THE Sinbad story has to be I one of the best panto vehicles, having the crucial element of the quest myth, along with lots of opportunity to winkle in fake far shores, such as tomtom drumming jungles and Egyptian temples.
In this year's offering at the Gaiety theatre, director Brian de Salvo has added to the potential of the story with a superb cast, led by June Rodgers headlining the panto for the first time.
She proves herself fit to step into the shoes of the illustrious Gaiety stars of the past, with her powerful presence, her endless range of expressions, her hilarious waddle and her excellent voice.
The children responded to her from the moment she stepped on stage, loving her humiliation as Polly Saturate, hopelessly in love with Sinbad, and loving her happy ending as well.
Frank Mackey, as her sidekick, Stalemate, hasn't yet grown a strong enough comic arm to lop back her volleys, however.
Pat Kinevane makes another panto appearance as a wonderful bad die, determined to stop Sinbad finding the Eye Of The Tiger and the love of Shamira this time he is as a mobile phone wielding yuppy, and the moral message of the night (necessary in panto) is strengthened in the debunking of his pretension the children loved roaring, "Get real!"
Alex Sharpe is a petite and lovely Shamira (but was that a thick layer of fake tan on her tummy, or why was it orange?), and Nick Grennell did his usual ladsy hero act very effectively.
The real find of the night is Raymond Keane, however, well known for his work with Barabbas in much smaller spaces.
Here he plays Grot, Zendor's down trodden slave, the perfect clown figure. His defeat of Zendor and return to humanity has moments of pathos that left even the most zealous of peanut crunching munchkins silent, and made me hope that I was seeing the emergence of a great Irish clown.
All of this, and special effects including lightening swords and a glowing Eye Of The Tiger, in a huge sphynxlike figure, still didn't add up to a show with the punch of recent Gaiety pantos.
The script was too slow moving, too wordy, and aimed too often above the kids' heads even the yuppy character was surely lost on them, to some extent.
The set (designed by Alan Farquharson) was not as sumptuous as those of recent years, and the jungle backdrop brought me back to the kind of pantos I went to as a child.
A trip to the Gaiety panto at Christmas is like a pilgrimage up Croagh Patrick you don't cancel it if there's a bit of drizzle. But it can't be denied that this show doesn't work its many wonderful elements hard enough to give the kids or their parents the full spiritual experience.
