Review: Jack and the Beanstalk, at the Opera House, Manchester

I cannot remember the last time I went to the Manchester panto... It has to be at least 20 years... Ooops. Oh well; the combination of Jason Manford (Curtains), superstar drag queen Myra DuBois as the villain, and a voucher to use up equated to "oh why not". 

This year, the 2nd biggest show in Manchester, (the biggest being Hamilton, even being pointed out by Silly Simon himself), was Jack and the Beanstalk, marketed as the Giant Pantomime Spectacular. 

Earlier this year, classic panto landed back in my consciousness earlier this year with the spectacular Mother Goose with Ian McKellen and John Bishop. So, while it has not usually been my thing, I definitely think it made me more open to trying the Manchester staple. 

There's a big tall terrible awesome scary horrible giant in the sky!

(And yes the first number is an adapted version of Giants in the Sky from Into The Woods)

The kingdom of Mancunia (haha) is under threat by this giant and his wife, Myra Blunderbore (played deliciously by Myra DuBois). Well, Jack is going to show that bully his boss, and puts on a show in the town with the help of his childhood sweetheart Princess Jill (played by Emma Williams (Half A Sixpence)). 

But when the Princess is taken hostage, can Jack and his brother Silly Simon rescue her climb the beanstalk and their cow Pat from the Giant's stomach! 

(And as pointed out, how is a 40-something year old Jack meant to climb the massive beanstalk....)

With Jason Manford headlining, Jack and the Beanstalk feels part panto, part sketch show, part stand up comedy. It's very aware that a comic is headlining, with Manford doing a 4th-wall-breaking stand up routine at the beginning of the show. 

Manford also has a fantastic chemistry with Nickless, being a brilliant double act and performing several sketches (plot relevant or perhaps otherwise) that are genuinely funny and silly. There's something very British about them, almost as if you would see it in a Morecombe & Wise, or a Two Ronnie's sketch. 

Missing the classic Dame character (that was a shame), the closest was the villain Myra Blunderbore. DuBois was deliciously over-the-top evil. She commanded the stage every time; even during the alliteration sketch where she kept fumbling over her lines (hilariously. It is live theatre after all). 

If you want something entertaining for the whole family to enjoy, Jack and the Beanstalk is a good choice for the Christmas period

For me, it needs an extra touch of magic from The Spirit of the Beans as it misses a little bit of the "je ne sais quoi" that made Mother Goose work so beautifully; but am I glad I saw it? Of course - it brought a bit of festive joy to a busy week leading up to Christmas. So busy in fact that this is being uploaded almost a week after I saw it... ooops. And what a fun show to (likely) end 2023 on!