Cinderella

This year HD&OS attempted to combine the traditional story of Cinderella with a modern twist and I am not convinced that this mix worked throughout.

It is always a risk to match up a first time panto director with a brand new script and have the director also playing a principal role, unless it is an absolute emergency. The director needs to be detached so that they can assess the production as a whole and alter the piece on the way as it develops.

The opening was good and the costumes well coordinated. The use of the catwalk brought the action out into the audience but lighting was poor and the front of the catwalk hardly illuminated. There were obvious problems with the sound throughout the performance and hopefully this was addressed.

David Bottomley was splendid as Prince Regent and successfully brought a modern twist to the evil element of the story. Diction was good and there was a definite connection with the audience.

Andrea Pollington and Lorraine Bottomley respectively as Prince Charming and Dandini both gave creditable performances as Principal Boy and Second and I enjoyed their duet from “Into the Woods”

Michael Champness – D’Abreu made a valiant effort as Button but lack of experience and pantomime technique let him down and there were times when I felt that he had given up! Dressing him in jeans didn’t work for me.

Ian Greenwood and Jim Markey as the two ugly sisters worked well together with slick dialogue and excellent audience involvement. My concern however was that some of the scripted jokes were rather inappropriate for a traditional family pantomime and for some of the audience rather offensive.

Ellen Morris as Fairy Sparkle was the traditional fairy godmother that aids Cinderella but you need to be more aware of where your light is, as much of the dialogue was in shadow and this was a shame. Flying the fairy was a good idea but the actual attaching to the wire needed to be far more subtle. She should fly as if by magic and not be attached to the harness in front of the audience. The magic was lost.

Alice Morris as Rapunzel gave a lively performance with bags of energy and enthusiasm. Good facial expressions here and convincing character work but where does she come in the story of Cinderella?

Daniel Goode and Darren Jones as Dereck and Bernie the two henchmen come knockabouts were a great pair together. Dialogue and diction was very good and good use of pause gave the audience time to think but don’t covert applause, you won it, there was no need to ask for it.

Katie Kelson was lovely as Cinderella. I liked her feisty attitude, at times tempered with a soft side, which came to the fore when talking to Buttons. I loved her version of “Let It Go” from Frozen. However, it was a pity that much of the chorus was lost as the band were far too loud especially the base and drums. I thought the transformation scene was very clever and Katie worked the reversible skirt part of her ball gown with confidence. The transformation happened before our very eyes and it worked perfectly. A highlight of the show.

The choice of music was well chosen but throughout the performance the band was far too loud and quite often words were lost both for the chorus and the principals.

Choreography was good. The young dancing chorus coped well with the modern moves that at times were quite tricky and by the smiling faces were obviously enjoying themselves. Well done.

The junior chorus also showed great enthusiasm and I am sure thoroughly enjoyed this pantomime experience.

The scenery was good but where was the clock in the Ballroom?  Cinderella’s coach was beautiful. Exactly what every little girl would expect Cinderella to go to the Ball in. Expertly made and perfectly proportioned, congratulations.

As I stated at the beginning, this production was the traditional story of Cinderella with a modern twist and although some of the ideas worked very well indeed, some did not and for the audience this was rather confusing.

I am all for rethinking traditional stories but certain elements need to be adhered to for history’s sake and writing a new script for a traditional tale is not a easy thing to do.

On the whole the production worked, but more attention needed to be paid to the technique of pantomime and one can only do this if one stands back and directs from the front. I hope that the director does direct another pantomime because I believe the talent and knowledge is there, it just needs to be more flexible and don’t be afraid to change ideas if things are not going exactly as planned. Good luck for the future.

Thank you for your hospitality, however, it was unlike HD&OS to have no knowledge that I was attending on that night and were ill prepared to look after their rep. I look forward to your next production later in the year.  

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