Theatre review: Panto Come Home! is a welcome gift of livestreamed silliness to superfans
The story introduces a new Phanto of the Panto, but this is an excuse to revisit past hits
Donna Soares, Mark Chavez, Dawn Petten, and Amanda Sum in Panto Come Home! Photo by Emily Cooper
The Cultch and Theatre Replacement stream Panto Come Home! to December 27
DO YOU HAVE to live just off Commercial Drive to get all tingly listening to this year’s East Van Panto crew sing their own heartfelt version of “Silent Night”? No, but when you get to the chorus of “East Vancouver, my ho-o-ome” as fluffy snow falls from the rafters of the York, it’s hard not to get a little misty eyed. And that goes double for those from the ‘hood with the sudden unfurling of the show’s first backdrop, with its funkily painted rendition of the iconic East Van cross.
This year’s online rendition of the East Van Panto has all the “feels”--and a lot of the hyperlocal, whacked-out fun that’s drawn Vancouverites in droves to the York Theatre over past Yuletide seasons. And while nothing will match the experience of watching the Panto live, the production values, with four cameras tracking characters around the venue, are impressively pro--like other online Cultch offerings this fall. (I watched a static-camera livestream from a major national theatre company this week that honestly looked like community-cable TV in comparison--not in a good way. And no, I’m not going to say which one; we’re all doing our best to cope right now.)
There is a loose narrative to the action in this digital Panto Come Home!, but it’s not based on a fairy tale this time out. Instead, writer-performer Mark Chavez cooks up a warped parody of Phantom of the Opera, complete with outsized chandelier. (Amid the Vancouver-inspired punchlines, it’s sent off-stage by the Phanto with the line: “Off you go, under the Granville Street Bridge where you belong.”)
The setup is that Theatre Replacement Panto creators Maiko Yamamoto and James Long want to cheer up music director Veda Hille, who’s been spending quarantine at the York alone. But along comes superfan Phanto of the Panto. He can’t help micromanaging the crew as it sifts through scripts trying to decide which show to stage. (“I will do a solo and it will CRUSH!”, Chavez’s Phanto says hilariously, as the new boss nobody needs or wants.)
But really the whole premise is an excuse for people who have made the show a tradition since 2013 to relive some of their favourite moments. The show will resonate most with Panto completists. Some of your favourite characters and actors are back; among the inside jokes aimed at the most dedicated of Panto-goers is an insanely inspired medley paying tribute to several past villains. You’ll also see some familiar costumes and songs, with slight new twists. (“Cozy in your bubbles tight” in “Silent Night” is just one of many new lyrics referencing these pandemic times.) Cinderella’s “Shake It Off”, Jack and the Beanstalk’s “Cheese Song” and Pinocchio’s patter ode to gelato and coffee: it’s all here, plus some new hits. A highlight is Yamamoto and Long recalling East Van Panto history to the tune of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline”, acknowledging the new COVID reality: “Hands touching hands/Don’t touch me/I won’t touch you”.
Shawn Macdonald,, Dawn Petten, and James Long flashback to past productions in Panto Come Home!
They all try to make it as interactive as possible, too. Thanks to a quick dance lesson, you and your roommates/family members will soon be jumping off the couch to do the Straw Monkey to Hille’s new twist on the “Time Warp”. (Don’t be that one person, just like at the York, who refuses to participate.)
The cast members, who are practically family to each other by now, are clearly having a blast, and it’s a treat to once again see the balls-out comedic genius of past stars like Dawn Petten and Shawn Macdonald. Hille and percussionist Barry Mirochnik kick ass, building almost impossibly big sound in numbers like a rocking “Our House”. They are also resplendent in matching sequin gowns behind their COVID-protocol Plexiglas box.
More nonsensical touches include a Japadog trying to play a sausage and a Weimark-era-Berlin spin on “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”.
Okay, so it sometimes it doesn’t make sense--this is the East Van Panto, after all. And anyway, life doesn’t make sense these days either. This is a show that will make you feel merry and bright again. Like the Phanto, you’ll feel “gruntled”. And yes, that’s an inside joke too, but you’ll have to tune into this generous act of silliness to get it. Or just ask someone in East Van.
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