200 Great Panto Songs

One of the wonderful things about pantomime is that it brings all the generations together. So here are a mix of great songs which should keep everyone in your audience happy!

Contents

• Opening Songs
• Celebration Songs
• Dame / Ugly Sister Songs
• Buddy Songs
• Love Songs
• Baddie Songs
• Songs for Special Situations
• Cumulative Songs
• Songsheet / Audience Participation Songs

OPENING SONGS

I Gotta Feelin’ by the Black Eyed Peas. Change ‘night’ to ‘day’ and this is a fantastic opening number.

Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves. Such a great chorus for opening a panto!

Comedy Tonight from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Excellent opportunity for a comic character to lead the Company.

Reach by S Club 7. Any song with the lyric “That’s when all your dreams will all come true” has got to be good for panto!

Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO. Very contemporary and great if you have good dancers and can develop the “Everyday I’m Shuffling” bits!

Domino by Jesse J. With a slight softening of the lyrics this is a great opening number.

Good Day by New Hope Club. From the film Early Man. Very catchy feelgood song.

Good Morning Baltimore from Hairspray. Great opening number – and easy to change the location!

Let Me Entertain You by Robbie Williams. Great if your opening is led by your principal comic.

Bring Me Sunshine by Sylvia Dee and Arthur Kent. A gentle opening song, and with happy memories of the timeless comedy of Morecambe and Wise.

Good Morning by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed. Written for Babes in Arms but also in Singin’ in the Rain. Lovely, bright and cheerful.

Tubthumping by Chumbawumba. Great for opening a second half after overcoming adversity.

Wake Up Boo! By the Boo Radleys. “Wake up, it’s a beautiful morning!”

Who Will Buy? From Oliver! Great for any panto which opens on market day!

CELEBRATION SONGS

Celebration by Kool and the Gang. Wonderful song and does what it says on the tin!

Can’t Stop the Beat from Hairspray. One of the great celebratory end of show numbers.

Everybody (Needs Somebody) from The Blues Brothers. Brilliant to use at the end, when all the lovers have found each other and a happy ending is assured.

Flash Bang Wallop from Half a Sixpence. Splendid celebratory song for the Full Company.

Footloose by Kenny Loggins. Guaranteed to have your audience asking for more!

Live While We’re Young by One Direction. Excellent contemporary song for a celebration.

Holiday by Madonna. Very appropriate lyrics.

Happy by Pharrell Williams. Everybody loves this song!

Celebrate by Pitbull. Very funky celebratory song.

Dancing on the Ceiling by Lionel Richie. A classic celebratory, party song.

Good to be Alive by Andy Grammer. Lovely feel-good song.

Cinderella by Langhorne Slim. Great to celebrate the happy union of Cinders and her prince.

Can’t Stop the Feeling by Justin Timberlake. Super catchy song from the film, Trolls.

Everything is Awesome from the Lego Movie. Great fun and very silly!

Shake a Tail Feather from the Blues Brothers. Introduce with “…Let’s dance!” and it’s a brilliant celebratory song.

D.I.S.C.O. by Ottawan. Another celebratory song which can be introduced with “…Let’s dance!”

One More Time by Daft Punk. Great song.

Colour My World from Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Joyful lyrics and a wonderful song.

Shut Up and Dance by Walk the Moon. The Lovers are all sorted – great to involve the whole company. Easy to change to ‘Get up’ and dance and involve the audience as well.

My Way period classic made famous by Frank Sinatra. Builds to a magnificent Crescendo.

Just Can’t Get Enough by Depeche Mode. Perennial favourite with a great hook.

Let’s Go Crazy by Prince. Cut in to this song after a minute or so, when the hook asserts itself – and then go for it!

Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen. One of Queen’s biggest hits. A brilliant song.

Thank You Very Much from Scrooge. This works wonderfully for the walkdown at the end.

DAME/UGLY SISTER SONGS

I’m a Woman by Peggy Lee. Splendidly sassy number for the Dame.

Working Nine to Five by Dolly Parton. Dame’s usually have lots to do…!

Big Spender from Sweet Charity. Made famous by Shirley Bassey. Great for a Dame.

I’m Too Sexy by Right Said Fred. Change to “We’re Too Sexy” and this is brilliant for the Ugly Sisters. Tweak the lyrics to suit any two-syllable town or village, e.g. sandwiching “Luton” or “Scunthorpe” between Milan and Japan!

Nobody Does it Like Me by Dorothy Fields and Cy Coleman. A great Shirley Bassey number and a great Dame number!

Kiss my (uh oh) by Little Mix and Anne Marie.

It’s Raining Men by the Weather Girls. Pretty obvious why it works for Ugly Sisters!

I’m Just a Girl Who Can’t Say No from Oklahoma

Man Wanted from Copacabana the Musical.

Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) by Beyonce. Great Dame spoof number.

Sisters Are Doin’ it for Themselves by the Eurythmics. Great for a pair of Ugly Sisters who can sing!

Find Out What They Like from Ain’t Misbehavin’. Very good for the sexually voracious dame!

Man! I Feel Like A Woman by Shania Twain. Brilliant Dame’s song.

I Could Have Danced All Night from My Fair Lady. Obviously, a little tongue in cheek.

I’m Not Wearing Underwear Today from Avenue Q. Very short and very funny!

Happiness Ken Dodd version. Great, warm-hearted song for the Dame.

The Showgirl Must Go On by Bette Middler. Sassy Dame’s number.

Gorgeous from the Apple Tree. Ludicrously over the top. “Look at me I’m absolutely gorgeous…!”

What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong. A wonderful warm song.

Don’t Worry, Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin. Great light-hearted Dame song.

I Can Cook Too from On the Town.

Big, Blond and Beautiful another thoroughly excellent song from Hairspray.

Timber by Pitbull. Very strong hook and maybe change to Tinder for the Dame…

ME! by Taylor Swift. A great contemporary love song which could also be subverted by the Dame.

BUDDY SONGS

Count on Me by Bruno Mars. Excellent for comedy duo.

You Got a Friend in Me by Randy Newman. Made famous in Toy Story. Really nice song.

Busy Doin’ Nothing from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. Great buddies song.

Together Wherever We Go from Gypsy. A great song.

Friendship by Cole Porter. Another great song from one of the masters.

Me and my Shadow by Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr.

You and Me (But Mostly Me) brilliant song from the Book of Mormon. Need one or two changes but great for comic pair with one stupid one and one even stupider one.

I’ll Be There For You by The Rembrants. Up tempo and great fun.

I Can Help by Billy Swan. The second half of this song is more romantic, but the first half would be great for this purpose.

LOVE SONGS

It’s often good to turn these into duets…

Without You by David Guetta. Sensational power love ballad.

A Kiss from a Rose by Seal. Perfect for Beauty & the Beast

All of Me John Legend. Fabulous contemporary love song.

It Must Be Love by Labi Siffre. An enduringly beautiful love song.

What Do I Do Now? from A Slice of Saturday Night. A gorgeous melody and totally appropriate for two lovers who have only just met and don’t know what to do about it.

The Best Song Ever by One Direction. Excellent, contemporary up tempo number for a pair of lovers. Good for involving the Chorus.

Grow Old With Me by Tom Odell. Just a fantastic song.

Stuck Like Glue by Sugarland. Up tempo duet – particularly useful if you want to keep things from becoming too smoochy. Very catchy hook and groove. Lyrics need tweaking.

She’s the One by Robbie Williams. Fantastic love song – can easily be turned into a duet.

Hey Baby by DJ Otsi. Fun song. Good for also involving the audience. Need very confident vocalist.

If I Loved You from Carousel. A Rogers and Hammerstein classic love ballad.

I’m a Believer by the Monkees. A great song about being in love – and if you develop it with a gospel treatment, as in “Shrek”, it offers loads of scope to involve the Chorus.

Everything I Do, I Do It For You by Bryan Adams. Classic soft rock power ballad.

Wedding Day by Hot Buttered Rum. Really enjoyable, up tempo Blue Grass song. Excellent for involving lots of the company in a Western themed panto.

I Would Walk Five Hundred Miles by the Proclaimers. Great for a male led, up tempo love song.

Tonight (We Live Forever) Union J. Great love song if you want it very up tempo and with the Chorus involved

I’m Yours by Jason Mraz. Lovely contemporary love song.

If Tomorrow Never Comes by Garth Brooks. Excellent for any principal boy/girl separated from their loved one.

Love Someone by Lukas Graham. Simply a lovely song.

Accidentally in Love by Counting Crows. Used in Shrek 2. Great for lovers surprised by the speed of their falling in love – as panto lovers often are! And great to involve the Chorus.

Best Years of Our Lives by Baha Men. Another great Shrek song and great for involving the Chorus. Could easily be filed under celebratory!

Crazier by Taylor swift. Makes a fantastic duet.

Shape of You, Perfect and Thinking Out Loud Three brilliant love songs by Ed Sheeran (and his top three songs.)

Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys. Timeless, up tempo love song.

Shout by the Isley Brothers. Another rocking love song from way back when.

It’s a Lovely Day Today From even further back from the great Irving Berlin, but still sparkles.

BADDIE SONGS

These often work best with the involvement of the Chorus.

Bad to the Bone by George Thorogood. Simply a great Baddie’s song!

Bad Romance by Lady Gaga. Very contemporary and great for a female villain.

Thriller by Michael Jackson. With the Chorus as zombies it works brilliantly!

Monster Mash by Bobbie “Boris” Pickett. Gentler than Thriller, but great fun.

Bad another great Michael Jackson song.

Paint it Black by the Rolling Stones. Excellent baddies song with attitude.

Bad Guys from Bugsy Malone. Particularly good for Baddie plus sidekick, or with characters he or she has co-opted to do evil with.

Trouble by Leiber and Stoller. Made famous by Elvis Presley. Lovely, in your face, bad assed song!

Should I Stay or Should I Go? by the Clash. A really accessible and fun punk number. I use it for Carabosse and her cat in Sleeping Beauty. The audience love it when the characters start pogo-ing!

Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin. If you’ve got a good rock band in the pit and a baddie with vocal chords of steel – this is a great and funny way for him to serenade the Principal Girl!

No More Mr Nice Guy by Alice Cooper. Very appropriate for a baddie with a good rock voice.

I’m Reviewing the Situation from Oliver. Very good for a baddie needing to reflect…

Time Warp from The Rocky Horror Show. There’s nothing villainous in the lyrics, but it’s a great number for the Villain to lead!

I Hate People from Scrooge. Excellent villain’s number.

Bad Moon Rising by Credence Clearwater Revival. Classic baddie’s song.

I Want it All by Queen. For the acquisitive baddie.

Another One Bites the Dust. Another great Queen song and great for the Villain.

Killer Queen Yet another brilliant Queen song!

My Name from Oliver! Written to be sung by Bill Sykes. A much nastier Baddy song.

Poisoning Pigeons in the Park by Tom Lehrer. A very witty song. Would be great for the Wicked Baroness and Ugly Sisters.

Bad Reputation by Joan Lett and the Blackhearts. For the baddie who can handle a punk song!

It Feels So Good to Be Bad from All Dogs Go to Heaven. Excellent for the villain with a sidekick.

SONGS FOR SPECIAL SITUATIONS

Ballroom Blitz by the Sweet. Fantastic 70’s glam rock number. It has a great drum intro – and is excellent for starting the Ballroom scene in Cinderella. Glam rock also offers wonderful, over the top costume opportunities. The song segues well into…

Prince Charming by Adam Ant, another glam rock classic.

Greatest Day by Take That. Great for the Principal Boy and Girl to lead with the full company.

Wannabe by the Spice Girls. A great girl power number.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper. Good for girl power or the Ugly Sisters.

Like a Girl by the Haschak Sisters. Another girl power number – would be great for the WI members in scene 3 of my Treasure Island!

Swords of a Thousand Men by Tenpole Tudor. Excellent for any medieval panto such as Sleeping Beauty or Camelot the Panto. Would also go well in Rapunzel.
 
Magic to Do from Pippin. A cracking song for an immortal that needs to do a bit of magic e.g. the Genie in Aladdin.

It’s a Kind of Magic by Queen. Another “magic” song.

Defying Gravity. From Wicked. Fantastic to end the first half of Aladdin. (Or, a number of pantos.)

I’m on my Way by the Proclaimers. Another great and song to end the first half.

Be Back Soon from Oliver! Excellent for major departures – such as the ship leaving in Dick Whittington, or Aladdin and Abanazar off to the cave.

We Are Family by Sister Sledge. Lots of families in panto – and this is a brilliant and very singable song.

On the Road by Keane. Very rousing song (which goes down great at Keane concerts!) Again, excellent for setting off on a journey – like Aladdin and Abanazar, off to the cave.

Oom, Pah, Pah! from Oliver! Perfect for a tavern setting.

Master of the House from Les Miserables. Another great tavern setting song. Particularly for a tavern of ill repute, as in my Rapunzel.

A Real Dead Ringer for Love by Jim Steinman. Brilliantly sung by Meatloaf and Cher, but very funny for two misplaced lovers – eg the Wicked Baron falling in love with the beautified Mother Goose.

Our House by Madness. Change “middle of the street” to “middle of the wood” and you have a great song for the Dwarfs to sing in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

One More Angel in Heaven from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. Brilliant for the grief stricken dwarfs to sing.

Every Day I Love You Less and Less by the Kaiser Chiefs. Makes a hilarious duet for a Baddie and the Principal Girl – although the lyrics need a little adjustment!

Stray Cat Strut by the Stray Cats. Great for any panto with cats!

Cross the Line by John Legend. Lovely for Cinderella and the Prince.

Mr Cellophane from Chicago. Very poignant for anyone who feels rejected, such as Buttons.

Castle on a Cloud from Les Miserables. Excellent for imprisoned Principal Girl awaiting rescue.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow from Annie. Ditto above.

Dance With Me Tonight by Olly Murs. Great for the Ballroom scene.

Ghostbusters Maybe use in a ghost routine, with or without the lyrics.

Follow the Leader by the Soca boys. Excellent for when several characters need to pursue another character or objective.

Bonkers by Dizzy Rascal. Makes a great zany comedy number – although it is necessary to soften one or two lyrics.

School’s Out by “one of our dear little girls, Alice Cooper.” Splendidly ludicrous at the end of a School Room scene.

Baggy Trousers by Madness. Kids love this song and it’s another great choice for a School Room scene.

I Like to Move It from Madagascar. Very well known, wonderfully funky and suitable for all sorts of physical activity and exertion, such as the end of the Kung Fu routine in my Aladdin.

Mr Sandman Ludicrous lullaby, maybe for the Nurse to her babes?

Getting to Know You by Rogers and Hammerstein. I use it in Jack and the Beanstalk, the rhythm is perfect for the dancing tree routine!

Holding Out for a Hero by Bonnie Tyler. Fabulous number to use when derring-do is required!

Win by Brian McKnight. Another great song for meeting adversity head on.

The Climb by Miley Cyrus. Another great song for facing adversity.

The Impossible Dream from Man of la Mancha. To use as the hero sets off to do something extremely heroic…

Happy Birthday by Stevie Wonder. Fabulous song. My Snow White ends scene one with a celebration for Snow White’s birthday and this would be brilliant here.

Money from Cabaret. Excellent for those who have come into sudden wealth – as panto characters often do!

Bills by LunchMoney Lewis. Great for those who lack money – as panto characters often do!

Cocktails for Two Originally from the Big Band era, but an amazing novelty song when done as per the version by Spike Jones with lots of crazy sound effects.

Up Where We Belong by Joe Cocker. Very appropriate for Aladdin’s flying carpet!

Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars. Just great – segue into it in the Ballroom scene!

Always Look on the Bright Side from Monty Python. Just a great panto song!

Do You Hear the People Sing? From Les Miserables. Brilliant for defiance – eg. Robin and the Outlaws against the Sheriff of Nottingham.

Feed Me from Little Shop of Horrors. I use this for the beanstalk growing routine in Jack and the Beanstalk.

Dream a Little Dream of Me by the Mamas and the Papas. A brilliant choice for the Good Fairy putting the palace to sleep in Sleeping Beauty.

Smile by Charlie Chaplin, John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons. Pulls at the heartstrings and great for sad departures.

Mysterious Girl by Peter Andre. Good to mark Cinderella’s arrival at the Ball and the reggae beat makes it a bit different.

Shotgun by George Ezra. Always worth including this song. The audience love it!

The Song That Goes like This from Spamalot. Brilliant witty song and great to subvert between a villainous would be lover and and a very unwilling Principal Girl as in my versions of Camelot the Panto and Aladdin.

All Star by Smash Mouth. Very catchy hook – for when things have suddenly got better.

With a Hey and a Hi and a Ho Ho Ho by Louis Prima. Oldie which is great for Snow White.

In the Navy Village People. Perfect for any panto with a sea voyage like Dick Whittington or Treasure Island.

Go West another great Village People song. Particularly funny if the cast suddenly realise that West is the wrong direction and that they have to quickly pivot to east, south or north.

(Is This The Way to) Amarillo by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. Brilliant catchy song. Either change the destination, or as I did in Dick Whittington, christen the ship ‘Sweet Marie’.

Anything You Can Do from Annie Get Your Gun. Great for Goodie v Baddie.

Don’t Stop Believin by Journey. Superb anthemic song. Maybe get to the hook of the title more quickly for a rousing scene end.

In My Own Little Corner by Rogers and Hammerstein. Perfect for Cinderella on her own.

Don’t Stop by Fleetwood Mac. A great song anticipating better times ahead.

CUMULATIVE SONGS

Cumulative numbers are really useful panto songs – they still go down fantastically well with the audience and are easy to sing and choreograph.

If I Were Not Upon the Stage is probably the best known.

Eric Gilder, who collaborated with my father, John Crocker, wrote several excellent cumulative numbers. Three of the best are:

We Wish We Hadn’t Gone to Sea from the Crocker/Gilder Dick Whittington.

Hurrah For the Military from the Crocker/Gilder Puss in Boots.

Jolly Good Feed from the Crocker/Gilder Cinderella.

All the above three cumulative numbers can be obtained separately from Samuel French.

SONGSHEET / AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION SONGS

I am the Music Man Good for involving young children on stage.

Old MacDonald Another good song for involving young children.

Chick Chick Chicken Ditto as above.

Twelve Days of Christmas Not so good for inviting children on to the stage – but very funny when allowed to get out of control with lots of whacky props.

One Smart Fellow He Felt Smart A bit scatological, but very funny when kids get it wrong. Take at a brisk pace to ensure that it does go wrong.

The Witch Doctor Song The nonsense chorus is well known and great for singing with the audience.

Two of my favourite from the Crocker/Gilder pantos I was brought up on are Moo Moo Moo! from Jack and the Beanstalk and Panda Puzzle from Aladdin.

There’s a Worm at the Bottom of the Garden Lots of people suggested this song to me!

Wishy Washy Washerwoman by The Learning station. Very good for the end of Aladdin!

The Pirate Song. Great for anything involving a nautical theme.

I Like the Flowers by Beat Boppers. Super easy chorus to involve the audience.

AND LASTLY…

The Song of the Moment… If a song has gone viral, it’s definitely worth including – the audience will love it!

Check out Ben's Pantomime Scripts

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I always knew it was an excellent script, but getting those audience responses the whole cast now realise just how good it is.
Denise Rosewell, Director, Ali Baba. Easton Players