Review: Jack and the Beanstalk, Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton

Well, this year's Grand Theatre production of Jack and the Beanstalk has all of the above in spades.

In fact it's got plenty more besides, with some exemplary performances from Sherrie Hewson, Ken Morley and Keith Harris and co elevating its status from good to great.

A delighted audience braved one British tradition – seasonably cold weather – and were welcomed into the warmth of the Grand for something perhaps even more quintessentially British – a stonking panto.

The theatre has rightly accrued an excellent reputation for its annual spectacular and the historical setting was perfect for a show which more than paid homage to the panto institution.

Ticket sales are up two per cent on last year and families will certainly get their money's worth over the coming weeks.

Other theatres may boast more "A-list" stars but the dynamics of the Jack and the Beanstalk cast was what made this such a riot.

Hewson, best known for her risque antics on daytime chatty rant Loose Women and her role in ITV's Benidorm, led from the front with a typically off-beat performance.

She revelled in playing the evil Lady Temple-Savage but her natural and nimble charm shone throughout.

The former Coronation Street star, who, looks stunning at 62, also showed off her comedic talents with a couple of delightful turns as a Swedish maid and a 1960s hippy.

When the cast was unveiled a few months back it was the reunion of Hewson and Morley, aka the Street's Maureen Naylor and Reg Holdsworth, that was the main attraction and despite their Corrie heyday approaching 20 years ago they showed the old chemistry was very much still alive.

The pair performed an adorable musical skit and the only disappointment was there weren't any more scenes with just the two of them. But this is the panto that leaves you wanting more. At just over two hours it didn't feel overly long in the slightest.

Talking of wanting more, you can just never get enough Keith Harris and Orville in your life and they were the undoubted star turns.

Believe it or not, it's a 30-year-old routine now and Harris has certainly honed and perfected it over the decades. He moves seamlessly from enchanting the kids to tickling the folks' funny bones with simple, honest good-natured humour.

That little green duck must be the saddest puppet on the planet but for some reason he's also one of the most lovable and his scenes were unquestionably the most popular. He also got the biggest cheer at the end.

Closely followed, that is, by seasoned panto performer Nigel Ellacott, who played Dame Trot.

If you want more innuendo than you can shake a stick at, or simply a dress disguised as a deck chair or another frock with a pelmet containing a full-blown tea party (this has to be seen to be believed) then the Dame delivered.

Her ongoing love interest with audience member Jeff was a regular source of amusement. And the Dame also took away the prize for best song, an uproarious and distinctly Black Country take on Barry Manilow's Copacabana (altogether now sing, "at the market, at Bilston Market").

Local lass Niki Evans provided the majority of the musical highlights with a graceful performance as Fairy Fortune while the cheeky Ben James-Ellis was excellent as Jack, as, too, was Sophie Brooke-Ford as the woman he wooed, Princess Apricot.

A word, too, for Day-Zee the Cow, a quite remarkably well co-ordinated Friesian that displayed dance moves most of us can only dream of pulling off during a night out.

They even managed to just about get away with a Giant Blunderbore, no doubt painfully constructed for one scene only and who must have stood at least 10ft high.

Great cast, great music, great comedy, great crowd, great theatre, great panto.

Catch it while you can. Jack and the Beanstalk is at the Grand until January 20.

Have you been to see Wolverhampton Grand Theatre's panto this year? Leave your mini-review in the comments below: