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Mother Goose is quite
possibly the oldest story to be transformed into pantomime dating back to
an ancient Greek legend. Frequently confused with Tales of Mother Goose, a
collection of Fairy Tales originating from France, the pantomime is based
purely on the story of Mother Goose herself with the first recorded
production performed in 1806 under the title of Harlequin and Mother Goose
or The Golden Egg.
The pantomime as we now know it is a mere 103 years old
and was written for the leading comedian of the day Dan Leno, creating the
biggest Dame role in a pantomime to date. These days, Mother Goose lacks
the appeal of many of today’s more popular pantomimes and as such is
rarely seen, however, the 1996/97 Qdos production at Birmingham’s
Hippodrome did much to rectify this. Boasting one of the UK’s biggest
Christmas shows, it did not fail to deliver. Lavish sets, sparkling
costumes, slick and spectacular transformation scenes and a star studded
cast, it was truly a production to match those of the famous London
Palladium in it’s panto heyday.
Vicki as Fairy Virtue obviously relished
her battles of wit over the heinous Demon Vanity of Robert Duncan. The
Chuckle Brothers caused comic mayhem as Bish and Bash ably aided and
abetted by Andy Crane as Billy Goose while Matthew Kelly firmly
established himself as one of our finest Dames in the title role. Magician
Russ Stevens supplied breathtaking illusions with Suzanne Dando and Bruce
Roberts providing the romantic interest.
Noel Butler as Priscilla Goose,
Ian Sandy as The King and youngsters from the Birmingham Stage School
completed the cast with a guest appearance form the White Power Ranger.
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