Fun and frolics for all ages at 'Jack and the Beanstalk' Athlone panto

Madness and mayhem is about to take over Athlone with the opening tonight (Friday, January 9) of one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the year, the annual panto in the Dean Crowe Theatre.

This year's offering tells the hilarious tale of 'Jack and the Beanstalk' so audiences can be assured of fun and frolics galore as Dame Daisy (aka John McGlynn) dons her massive wig, lashings of lipstick and her huge dress to join a massive cast made up of over 100 local adults and children for a side-splitting evening of entertainment for everyone aged from just one year old to 100 years old!

John McGlynn, who is no stranger to the stage nor indeed to the weird and wonderful world of panto, says 'Jack and the Beanstalk' is full of “madness, pure hilarity and good old-fashioned fun” and is the ideal antidote to banish those post-Christmas blues.

“There will be plenty of jokes, great songs, lovely music and lots of colour and spectacle, it's an ideal night out for all the family and will appeal to people of all ages,” he says.

In his capacity as Manager of the Dean Crowe Theatre in Athlone, John McGlynn says the annual panto is “one of the biggest fundraisers of the year” for the local theatre, so he is appealing to local audiences to come out and support the event, which runs over the next two weekends.

While opening night for 'Jack and the Beanstalk' is tonight, there will also be shows on Saturday and Sunday, January 10 and 11.

There will be one evening show at 7.30pm, while Saturday will see two performances, a matinee at 2pm and an evening performance at 7.30pm. Sunday will also see one show only being performed, a matinee at 2pm.

The panto will continue over the weekend of Friday to Sunday, January 16 to 18 inclusive. Again, there will be one performance only on Friday, January 16 at 7.30pm, while Saturday, January 17, will see two shows being performed, a matinee at 2pm and an evening performance at 7.30pm The final performance of 'Jack and the Beanstalk' will take place on Sunday, January 18, with a matinee at 2pm.

Tickets for all shows are available on www.deancrowetheatre.com or by ringing 090 6492129, Monday to Friday from 10.30am to 2.30pm.

The Director/Choreographer of this year's panto is the hugely-accomplished Kori Kilduff and the cast is made up of 16 principals, all of whom are no strangers to the world of theatre and musicals, as well as an army of children and young adults from local schools around the Athlone area.

Among those playing principal roles are Jonathan Kilduff, who is cast in the lead role of Jack; John McGlynn who will play the hilarious and larger-than-life role of Dame Daisy; Ella Powell who plays the role of Jill; Petrova Mulvey, in the role of the baddie, Poison Ivy and Joe Steiner, as Sir Desmond Dashing.

Other key roles in this year's production will be played by Richard Browne (Dougie, the talking cow); Paul Holloway and Des Grealish (as Jekyll and Hyde); Hannah Dowling (Little Miss Muffet); Nicola O'Sullivan (Little Boy Blue); Alfie Kilduff (Baron Backstop); Joan Larkin and Laura Steiner (Flora and Fauna); Mags Mulligan (Hattie the Hen); Cian Sweeney-Mulhall (Dunston) and last, but by no means least, the role of The Giant will be played by Jamie O'Kane.

John McGlynn describes the costumes for this year's panto as “magnificent” particularly the costume to be worn by the Giant. “It is just fantastic and a bit scary” he admits.

The script for 'Jack and the Beanstalk' was written by Wexford man, Thomas O'Leary, who is the artistic director of Wexford Pantomime Society, so plenty of one-liners and up to the minute jokes about all aspects of Irish and local life will be on the cards. “The thing about panto is anything goes, and it usually does,” says John McGlynn who has been on stage in every panto since Kori Kilduff took over the direction of the annual Athlone panto in 2010. “I actually joined the cast in 2011 and I have been on stage every year since then,” he says “I love it, it's great fun and when we see the fun that the audiences get from watching the show it makes it all worthwhile.”