this song I have seen for a while, with all four of the actors clearly having a ball, Hurst shooting the audience with a water pistol whilst Horwood batters him with his truncheon. Whether the actors will still have this level of enthusiasm for the song by the end of the month is anyone’s guess, but for now it is a highlight of the show.

Bringing some glamour to proceedings are Elly Jay’s Cinderella and Christina Bianco’s Fairy Godmother. Whilst given little to do in the opening act, Bianco comes into her own in the second half when she is given opportunity to showcase her incredible talent for impersonations. This culminates in a rendition of “The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow” which sees Jay calling out different singers, and Bianco quickly slipping into character to deliver the next line of the number. Impersonations aside, Bianco’s singing ability is staggering, earning her one of the biggest cheers of the night.

The pantomime is supported throughout by Gavin Whitworth’s orchestra, although they do at times drown out the singers. Many of the songs are popular tunes with altered lyrics, yet one struggles to make out the lyrics due to the volume of the music. The Theatre Royal whip out their usual Act One finale prop – which has served as a flying car and a flying double-decker bus in previous pantomimes – here utilised as a flying horse and carriage, and this is arguably the most successful rendition yet, with fancy animatronics helping to bring the horses to life. There is also an odd scene between Buttons and his teddy bear (again some clever use of animatronics), which feels as though it is building up to a joke, but instead turns out to be a rather surprising heart-warming moment.

Anyone hoping for anything new or different from this pantomime may be slightly disappointed. Written by Harry Michaels and Alan McHugh, this is standard panto fayre, but it does exactly as required and does it very well. And when panto is being done this well, who needs anything more? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! This is the best pantomime Nottingham Theatre Royal have produced in years. A fun evening of entertainment that can be summed up in three words:

FAB – U – LOUS!

Tom Morley, November 2025