Peter Pan at The London Palladium review – high flying, adored pantomime

Peter Pan has soared onto the hallowed stage of The London Palladium as this year’s pantomime offering, and like the show’s titular character, watching Julian Clary deliver innuendo-laden quips whilst wearing increasingly outrageous costumes never grows old.

Aside from its evidently massive budget, the annual Palladium panto also has the added advantage of its yearly returning cast members. The quartet of Clary, Gary Wilmot as the Dame, ventriloquist Paul Zerdin as the Buttons-esque sidekick and Nigel Havers as the always loveable (and lovingly victimised) side character is a gift that keeps on giving each Christmas, allowing for callbacks to previous years’ pantos and, therefore, perhaps the longest-running gags in the genre.

It seems to be such a winning formula that producers are beginning to add to the returning roster with WhatsOnStage Award winner Rob Madge (who played the cow in 2022’s Jack and the Beanstalk) back for more fun and frolics this year as Tink, while Louis Gaunt adds another titular role to his belt, swapping the tights of Jack for the tights of Peter in what Clary cheekily describes as a “remarkably similar” performance.

Younger musical theatre fanatics will also be delighted at the inclusion of WoS Award nominee Francis Mayli McCann in the role of Wendy. Although often played completely straight, McCann gets to join in the banter, exaggerating her native Scottish accent during some parts of the show to the point where Clary feels the need to act as an interpreter to the audience. Gaunt too gets a fleeting gag, accidentally setting fire to his crotch (thanks to a flaming limbo pole belonging to this year’s impressive variety act – the acrobatic troupe known as The Timbuktu Tumblers) before a sequined Fireman Clary gleefully appears with an extinguisher.

The added guest star power for 2023 comes in the form of one Jennifer Saunders, following in the footsteps of comedy partner Dawn French, who reveled in her portrayal of Dame Trot last year. Saunders takes on the villainous Captain Hook in her panto debut, lapping up the boos and hisses from the audience with an ironic twinkle in her “smut-loathing” eye. Predictably, she gets the biggest reaction of the night when one scene calls for Hook to infiltrate the Lost Boys’ dwelling in disguise. Enter Edina Monsoon in all her absolutely fabulous (and “contractually obligated”) sweetie-darling – glory.

There are J M Barrie narrative elements to the show – pirates, mermaids, the death and resurrection of Tink all remain, Tiger Lily and any Native American racial stereotypes are gone – but of course, it’s panto, so the diegesis often falls by the wayside. “Whatever happened to the plot?” sings Madge during act two. “Is there a story? Not a lot.”

But the mere fact this is Peter Pan allows for extensive wire-flying and, although last year’s coup de théâtre of witnessing a giant beanstalk grow from the centre of the stalls up through the ceiling of the Palladium – with Gaunt scaling it as a daring Jack – cannot be matched, it was certainly joyous to see Clary’s seaman Smee ascend to the rafters after a sprinkling of pixie dust at the end of act one.

Perhaps the most surprising and emotionally impactful moment of the night comes from a rare showing of vulnerability from Clary, as he honours his friend and co-star from 2019’s Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Paul O’Grady, who sadly passed away earlier this year. With a reworked number from Sunset Boulevard, he sings with a heartfelt simplicity that “sometimes it feels as if he never said goodbye.” The sadness iss palpable in a show that delivers festive cheer by the bucketload.

And for the rest of the evening, laugh out loud we did. In fact, I’m not sure if there’s another production that makes this writer split his sides as much as the Palladium panto. Long may this new tradition, reignited back in 2016, continue… to the second star to the right and beyond! Absolutely fabulous and absolutely Pantastic!