Pinocchio: A Traditional Christmas Pantomime - Zealous Productions (13 December 2024)

Silliness is hard work. And make no mistake, Pinocchio is gloriously silly in all the right ways. This level of silliness also takes an inordinate amount of talent, on and off the stage. I rarely mention producers in my reviews, however, Dixie Farinosi continues to make such smart decisions as she builds a distinctive brand that embraces excellence and sheer entertainment value.

First and foremost, the array of talent onstage is exceptional. It would be easy to dismiss this as “just a panto” but when you have luminaries in Brendan Hanson, Elethea Sartorelli, Lauchlan Edward Bain, and Vincent Hooper treading the boards with exciting new talent such as Emily Lambert and two recent - as in last month - WAAPA graduates in Ellen Ebbs (playing the titular role) and Ben Goldsbrough, you're showcasing the quality and depth of talent in Perth. Farinosi herself even manages to find time to play a character on the boo-hiss side of the ledger. Throw in a Dame played with considerable panache by Matt Dyktynski and an ensemble full of lead performers in their own right and you have a killer lineup. 

The names in the creative team are equally impressive with most having worked with Zealous Productions before. You sense this is a tight-knit group at the top of their game, all working towards a common goal with expertise and passion. We'll come to the individuals later; suffice to say that the show looks and sounds fantastic.

Now, there's no doubt there is a recognisable formula at work with these big pantomimes. The call and response; the establishment of an item - a string of sausages here - that the audience must guard with vocal admonishment of any who dare approach; the aforementioned Dame who will invariably single out someone from the audience for special attention (you lucky boy, Chris!); the machine gun delivery of bad puns; local references designed to provoke a parochial response; clearly defined "goodies" to cheer and "baddies" to boo; with a track list of recognisable classics that the audience can sing and dance along to. 

What strikes me on opening night though is that the wildcard that makes the formula work so effectively is the audience itself. Especially one full of young children who are so honest and uncensored with their reactions. The unfettered energy the audience emits is embraced by such a talented cast and there is a strange alchemy that comes into play that's a delight to watch and be a part of. 

The story itself has been transposed to 1970s Fremantle with our own "pleasure island", Rottnest, featuring in the second act. All the familiar elements are there - the kindly Geppetto; his puppet creation who wants to be a real boy; the Blue Fairy who partially grants Pinocchio his wish; the boy who leads Pinocchio astray in Lampwick; and, of course, everyone's favourite conscience in insect form, Jiminy Cricket. Oh, and a whale.

Everything is bright and bold starting with Katie Williams' costume design which has fun with a peak disco vibe for the ensemble; plenty of seventies flourishes especially for Lampwick; the Italian themed drag outfit for the Dame, Mamma Mia; and the fantastical elements that bring the more fanciful characters to life. One of those is Emily Lambert who looks divine as the Blue Fairy (cheer!) and kicks us off in style with a commanding presence and beautiful singing voice. Aiding the distinctive character stylings are an impressive set of wigs by Manuao TeAtonga and there's a lot of hat work going on including a cunning disguise that would fool even Clark Kent. 

The lighting design (Matthew Erren) is bold and vibrant to enhance the essential fairy tale nature of proceedings with terrific projections throughout to establish the various locations. Shenae White's choreography is playful with its own disco inspired energy while also faithfully recreating the classics in numbers such as The Time Warp and YMCA. 

While closing song Blame It On The Boogie may encapsulate the seventies theme; it's the music of Queen that buttresses some major plot points - A Kind Of Magic for Pinocchio's transformation with Another One Bites The Dust being the signature tune for our leading villain (boo!) Stromboli played with strutting insouciance by Lauchlan Edward Bain who revels in the audience's mock disdain. Bain has a powerhouse voice and a sneering presence that is electrifying. 

Stromboli's accomplices are a stylish Dixie Farinosi as Signora Volpe (boo!) and Vincent Hooper's Signore Gatto (hiss!) who looks and behaves like a reject from a Cats casting call... and I'm talking the movie here, not the musical. It's a wonderfully over-the-top, cat-astrophe of a performance. Oh look, I can do bad puns too! Oh no you can't! Oh yes I -- sorry. Where were we?

On the positive side of the ledger, Elethea Sartorelli (yay!) is an absolute delight as she prances around the stage as Jiminy Cricket. Sartorelli's onstage charisma is always a formidable asset but it's that glorious voice when she belts out Jiminy's theme song New York, New York that seals the deal. Brendan Hanson as Gepetto (nawww!) felt a tad under-utilised in the first act but seeing he's also the director he only has himself to blame! However, he too has such a warm stage presence that when Geppetto's big moment comes he has a whale of a time (okay, I'll stop now) as he builds into a show stopping moment with All By Myself. Matt Dyktynski thrives as the requisite Dame and has no fear of being the butt of the joke while dishing out plenty of sass himself.  

Which brings us to Ellen Ebbs as Pinocchio (cheers!) and Ben Goldsbrough as Lampwick (more cheers!). Both have had a stellar year in a stellar graduating class at WAAPA. Goldsbrough is terrific as the comic foil quickly winning audience empathy with his deliberately bad puns and dubious pizza making skills. It's such an assured performance for his first professional gig. That's before we get to his singing which is divine and probably caught most unawares given the heavy lifting he was doing with so much broadly accented schtick.  

Ellen Ebbs has more than a touch of star quality. She lends her Pinocchio a fundamental sense of decency with the character being easily led astray because of it. Ebbs has a magnificent singing voice and, if anything, the production didn't make enough of that talent. I was waiting for her to cut loose on a big number, however, the tap sequence leading into a very slick Bye Bye Bye is when you could feel the production change gears and showcase Ebbs' undeniable ability. I was also delighted when the cast cleared out leaving Ebbs and Goldsbrough onstage together to lead the traditional Christmas song. It was a lovely touch. 

Other highlights: Tate Bennett wandering out, guitar in hand, to sing the Gilligan's Island theme song was so oddly bizarre that I couldn't stop laughing. The flubs - and there were a few - from corpsing to a hilariously slow pickup on a spotlight to a performer stepping on a cue and literally resetting a scene - simply added to the fun because there was so much goodwill between company and audience.

Musical director Joshua James Webb leads the regular band of Alex Barker (Drums), Tommi Flamenco (Bass guitar) and Jarrad Van Dort (Lead Guitar) and when you're referencing Queen there are some tasty guitar licks indeed. I mean, the depth on the bench is so ridiculously good that Jackson Harper Griggs and Allen Blachford are named as Associate MD and Associate Director!

This is another hit for Zealous Productions. It's enormous fun fuelled by enormous talent and hard work. The kids will love it and there is more than enough broad humour and innuendo to keep the adults grinning. Plus, who doesn't like to shout at actors and have a little boogie in their seat? 

Pinocchio is on at the Regal Theatre in Subiaco all the way up until Christmas Eve.