Cinderella

Before the first scene of LODS’ production of Cinderella had even finished, I’d written down three words – quaint, cute and charming. These, on a basic level, summed up the production but actually, it was much more than that. We all know the story of Cinderella, therefore it must be hard to surprise an audience when performing the show, whilst also keeping to tradition, but I thought LODS did this well.

This version is written by Rodgers and Hammerstein and is probably one of the duo’s lesser known musicals. Many people love the music from the show; I must say, I don’t have a strong opinion one way or the other, but I think the strength of the show lies in the heart of the characters.

Playing the title role of any story as well known as Cinderella must bring some pressure but from seeing Reanne Nash’s performance, you wouldn’t know. She was the archetypal Disney princess, with a beautiful face and voice. Her interactions with her animal friends (more on them later) were sincere and she didn’t tip over into being sickly sweet. Likewise, Declan Wright as Prince Christopher played the part well and also had a fantastic voice. The chemistry between the two was evident to see and they both seemed very comfortable, and very professional.

The Fairy Godmother was played by Sasha Monique and she brought a good level of sass to the role, plus her costume was beautiful. A particularly enjoyable character to watch, and I’m sure to play, was Lionel, the Prince’s footman, which was performed with camp aplomb by Jason Weir.

Julie-Dawn Newman played a solid version of Cinderella’s nasty stepmother and her harmonies in A Lovely Night with her two daughters Joy and Grace were spot on. Played by Courtney Emery and Kathy Ward, these parts were just as you would expect them to be for such a traditional show. They didn’t veer too much into the realms of pantomime dame but had hilarious facial expressions throughout – like they constantly had a bad smell under their nose! As a trio, they worked well together.

The King was played by Barry Jones. He produced some good comedy and I truly believed he was in love with his queen, played by Jo Whitnell, but Barry had a very slight tuning issue at the end of their duet. Jo made a lovely Queen and sang well. The only disappointment for me was that she wore the same dress throughout and didn’t have her own special gown for the ball, which seemed strange.

I must give a special mention to the four cast members playing Cinderella’s animal friends; two mice, a cat and a dove. It’s difficult to get puppetry right in amateur musicals, and it can be cringe-worthy, but the four puppeteers (James Cohen, Rebecca Wallace, Matthew Wallace and Ellis Watson) were just excellent. Their faces portrayed every small feeling of the animals, down to squeezing their eyes shut when they were helping Cinderella make a wish, and they were exceptionally charming.

I thought direction and choreography of the show, by Helen Sharpe and Rosie Munns, was positive. There was rarely any dead stage and scene changes were undertaken with added choreography, which I liked. The cleverest part in the show was Cinderella’s transformation from rags to riches. She stood in the middle of the stage surrounded by the chorus and turned around on the spot. She suddenly appeared in a huge ball gown, and although you could see her taking one layer off to reveal it, it was so quick, it looked very professional. She also went from having waist-length auburn hair to a very elaborate up-do which I didn’t even see happen!

The cast was fairly small so to bolster the sound, LODS used a show choir who were seated up in the boxes on either side of the stage. You barely knew they were there; their sound simply blended superbly into each scene. MD Rachael Plunkett had obviously worked hard with them, so well done to her.

I liked that the chorus were wearing simple beige and white costumes throughout, which could then be added to, and generally the props, scenery and costumes were superb. The pumpkin carriage was beautiful as were the horse heads worn by the cast members pulling it. I was a little disappointed with the ball gowns the girls wore as they were all matching (in some different colours) and you could see the shape of the hoops under each dress, which took away the glamour. Cinderella’s hooped skirt was also too big for her dress, meaning the skirt sat several inches above the floor and looked a little odd.

This show mixed comedy, sadness and charm all at a very professional level, and I very much enjoyed it. I have also never been hosted so well at a show before, so a huge thank you to chairman Peter Brown, who made me and my guest feel extremely welcome and really took the time to get to know us.

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