Leamington Spa Centre Panto Review: "Snow White is funniest I've seen"

That's probably one of the reasons why JP McCue has decided to put himself firmly front and centre of this year's Royal Spa Centre pantomime Snow White.

JP, who made his panto debut at the Leamington venue in 2012 and has returned successfully each year since, this time plays two roles - dame and evil queen.

At first it might be tricky to differentiate between the two characters as both the queen and Dame Dolly flirt their way through the opening scenes - but a few costume changes and plot advancements later and it's clear that JP is perfectly capable of doubling his stage time and efforts across both.

Sean "those toilet rolls just hit my [juggling] balls" Dodds, another who makes a welcome return to the Leamington show for the umpteenth time, again proves why he's such a trusted sidekick for JP and is in top top form with his 'bad' jokes and infectious energy.

From an adult's point of view it's Sean and JP's adlibbing, vibrant chemistry and general sense of fun which are the highlight of this year's offering.

It's the funniest Spa Centre panto I've seen .

And apparently "tomorrow is West Indian Hair Day" .... and Sean's "dreading it".

In past years the show has had animatronic giants, stunt men and neon dancing segments to wow younger audience members.

As a spectacle, Snow White doesn't quite hit those heights - instead relying on a more heartfelt and cute approach to make it memorable.

The troupe of multi-talented and skilled singing and dancing puppeteers with the Seven Drawfs attached to their costumes make for an endearing feature of the show and their sea-shanty-like theme song is a a rousing replacement for Disney's Heigh-Ho!

With the fairytale of Snow White appealing to younger children combined with the more adult side to JP and Sean's humour there's plenty here to impress the younger and older sections of the audience.

Those in between - children in later primary school years for example - might have to wait until next year's Spa Centre panto Aladdin for a more swashbuckling adventure.

But with a critical General Election looming this week and the cold winter set to kick in, we can again thank JP, his co-star Sean and the supporting cast for helping to lift that gloom and bringing us into the festive period with a smile on our faces.

Performances of Snow White will run until January 5.

For show times and tickets click here.