Cinderella

Thank you all for the lovely warm welcome to YCTs first venture into this performance genre, the rags to riches story of “Cinderella” is the most famous pantomime of them all and a perfect choice.

The script included characters and plot twists that I hadn’t come across before in a production of Cinderella (including a panto cow and a Demon King!) and the story line lacked some cohesion but that didn’t deter from the strong performances throughout the production and the enjoyment of the audience.

There was a large cast and it was lovely to see 10 junior members from the “Drama Tree” section of the group taking part, some young stars in the making there. The many musical numbers were all very well performed, both the singing and dancing, and the accompaniment was from a super five piece band under David Johnson’s direction. The bright and colourful costumes were very good which was no surprise when you learn that Ann Chadwick was in charge of wardrobe. The simple but practical set worked well, the transformation scene complete with beautiful coach was a perfect end to Act 1. The lighting and sound provided by Hi-lights was good throughout, the lighting plot enhancing the production perfectly.

The title role was in the capable hands of Michaela Crawley, it was good to see Michaela taking a lead role again, as always she sang beautifully. As Buttons, Gary Hoyle had lots of energy and a good rapport with the audience, his antics in the kitchen scene were particularly hilarious. Rachel Gardner and Jamie Donkin as Prince Charming and Dandini both gave strong, confident performances with great vocals, Emma Griffith as the Fairy Godmother had just the right balance of delivery with her interactions with Cinderella and then the Demon, she also sang well. Her nemesis the Demon King was played with great gusto by Lawrence Chadwick, relishing getting boos from the audience and dominating the stage as soon as he stepped on. Chris Barrass gave us a good interpretation as the browbeaten Baron Hardup and Melanie Hill as Aggie was a perfect malevolent evil stepmother. No Cinderella panto would be complete without a totally vile pair of ugly sisters and we certainly had that with Fifi and Mimi played by Stephen Shield and Alex Arun. The pair worked so hard (especially with the hula hoops!!), had boundless energy and they were both very comfortable interacting with the audience, definitely the audience’s “love to hate” favourites, well done.

Supporting roles were well played by Charlotte Guest, Rachel Warwick (Clarissa), Gaynor Lewis (Babs), Emily Hardy (Beth), Beth Elvin (Ghost), Georgos Marnellos (Lord Chamberlain) and Harry Brown (Captain of the Guard). The ensemble gave good support throughout and are such an important part of a successful production.

Well done to Linda, David, Rachel and the whole team, I am really looking forward to hearing what your next production is going to be and hope you have the best year celebrating your 40th anniversary!

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