December 29, 2018 — Hans Christian Anderson's popular story, "The Little Mermaid," re-imagined as a British-style "panto," was written for the Winnipesaukee Playhouse, the "Winni," in Meredith, New Hampshire, by Neil Pankhurst, who also directed this presentation. Judy Hayward was the musical director, with choreography by Chris Hendricks. The many spectacular costumes were designed by someone identified in the program only by his or her initials, D. W. The beautiful, frequently changing sets were the creations of Andrew Stuart. The efforts of all these individuals and others came together brilliantly in a delightful holiday production.The songs were all familiar to the audience, from Sigmund Romberg to the Beatles, opera, show tunes and currently popular numbers. Audience sing-alongs were encouraged. Indeed, there was lots of interaction with the audience, in panto style. Panto, short for pantomime, originated in England and is characterized by song, dance, slapstick comedy and outrageous puns. This program had all those elements, and was appropriate for all ages. Children and adults could delight in the overall production, while adults could pick up on the "in" jokes and parody on present day issues and politics.
John Findlay skillfully juggled three roles as Hans Christian Anderson, Baldrick and a captain. Gender switching is common in panto, and actress Rob Yonkers lent her talent and great singing voice to the male role of Prince Harry. It was hard to top Tom Bengston, big and burly, towering over the other actors, in magnificent drag as the flamboyant Dame Gladys. Kelley Davies was charming as Marina, the mermaid whose one desire is to be human. Richard Brundage was King Hamlet, Ken Chapman portrays King Neptune and Ellouise McGonagle was Megan, a princess. Ursula Minich Boutwell played Octavia who has an important role near the end, in a very clever octopus costume. Winni veterans Lynn T. Dadian and Barbara Webb, in keeping with the nautical theme, played a crab and starfish named Jules and Verne. The junior chorus, consisting of eight teen and pre-teen girls, was fantastic. The band was composed of Judy Hayward on keyboard, Paul Bourgelais on guitar, bass and banjo and Eric Weinstein on drums.
The Winni's acoustics caused some sound distortion, at least where I was sitting. Scene 1, introducing Neptune's underwater palace, was just a bit lacking in energy, but all the rest of the production was truly magnificent, and I think the audience was the most enthusiastic I've enjoyed being a part of at the Winni or any other theater in years.
