Cinderella

“Cinderella” is always a good choice for any society as it is probably the best loved of all the traditional pantomimes. Under the excellent direction of Luke Campbell Simcoe, C.A.T.S has brought the tale to life with this colourful and energetic production. Musical director, Barbara Hockey has again waved her magical baton to provide, along with her three-piece band, expert musical backing to the company, I loved the more unusual music choices this year. The choreography by Marcia Mitchell was excellent too, with some really super routines. Well done Luke, Barbara and Marcia!

Leisa Cooke as the Fairy Godmother opened the show with lots of confidence and got the audience involved from the start, she had a beautiful voice too. Francesca Chaisson was a very endearing Cinderella and interacted well with all the other characters and had lovely vocals. Kevin Maltby was a very lovable Buttons. He developed an excellent rapport with the audience. One small criticism, try to slow your delivery a little so as not to lose clarity of your diction. There was a lovely pantomime horse, named “Hagan the Horse”, very ably played by Ashley Malcolmson and Klara Vizma. Some good character acting from Craig Macher as Baron Hardup and Claudette Louise Hanvey as Baroness Hardup. I loved the ugly sisters, Carl Turner-Fountain as Grizelda and Daniel Fortune as Gertrude worked the audience from the start and kept up the rapport throughout the show. Bodget and Legget were played by Courtney Padgett and Martin Brown who provided lots of laughs and slapstick. There was a very confident performance from Steff Keightley as Chambers. Kerrylee Chalmers made a lovely Prince Charming she worked well with Cinderella and Dandini and had a beautiful voice. Bianca Harker was a tall and elegant Dandini and she too had a beautiful singing voice. The principals were backed by a wonderful ensemble and a terrific troupe of junior dancers. Well done to all the company!

The scenery and sets were good throughout and were well-managed as were the props. The costumes were colourful and all in keeping with the period. The make-up was very good, although I would have liked the ugly sisters to be a bit more outrageous! The lighting and sound quality was very good throughout the performance.

Congratulations to everyone involved with “Cinderella” for a superb pantomime. Enjoy the rest of your run!

CAROLINE JERVIS                                                                                                                                    NODA EM DISTRICT 7 REPRESENTATIVE.    

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