Burnley College's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz panto will blow you away this Christmas

Theatre lovers were treated to a brilliant production of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz on Thursday, a panto written by Nigel Holmes, and it went down a storm. Director Mel Robbins, musical director Amy Townley and choreographers Sammy Allen, Jessica Sarchet, Sarah Dickinson and Harriet Whittaker did a fabulous job bringing this Christmas-time cracker to life. It was full of laughs from start to finish – the perfect tonic to the dark winter evenings.

Wizard of Oz is a classic and always make an appearance on TV screens across the country at this merry time of year. But there were some young faces in the audience at Burnley College, so for anyone new to this tale, it follows the adventures of Dorothy, as a tornado leaves her lost in a strange new land where she meets a talking scarecrow, tin man and a lion.

Bradley Graham as the panto dame, Dorothy’s Aunt Em, was a real star and proved he has bucket loads of talent with his excellent comic timing and improvisation skills. He had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand as he commanded the stage with confidence.

Libby-Grace Booth was a lovely leading lady as the iconic Dorothy and gave a fantastic performance, as did her band of wacky sidekicks: Caitlyn Holt as Scarecrow, Kye Jones as Tin Man, and Chloe Conway as Cowardly Lion. They all had the audience in stitches.

Mia Falcini and Alex Holmes were a great duo as the North and South Witches, while Becca Wilkins and Eloise Whittle brought tons of laughs and fun as Ugg and Lee.

Amy Roberts made for a terrifying Wicked Witch of the West but her vocals were stunning when she sang Annie Lennox’s “I Put a Spell on You”.

Excellent support came from Artur Karlovec (Wizard of Oz), Lila-Grace Mason (Princess Porcelain), Kenneth Conroy-Hargreaves (Guardian of the Gate), and Maxwell Hopkinson, who was a fantastic Prince Smarmy. And we cannot forget the wonderful background performers and production crew who all helped to keep us entertained from start to finish.

All I have left to say is that, just like Dorothy caught up in a tornado, this production blew me away.

Performances continue on Saturday at 10-30am and 2pm.