Cinderella

From the moment you entered the hall you felt (and heard) a buzz of excitement amongst the audience. The sides and front of the stage were covered in a mass of twinkling white lights which set the tone for the sparkling costumes and colourful sets to follow. The script - written by two of the company members – was full of local references and humour and much was made of the rivalry between the town and its nearest neighbour Keith! Molly Riddell (in her first leading role) made a delightful Cinderella with a beautiful singing voice (and she coped well with a wardrobe malfunction in the transformation scene!) Matthew Patman was a strikingly handsome Prince Charming, again with a good singing voice, and the pairing of him and Cinders was entirely believable. Neil Bell-Forsyth (Rubella) and Lauren MacAskill (Angina) were a hilarious pair of Ugly Sisters of the old school variety with lots of innuendos and winks to the men in the audience. They wore each of their outrageous sparkly costumes with ease. Lewis Moggach was a loveable Buttons who had the audience on side from his first appearance. Mallory Peter was a magnificent Fairy Godmother in her sparkling white gown and tiara with a singing voice to match. Elizabeth Ingram was elegantly evil in the role of Cinderella’s stepmother Baroness Hardup. Much of the laughter in the show was derived from the antics of the hapless henchmen Nickel and Dime (June Cranna and Colin Black). Strong support was given by Frankie Gillespie as the Prince’s Aide-de-Camp Dandini. The principals were assisted by a bevy of ten excellently choreographed chorus girls/dancers. The nine piece orchestra, under the leadership of Hugh Johnstone, provided a wide variety of music fully sympathetic to the cast. An excellent show – oh yes it was!

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.