London theater critics have given generally positive reviews to the West End return of the holiday extravaganza Pantoland, which runs at the London Palladium through Jan. 9, 2022. The creative team includes Michael Harrison (direction), Karen Bruce (choreography), Ian Westbrook (sets), Ben Cracknell (lights), Hugh Durrant (costumes), Matt Peploe (sound), Twins FX (special effects), and Gary Hind (musical superivsion, orchestrations). The cast includes Donny Osmond, Julian Clary, Paul Zerdin, Nigel Havers, and Gary Wilmot, with Jac Yarrow and Sophie Isaacs.
Evening Standard (Melanie McDonagh): Think of the most unlikely stage pairing, and you’re unlikely to beat Julian Clary performing a duet with Donny Osmond. … It’s a blast. This is panto, but nothing like we know it. … Normal panto has a narrative roughly framed around a children’s story, peppered with innuendo. This is innuendo peppered with the most fabulous variety acts with no reference whatever to a story. … The filth quotient means this is a panto oxymoron, one for the grown-ups. … The best line of the night was Nigel Havers’: “I haven’t had this much fun since Boris’s cheese and wine party!” How we laughed. 5 out of 5 stars.
London Theatre (Sophie Thomas): For a show called Pantoland at the Palladium, there’s one thing this show isn’t — and that’s a pantomime. … It’s a highlight reel of shows gone by, rather than offering anything new. Julian Clary, Nigel Havers, Gary Wilmot, and Paul Zerdin return for another year of Pantoland fun, guaranteeing a good time at the theatre. … There’s one new addition to this year’s celebrations. Donny Osmond as the “Wizard of Pantomime” brings magic to the Palladium, turning the audience into a gaggle of screaming teenagers. He’s a panto natural. … To change a Donny Osmond lyric, I love theatre for a reason, let the reason be pantomime. 4 out of 5 stars.
Telegraph (Claire Allfree): With Pantoland dropping all pretence at a child-friendly plot, the Palladium’s Christmas show is becoming, perhaps irredeemably, a case of adult-flavoured style over content. Pantoland was conceived last year as a stop-gap response to Covid. … Clary and co have retained the concept, serving up a reheated package of greatest hits. … This is Variety theatre that’s low on, er, variety. If you really are going to dispense with plot and go for all-out spectacle amid an unstoppable stream of unprintable quips about sex, you need a bit more than rings of fire and a line of dancing women with feathers on their heads. 2 out of 5 stars.
Times (Dominic Maxwell): Since the Palladium pantomimes have come so close to just being flat-out variety shows in their five-year recent history, why not just abandon any lingering fig leaf of fairytale and get on with the bawdy or spectacular or beautifully bananas set pieces? That’s the thinking behind Pantoland, a show in which the regular quartet of Julian Clary, Gary Wilmot, Nigel Havers and the ventriloquist Paul Zerdin pay tribute to the spirit of pantomime while trying to avoid laborious detail such as story. 3 out of 5 stars.
What’s On Stage (Theo Bosanquet): Panto is back at the Palladium. Sort of. This, the second installment of Pantoland (though last year’s only ran for six performances before being forced to close), is in fact a variety show in a mask. As the imperious Julian Clary declares, “If you want plot stay at home and watch Casualty.” Clary is joined by the core Palladium troupe … alongside several new faces. Top billing goes to Donny Osmond. … There’s an irony in the fact that Michael Harrison’s production sets out to celebrate the history of panto at the Palladium … but doesn’t actually constitute a pantomime. Having said that, when the cast are as high calibre as this, the lack of a recognisable story seems a minor quibble. I gobbled it up. 4 out of 5 stars.