Film & Theatre, Reviews | Posted on October 13th, 2025 | return to news

Dick Whittington

Ferndown Phoenix Musical Theatre, The Barrington Centre

Review by Luke Graham

October is an unusual time of year for a pantomime, but Ferndown Phoenix Musical Theatre delighted audiences with their recent production of ‘Dick Whittington’.

Performing at The Barrington Centre from 9–11 October, this large cast did very well, helping theatregoers get into the Christmas spirit (a few months earlier than usual).

The story follows Dick and his cat Jess on a quest to become Lord Mayor of London. Along the way he encounters evil rats, treacherous pirates and falls in love with the beautiful Alice Fitzwarren.

The cast performed admirably, with some impressive song and dance numbers. The staging was spectacular, especially the ship set in the second act.

Marie Cormack and Alice Weller were both very good as the main characters Alice Fitzwarren and Dick Whittington, with some great singing. Linda Robbins and Sally Blyther were both highly entertaining as Lady Fitzwarren and Frankie Bogpot. And Mike Jones has a career ahead of him as a pantomime dame. His Betty Bogpot was very funny, towering over the cast in his heels and bright wig.

A special shoutout to Marion Colmer as the evil Queen Rat. She made for a great panto villain and did incredibly well singing a version of Meatloaf’s ‘Bat Out of Hell’.

In her review of the show, the five-year-old Junior Editor said: “I loved the Queen Rat, she was so funny and I loved her costume.”

My favourite part of the show was Kelsey Pickett as Jess the cat. Her physical comedy and antics on stage were often hilarious.

This was a wonderful and entertaining show with excellent costumes and performances. Well done to the cast and crew.