John Bishop is set to take to the Liverpool Empire stage alongside Sir Ian McKellen in a new family-friendly panto.
Mother Goose will be at the Empire from today (Tuesday, February 28) until Saturday, March 4. The panto has been written by Jonathan Harvey and is directed by award-winning director, Cal McCrystal.
The show tells the story of Mother Goose (Sir Ian McKellen) and her husband Vic (John Bishop), who run an animal sanctuary for waifs and strays and live a wholesome life inside an abandoned Debenhams. However, this could all change when a goose flies in, leading to hilarious on-stage antics that will get the whole family laughing.
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Having achieved success as a comedian, presenter and actor, John Bishop has become a firm favourite on our television screens, in addition to performing at areas across the country. Speaking to the ECHO, John shared his experience of his latest project, working with Sir Ian McKellen on the new panto.
He said: "People are probably wondering what a panto is doing being on at this time of year. The tradition of pantomime and what used to happen is that people would go to the West End and then tour round the regions. So that’s why we’re on the road.
"With Mother Goose, the story is quite loose, so there's no reference to Christmas. It’s basically a story of a family, my son Jack and my wife - who’s called Ian! You know what, it’s the most joyful thing I’ve ever done. There hasn’t been a show that doesn’t end with everyone on their feet. The cast is fantastic, they’re all really high end West End performers.
"Working with Sir Ian McKellen is wonderful. He’s such a great person to be with. He’s met everybody, he’s got a million showbiz stories, but he’s also just so driven. In fact, we were in Wolverhampton last week and we’ve done the show around 70 times now and he wanted to sit down and go through the script to see if there were any jokes we could add in, he just keeps making it better and better.
"All I can say is basically leave everything at the door, come in and just enjoy it. It’s silly, it’s fun, it’s heartfelt. There’s loads of surprises in it that you wouldn’t expect to be in a panto. There’s moments of quiet and then there’s moments of hilarity. It’s got all the ingredients, the feedback we've got is immense. It just lifts people’s spirits as it’s not trying to be anything else but a good night out."
For John, the Liverpool Empire is a special venue close to his heart. Describing his excitement of bringing Mother Goose to the Empire's stage this week, he said: "It feels massive.
"For me personally, the first stage play I ever did was there - it was One Night in Istanbul. I did my first DVD at the Empire. I love the place and it was one of the big attractions for me to do it.
"The audience there will just get it. You know they'll buy into it and I can't wait for that reaction and reception. Getting to the Empire is a pivotal point in the tour, so the whole cast is excited about it.
"We’ve got a British Sign Language interpreted show on Wednesday. I always encourage people to come to who are BSL users, or anyone who’s interested in sign language.
"It’s a show that’s meant to lift your spirits, the cheapest tickets are £13. We’ve tried to make it as accessible to everyone as we can and I just want as many people to see it as possible, because I’m not exaggerating, it’s the most joyful thing I’ve done."
Mother Goose will be at the Liverpool Empire Theatre until Saturday, March 4. You can view a full list of show times and book tickets here.
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