Review: Craic-erjack! Cork Opera House show is full of beans and panto magic

THERE ain’t nothing like a panto - and there ain’t nothing like a panto dame!

Oh yes, the annual Christmas shows are back in Cork, and a night of raucous family fun is guaranteed.

The Opera House debuted its 2023/4 panto in recent days, Jack And The Beanstalk, and the Saturday night show I saw was an all-singing, all-dancing sell-out, with everyone leaving with smiles on their faces and songs on their lips.

It’s two-and-a-half hours of prime entertainment that absolutely flies by. Kudos to director Trevor Ryan in his tenth year in the chair for the Opera House panto.

It was 14 years ago when this particular fairytale last graced the Opera House, and I recall bringing my then two-year-old son, who promptly fell asleep at the interval and missed the entire giant act.

He was back with me this year, and let me tell you, teenage boys are hard to please. His verdict: “Brilliant!” There was certainly no danger of him dropping off this year, as this firecracker of a hectic show kept the audiences on their edge of their seats - a veritable song-and-dance and lights-and-costumes extravaganza.

Where to start? Well, every great panto simply has to have a great dame, and Frank Mackey’s genius as Nanny Nellie is the anchor which holds all the chaos together.

There will be 70 performances of this show in the months ahead, and that means Frank will be spending about a week solid (not counting rehearsals) prancing around and acting like a menopausal woman. What on earth effect that has on his mind and body is anybody’s guess!

Mackey is superb as the oh-so-Cork everywoman (what does she have against Ballincollig, I wonder!), but the rest of the cast are shining stars of this glittering show too.

Michael Grennell revels as baddie Rancid, and Sam Lupton is his more than able sidekick, Spit Snot. I loved their magic trick, using audience participation, that went wrong.

Playing the straight roles amidst all the mayhem is never easy, but Colm Quinn and Megan Pottinger are sweet and beguiling as Jack and Jill.

A word too for Ali McCormack - it’s not easy to project pathos and strength and sympathy, all when you’re dressed as a cow and being bombarded by udder jokes, but she managed it all while showcasing a stunning voice.

This panto is more akin to a West End musical at times, with its beautifully choreographed song and dance routines, and of course there are enough jokes to fill a thousands Christmas crackers - RTÉ being the brunt of many!

My favourite bit? The dance-off between Nellie and Spit Snot had me in stitches, but you would have had 900 different answers from the patrons at Saturday’s performance.

A fab show - and tickets are flying out the box office window. Most shows start at 7pm, and end just after 9.30pm, with a 15 minute or so interval.

Jack And The Beanstalk at the Opera House runs to January 21 with shows day and evening. Book on 021 427 0022 or www.corkoperahouse.ie