Cinderella

Cinderella is undoubtedly one of the most magical of the pantomime repertoire, and this MNMT production did not fail to delight the enthusiastic audience who filled the Milton Rooms.  This production oozed joy and laughter throughout; there wasn’t a weak link amongst the principal players, all of whom were ably supported by a strong chorus and the highly polished dancers.  Cinderella (Ria Williams) gave an enchanting performance, and with a confident Prince Charming (Saskia Kirkham-Burke), the pairing worked well.  Buttons (Josh Milner) charmed as only Buttons can but for me his little brother Zip (Ben Greenhough), yes we had a “Zip” too, stole the show.  Certainly a talent to watch out for! The Ugly Sister, Kylie (Neil Paylor) and Brittany (Mark Boler) were suitably obnoxious; Baroness Stoneybroke (Margaret Lukey) maintained her evil step mother persona all the way through, resisting Squire Snatchall’s (Peter Melia) “Chu-Chi” cooing.  Support came from the flighty Fairy Godmother (Chloe Randall), a dashing Dandini (Bethany Fox) and the inevitable pantomime horse Don Quixote

There really were some lovely touches in this show, which had been well thought out and equally well executed.  These including the Gangnam update of Buttons and Zips’ habitual entrance routine, the transformation scene at the end of Act 1; the Ugly Sisters “bake-off”; the ancestors scene reminiscent of ‘Me and My Girl’ perhaps; some ingenious costumes (Squire Snatchall); and I particularly enjoyed the search to find the owner of the crystal slipper, an entertaining cinematic montage filmed in the town and surrounding area including the magnificent Castle Howard.  The support for the Society from the locals was evident in this set piece. The songs were well chosen both for the singers and the dancers, the costumes and sets were bright and colourful, as you would expect and despite a few technical hitches with the sound, this was an evening of tremendous enjoyment. Very well done to all involved.

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