Cinderella

Another year, another Panto and I was delighted to be back in Ystradgynlais for this years offering - Cinderella! Will she or won’t she go to the ball?! 

Glantawe have a very good Panto following and it was great to see a packed Welfare with eager audience members ranging in age from 1 to 80! (Possibly a bit older). Technically I always applaud Glantawe on their use of the space, it genuinely feels like they have endless space in the wings but they don’t. The stage is very well managed with seamless scene changes & effective lighting which further enhances their set brought in from Owen Money, Rainbow Valley Productions & Jamie Edwards. The pumpkin to carriage change was very good and added that sprinkle of magic for the excited audience. Sound was good and the music - with Danni Gravell at the helm was solid with good song choices. The creative team of Anthony Evans (Director) Lowri Paynter (Choreographer) & Danni Gravell (MD) created a great piece of fun theatre for all the family! Well done folks. 

The cast were having a ball which for panto is key. They delivered their songs with confidence - especially Erin Maggs as Cinderella. She was very strong, great character, charisma and just seemed really comfortable on the stage. Panto comedy can at times be a drag (excuse the pun) but there they were making the audience laugh every time they came on stage - Rigatoni (Tim Barrell) & Tortellini (Lee Bentley). They just made me giggle and it was never too much. Russell Rees as buttons has a great rapport with the audience and his side kick Zippers (Katie Patton). No Cinderella panto is complete without your Baroness which in this case was played by Lowri Paynter. She was very bad (in a good way) bringing that edge and booing to the stage that is just a staple in  Panto. 

Other principals - Prince (Heather Bradley), Dandini (Megan Nottingham) & The Fairy (Sophie Kneath) gave strong performances in their roles, giving an abundance of energy, character & warmth. The Glantawe ensemble are mainly children plus a few adults and they never disappoint! They’ve got some real talent in their ranks and hopefully these youngsters will stay and keep Glantawe strong for many years to come. 

Thank you once again for the invite, it’s very much appreciated. See you soon

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