24/12/2025
A fabulous review from one of our brilliant presenters at 6 Towns Radio, Kelly Smith , of the panto Jack and the Beanstalk which you can Still catch at the Crewe Lyceum Theatre until January 4th 2026.
The Trotts are so poor they don’t have a bean to their name and what’s more, there’s an evil and greedy giant terrifying the village. Will they really have to sell their beloved cow Buttercup just to survive? Come and see if Jack can defeat the giant, win the heart of the girl he loves and turn the Trotts’ fortunes around.
It's panto time again (oh yes it is) and this was my third visit back to panto land this year… and the third time of seeing a production of Jack and the Beanstalk in as many weeks!
Having been in Jack in the Beanstalk myself at the end of November, I wondered what differences I would see in this Imagine Theatre production compared to what I’d already done/seen on stage this year.
We have Ollie Hart-Bradford as our hero Jack Trott, Lyceum favourites Malcolm Lord and Ste Johnson as his mother Dolly and brother Simon, Beth Lyons as the lovely Jill, David Gilbrook as her father Squire O’Dwyer, Eliza Waters as the magical Fairy Flora and former Brookside star Jennifer Ellison as the Giant’s evil henchwoman, Poison Ivy.
Jack was every inch the swoon worthy lead, with a great voice and I’m telling you now, Ollie Hart-Bradford could easily win an Eddie Redmayne lookalike competition! The resemblance was uncanny!
The blossoming relationship between Jack and Beth Lyon’s Jill was very sweet and they were beautiful to watch as a pairing.
Dolly and Simon were a great comedy duo, a testament to Malcolm and Ste having worked alongside each other for the last four years. Dolly’s costumes only seemed to get more outrageous as the show went on, including a rather fetching cow costume with shiny, metallic pink udders! The “Who, What, I Don’t Know” sketch they performed very quickly descended into chaos, with Ste quipping to Malcolm “I’m so glad you insisted on rehearsing this so many times!” but they rightfully got a lot of laughs and Ste in particular was very, very funny.
This year’s “star turn” of Jennifer Ellison as Poison Ivy was a surprising casting to me.
It wasn’t until I was sat in the auditorium that I remembered that she’s a trained dancer and has also played Roxie Hart in Chicago on the West End, so I was super impressed by her acting and singing chops.
She even performed a rendition of “Cell Block Tango” from Chicago, updated to tell the story of female fairytale characters that she’d “done away with” in the past. If you’d have been there, if you’d have seen it, I betcha you would have done the same!
I recognised a few of the same songs being used in this show as I had performed last month, but then “The Climb” is very fitting for climbing a beanstalk!
I was very impressed when the beanstalk appeared on stage in its neon green glory, and the introduction of the Giant in physical form at the start of act two was a very clever spectacle!
I won’t spoil it for you, if you want to see how cool they are, you’ll have to buy tickets so you can see them in person!
Overall, a great, funny show, with lots of opportunity for audience participation (shout out to audience member Mike who had to shout “Coo-ee Dolly” whenever she came on stage). A panto that is definitely worth its weight in magic beans!
Kelly Smith
6 Towns Radio
