Review of Arbuthnot and The Beanstalk spring pantomime at The Customs House in South Shields

But other than a change of seasons, this felt very much like any other Customs House panto.

Packed with laughs, great music, super sets and costumes, and brilliant audience interaction.

Arbuthnot and the Beanstalk does feature a Jack among the impressive cast, but make no mistake this show belongs to the irrepressible Davey Hopper (Arbuthnot) and Tom Whalley, who puts in a stunning performance as the villainous Fleshcreep.

Arbuthnot has been sent by his mother Dame Bella to help his aunt Dame Trott (Kieron Michael) and her son Jack (Aiden Nord) with their struggling ice cream business.

Instead of helping, Arbuthnot makes everything worse, selling Dame Trott’s cow for a bag of beans, which turn magic with the help of a wave of her wand from Fairy of the Forest (Lucy Davis).

Wicked Fleshcreep kidnaps Jack’s girlfriend Jill (Beth Clarke), and Jill’s dad the Mayor of Cooksonville (David McCarthy) joins the gang to climb the beanstalk to rescue her.

Along the way there are plenty of hilarious set-pieces, including a messy slosh scene inside the ice cream parlour and a wishing well scene involving Arbuthnot, Jill and Jack.

There are plenty of musical highlights, including Rose Royce’s Car Wash (Cow Wash), Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust (Fleshcreep) and a brilliant medley which helps bring the show to a hugely satisfying crescendo.

There’s no doubt musical director Jen Stevens has done a great job.

The cast is uniformly good, injecting and maintaining the hectic pace needed, but Hopper and Whalley truly shine in their roles. Hopper is a natural entertainer, a gifted comic with great timing and the talent and experience to build up a quick rapport with an audience. He also directs the show.

Tom Whalley was a revelation as Fleshcreep. He commands the stage when he’s on it, moves like a dancer and his delivery (reminiscent of Kenneth Williams) is pitch perfect. And he can sing. Audiences should hope he’ll return to The Customs House soon.

A word too for the dancers from South Tyneside Dance Workshop, superbly choreographed by Jacqui West.

The first half needs some trimming, with audience members around me getting twitchy after an hour and 15 minutes – but this is a minor criticism.

It’s a great show, and will have people laughing all the way to Aladdin at Christmas.

:: Sunday’s two shows will feature legendary panto dame Ray Spencer as Fleshcreep, which should be interesting!