Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Birmingham Hippodrome, review The Hippodrome has long claimed the title of "the UK's biggest pantomime" as it always has top names appearing in large-scale productions and was the first to do panto in 3D. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is certainly chock-full of stars - including former soap actors, a top ventriloquist and a television reality-show winner - and it also boasts the panto debut of fashion guru Gok Wan. Michael Harrison - director and co-writer with Alan McHugh - has taken a few liberties with the story. Prince John (John Partridge, who used to play Christian in EastEnders) was a childhood friend of Snow White (Danielle Hope, winner of BBC1"s Over the Rainbow in 2010), and they meet again at a ball given by her stepmother, Queen Sadista (Stephanie Beacham). Beacham has some nicely catty scenes with Wan who, as The Man in the Mirror, has to tell Sadista she's not the fairest in the land any more. Wan proves himself a more than competent actor and delivers his lines - including several of his TV catchphrases - with aplomb; his singing, however, is noticeably less confident. The lovers, who are tremendously appealing and sing beautifully, are rather underused, as this production is geared towards the comedy provided by Gary Wilmot - an old panto hand, but here making his debut in a Dame role - as Nora Crumble, the Queen's cook, and her two sons, Oddjob (comic Matt Slack) and Muddles (ventriloquist Paul Zerdin). Fortunately the comedy is excellent, with an almost constant supply of gags - not all of them groaners and many at the expense of people from Aston and Walsall. Oh, and there is plenty of toilet humour to keep children of all ages happy. Zerdin, meanwhile, performs a superb entr'acte with two unfortunates dragged up from the audience, "speaking" their words while they wear dumb masks - and he manages to keep his material cheeky enough for the grown-ups, but over children's heads. Panto purists may find fault - the dwarfs are played by adult actors kneeling inside their cloaks and Sadista is aided by an animatronic dragon. But the latter is a huge hit with the children, the set pieces are great fun, lighting by The Twins FX and pyrotechnics by Le Maitre add to the spectacle and the show rattles along nicely. Until Feb 2. Tickets: 0844 338 5000; birminghamhippodrome.com