Daniel Buckley, Alison Jiear, Leanne Jones, Taofique Folarin in The Three Little Pigs. The Three Little Pigs

Palace Theatre

6 August 2015

4 Stars

BOOK TICKETS

Writing anything to entertain children isn’t an easy task. Writing something that can appeal to adults and children alike, trickier still. In writing The Three Little Pigs, George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, the team behind Honk!, Peter Pan and all of the glorious new material for Mary Poppins have delivered in droves.

The Three Little Pigs have set up their stys at London’s Palace Theatre in what must be one of the brightest and breeziest 55 musical theatre minutes anywhere to be found.

Simon Webbe as the Big Bad Wolf.

The plot sticks to the original tale but with typical Stiles and Drewe updates including making one pig determined to build an eco-friendly house, oh and did I mention the actual names of the pigs themselves Bar, Bee and Q. Hopefully you get the feel of what you are in for. In the end it’s by working as a team that this family survives the wiles of the wolf.

Alison Jiear plays Mother Pig and a few other convenient tradespeople with flair and a jazzy soulfulness in numbers like A Real Pig Sty. Taofique Folarin is Bar, fixated with his muscles, Leanne Jones is Bee the eco-friendly pig with Daniel Buckley playing Q, the brains of the family. Simon Webbe plays the Big Bad Wolf, a baddie whose a bit misunderstood. It’s a terrific cast who seem to be thoroughly enjoying hamming it up.

Designer Jason Denvir has given The Three Little Pigs a look that is quite incredible. From the rotund pig outfits that exaggerate Ewan Jones fabulous dance routines to the set, which resembles a Van Gogh countryside keeps the look of the show interesting with tricks aplenty as the Wolf huffs and puffs.

The songs are bright, instantly hummable and catchy, trust me they are still rattling around in my head. Ruth Ling’s orchestrations give the songs real zip especially in the fabulous Piggie Megamix at the end of the show.

Producer Kenny Wax has become one of the most prolific producer’s of children’s entertainment in the West End. It’s great to see a mainstream producer taking the time to develop new audiences with such care and commitment to quality.

The children sitting around me were having a ball. Engaged, entertained and thoroughly enjoying themselves and that’s brilliant.

Suitable for ages 3+

THE THREE LITTLE PIGS RUNS UNTIL 6 SEPTEMBER 2015 AT THE PALACE THEATRE