REVIEW: Goldie Frocks and the Bear Mitzvah, JW3

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When JW3 launched Britain’s first professional Jewish panto last year in the guise of Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Pig, much fanfare was had around it being a unique show with as much chutzpah as it had festive spirit.

In some ways this inaugural feast of madcap fun presented a tough act to follow, but writer Nick Cassenbaum and musical director Josh Middleton have largely succeeded with this year’s Goldie Frocks and the Bear Mitzvah.

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At the core of the story, the duo have put a Yiddish-filled spin on this perennial children’s favourite, though porridge has been switched out for chicken soup with overly large-kneidlach and Daddy Bear has suffered an unfortunate demise.

That just leaves Mama Behr, as she is now known, played by the wonderful Debbie Chazen, raising Baby (Frankie Thompson) on her own ahead of the youngster’s Bear Mitzvah at the Cirque Du Oy Vey.

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Little do they know that plans are afoot by evil fashion designer Calvin Brine (a fantastically fiendish Simon Yadoo), who wants to fix his mid-life crisis by turning Baby into a fur coat that will give him eternal youth.

Brine is so nefarious that he runs his East End tailoring factory like a sweat shop and treats his workers appallingly, including the talented Goldie Frocks (Heloise Lowenthal), who he orders to kidnap Baby before he comes of age. Lowenthal is simply a delight and brings huge energy and punch to her role, plus she has a sublime singing voice.

Chazen too has a stage presence and comic timing that is second to none and she knows precisely how to drum up the audience. That, combined with her outrageous outfits – one featuring a bagel-like hat atop her bear ear, a salt-beef-and-mustard dress and modesty-protecting pickles – resulted in many grinning with glee before she had even said a word.

Chazen is perfectly deadpan as she delivers a large smattering of bear-related puns throughout the show, though I did find myself grrr-oaning by the end.

Thompson as Baby is another standout act, who bounces off both Chazen and Lowenthal to deliver a heartfelt performance as a tweenager on the cusp of adulthood prone to hormonal surges.

Mention must be made of the songs, adapted versions of well-known pop and folk tunes that were either written by or famously sung by musicians of Jewish descent. Chazen and Lowenthal’s rendition of Total Eclipse of the Heart – featuring Mama Behr singing ‘G-d forbid’ in place of ‘turn around’ was pure comic genius. The klezmer band playing in the background were top notch.

Ian Saville as Morris Bloom, an older worker who remembers Goldie Frocks’ parents, intermittently performs magic tricks that delight the audience, but the character felt a little like a stilted device to cover for scene and costume changes rather than being intrinsic to plot narration.

Compared to last year, the in-jokes and Yiddishisms were plentiful to the point that those not of the tribe might not get them and given the time of year, Chanukah was bear-ly mentioned – though at one point I did receive a wad of chocolate coins thrust into my hand.

Nevertheless, overall it was a great night out for both young and old. One might even say it was a fur-nomenal paw-formance, but that might prove a pun too far.

Goldie Frocks and the Bear Mitzvah is at JW3 until 5 January, with a 2pm performance on Christmas Day. jw3.org.uk/panto