Cinderella

I always know what I am going to get when I visit St Paul’s: a night of entertainment. This Cinderella didn’t fail me.

At St Paul’s I always see commitment in whatever they do. They might not have the facilities that other larger groups have, but they take this in their stride and it works. Marion Marshall was at the helm this time, and her experience in amateur theatre shows in this Cinderella. She took her cast and loaded the stage with them, musical numbers were good as was the choice of music whether pre-recorded or live in the capable hands of their long term Musical Director Irene Gardiner.

Marion’s cast gave us their best. ,I liked the Dames (Nick Swain and Graham Lord) Hernia and Nausla, they bounced off one another at a pace and did a good job as the Uglies. Buttons (Sally Murphy) kept us entertained with her ad-libbing with the audience on local subjects. Well done to her, this sometimes can fall flat, but she coped well and was bright and jolly. The Herald (Martin Newell),played a tongue in cheek herald and got most of the evening's laughs. Ella and the Prince (Ashley Simister and Mel Newman), although a bit of an age difference,, were teamed adequately. Steph Healey gave us a camp over the top Devilla Cruel perfect, a part made for her.

Simple dance movement, but honestly, that’s all it needed. Costumes were bright and colourful, but I could not denote which period it was - a bit of mishmash. Nice to see it this year without the song sheet, that sometimes is boring. Yes we know it's there to give time for the cast to change for the finale. Everyone else in the cast gave us their all - too many to mention, but well done to all.

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