Cinderella

                                                                          

I was warmly welcomed at Front Of House by the two Directors, Abigail Grimsey and Emily Littlejohn who explained that whilst this is usually a youth group with an age range of 4 to 21 there was one adult in the cast this time. The panto was performed twice on the same day with some substitutes for the second performance due to the young age of some of the performers. The programme listed 40 members of the cast !

There was a lively opening by the cast performing Good Morning Halstead Town with an attractive town scene projected onto a backdrop. In fact, each change of scene was similarly projected which proved very effective and minimised physical scene changes and movement of props. The main props used were market stalls in the opening scene.

There were some good pairings of characters eg Bubble and Squeak, the pet mice, played by Holli and Daisy Dixey, who performed very well and scuttled round the stage at great speed.

The two Ugly Sisters, Prosecco ( Maddie Collett) and Mojito (Ellie Rice) were so outrageous and flambuoyant, larger than life characters. Well played !

The King (Eden Gediking) and Queen ( Megan Watson ) acted well together and I especially enjoyed Megan taking a lead role in Dancing Queen . There was good dancing and singing from the chorus in this number. In fact there were several good dance routines—I particularly enjoyed “Sway”.

Baron and Lady Hardup ( Emily Bugden and Ruby Mitchell) were a scheming and vicious pair who really needed to be a little more evil !

Prince Charming (Tristan Williams) was suitably charming and a good principal boy whilst Dandini (Maddie Griffiths) was excellent moving around the stage with huge energy and enthusiasm.

Cinderella ( Ella Smith) was confident and just right for the part with an attractive singing voice. Her duet with the Prince was sensitive and charming. Buttons ( Finn Sears ) was true to character desperately in love with Cinderella and trying hard to help.

Fairy Godmother ( Dawn Newton) needed much more sparkle and confidence to carry this role but I understand that she had not taken a major role before.

There was a super cat (Violet Stuart-Allen) who danced and sang beautifully.

I enjoyed “Rock Around The Clock” with Cameron Kiff really doing a good Bill Haley impression. Well done !

The transformation scene at the start of Act Two and the really magnificent “coach” for Cinderella were so well done. Congratulations to whoever made the “coach” so realistic.

The sound and lighting throughout were appropriate and costumes were very attractive and suited the roles.

All the cast were enthusiastic and working very hard. With such a predominantly young cast inevitably several lacked confidence and needed to project their voices more. However, given the obvious enthusiasm this will surely improve over time.

I congratulate Directors Abigail Grimsey and Emily Littlejohn for all their hard work and dedication in bringing this panto to life. Well done ladies !

The ( possibly somewhat biaised !) audience really enjoyed the production and participated loudly when invited and we enjoyed the performance also.

 

 

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