Cinderella
Information
- Date
- 15th January 2025
- Society
- Congleton Pantomime Society
- Venue
- Daneside Theatre
- Type of Production
- Pantomime
- Director
- Darren Brown
- Musical Director
- Tim Sagar
- Choreographer
- Liz Cardall
- Written By
- Darren Brown
Congleton Pantomime were back at the Daneside with their pantomime version of Cinderella, written in-house by Darren Brown, who also directed the production. Darren has a solid understanding of pantomime, and his scripts are full of one-liners and local references, which the Daneside audience loved. It is evident that the audience is at the forefront of Darren’s mind in his writing. His direction was secure and the pace was strong, with scene changes happening efficiently. There were clearly defined stock pantomime characters, from the comic to the fairy – everyone was there. Back cloths were used for different locations, and looked good. Other items were brought on to help set the location, such as the gym equipment. The transformation scene was cleverly done and how magical to have a real pony on stage!
The musical director was Tim Sagar. Tim led his band well, covering a wide range of songs, which were performed well by the cast. The scene changes were well covered by Tim and his band.
Liz Cardall was back as choreographer for this year. Liz’s choreography for the ensemble was simple enough for them to do and effective. There were moments where the ensemble could have attacked the choreography more to match the acting and singing performances.
Technical elements were well integrated into the production. The sound balance was great, and the lighting design was good. The pyrotechnics were cued on time for Fairy Carol to make her entrances.
Rosie Astbury and team have worked their magic again with the costumes, which were fantastic. From the nod to Disney’s Fairy Godmother to the array of costumes for Tequila and Amaretto, there was much to marvel in the costuming of the characters.
Taking on the title role of Cinderella was Evie Tickner. Evie put in a solid performance, and created a good relationship with Harry. This was a typical principal girl role, which Evie did well with. There were some pleasing vocals from Evie’s performance.
Harry Gill put in a pleasing performance as Prince Charming. Harry’s vocals were good, despite him not feeling 100%, and he worked well with the rest of the cast. There were some great comic moments from Harry, including the speed dating scene, which was well played.
The ugly stepsisters, Tequila and Amaretto, were played by Rob Tagell and Charlie House respectively. Rob is an audience favourite and is a very good pantomime dame. Here he was loud, bolshie and delivered his jokes with a wicked dry sense of humour. All credit to Charlie for stepping into the heels late on in the rehearsal process. Although subdued compared to Rob, Charlie did well to keep up with Rob’s antics, and put in a pleasing performance. Their numbers were well performed, and full of energy from both.
Baroness Hardup was played by Mandi Dearing. Mandi has a very good stage presence, and did well with the script. There could have been more instances for Mandi to really show the cruel nature of Baroness Hardup, but this is more down to moments in the script than Mandi’s performance. The ripping up of the invitation was done well by Mandi, allowing the audience to really boo her. Her performance of ‘Shout’ was very good. This number was well staged, with members of the ensemble poking their heads out of the wings to join in.
Andrew Bours had the audience on his side straight away as Buttons. He was friendly and funny, which is important for any comic role in pantomime. It would have been great to have some more audience participation from Andrew’s Buttons. Andrew was full of energy, delivering physical comedy as well.
Sarah Oliver impressed as Fairy Carol, showing her versatility after playing the villain in last year’s ‘Hansel and Gretel’. This ditzy character was trying to gain her status as fairy, and Sarah sold the character well. She had great interactions with the audience, who were fully behind Fairy Carol. The jokes about other pantomimes in District 8 may have gone over the heads of the audience, but were appreciated and done in great taste.
Matthew Hampson did well as Dandini, working well with Harry. He added to the comedy of the pantomime, especially when working with Rob and Charlie.
Matthew Butler played the henpecked Baron Hardup well. He worked well with Mandi, and showed a good relationship with Evie’s Cinderella. Although not seen much, he did well to move the story along.
The ensemble worked hard throughout as villagers, adding to the musical numbers throughout. It was clear that they were all well-rehearsed and all looked to be enjoying what they were doing on stage, which is all that can be asked for.
Overall, this was a very good production. There were jokes aplenty, the costumes were lavish, and there were some magical moments throughout.
A big thank you to everyone at Congleton Pantomime for their kind invite and hospitality.
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