Cinderella in Blunderland

Criccieth Starlight Players have a knack of combining pantos, as this one does.  Blunderland is one of those magical places in which you find nursery rhyme and fictional characters under ground.

Cinderella is about to meet many of them. Her quest begins as she finds Aladdin’s magical lamp. This enables her, with the help of the genie, to escape from her stepmother and her sisters. Cinders meets her Prince at the ball but loses her handbag which contains the lamp. Will she find it, who will help and does she meet her true love in the process?

The cast had the chance to play various characters and sing and dance. The large chorus numbers were well choreographed by Kate and Paula, especially the tap dance, and the singing was very enjoyable. They opened both Act 1 and Act 2 with song and dance. We were treated  to fun and laughter to which the audience showed much appreciation from the start. The Ugly Sisters Sam (Paul Dunn) and Ella (Dave Roberts) had the hard task of reaching out to the audience at the very beginning, with encouragements from the audience, they succeeded.  Cinderella (Awen Pritchard) wasn’t to be bullied, but nevertheless they couldn’t prevent her from going to the ball, where she lost her silver bag.

The Genie (Hannah Hession-Evans) was a very cheerful one. Glad to grant the 3 wishes. Brightly shining clothes and expansive body movements. Cinders arrives at the ball in an unusual coach, more like a sedan chair on wheels, very inventive.

The ball included a Gayordons dance which enabled Sam always to miss a partner. Good timings. The Prince (Neah Muir-Williams) met Cinders with mixed feelings. A well played character who obviously wanted to be in charge of Cinders.

Then the White Rabbit (Paula Carr) joined the story. She was full of energy and really lifted the pantomime. She encouraged Cinderella to go down the rabbit hole to help Blunderland get rid of Witch Way (Liz Crooke), who obviously thoroughly enjoyed being a baddie.

We were treated to a nice rendition on the trumpet from The Queen’s Herald (David Swales). The Queen of Hearts (Karen Tomkins) was certainly in charge. The King (Bryony Green) was excellent. I was impressed by her make-up and facial expressions. Both the King and queen had clear confident voices.

There was a small, but effective fluorescent scene to end the Act1.

Act 2 started with a well-choreographed “dance”. Performers came into the audience and persuaded some of them to join in the dance. “Get this party started” was just right.

The Mad Hatter’s tea party with mainly the youngsters, better known as SPYDRS, was excellent. They kept up the pace both vocally and physically. A cute Dormouse (Shon Williams) had good timing with speech and his snores!

The maze scene where Cinderella was looking for her silver bag was very clever. The Pack of Cards changed positions which opened and blocked Cinders way to the bag. Of course she found it despite Witch Way blocking her way.

The programme had photos of named groups: The Terrible Three of Stepmother and Ugly Sisters; The Love Triangle of White Rabbit, The Prince and Cinderella: The Tea Party Team: The Good, the Bad and the Indifferent: 3 of the Seven Dwarfs: “Just the Chorus” and “Not Just the Chorus”.

I often hear “I’m just in the chorus” or “I have had lots of fun in the chorus”. I always tell the cast that there is no such thing as “just in the chorus”, indeed I have spent many happy hours in the chorus myself over the years. Everyone has a valuable part to bring the whole show together. Proof of this is in your panto.

The end of the show was Cinderella choosing her own husband. The Prince was very disappointed but the White Rabbit was delighted.

Well done everyone whether you were on stage, behind stage, working lights or making costumes and cups of tea.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.