Dick Whittington

It’s always a pleasure to be invited to Cloud Nine’s annual panto because it brings warmth and cheer to the no-man’s-land between Christmas and New Year. This year it was Dick Whittington, written by multi-talented Director Rebecca Townsend. It tells the traditional tale of the orphan Dick and his cat Bella who come to London to seek their fortune. Bella turns out to be the answer to the city’s rat infestation, but they fall victim to King Rat’s evil plans. Kindness, honesty and hard work triumph in the end, King Rat is defeated and Whittington is made Lord Mayor of London.

The set was ultra-simple – quality projected backdrops enhanced by a few props and furniture when needed, and Charlie Townsend’s lighting design. Perfect for this simple school stage. Some scene changes, by SM Rebecca Townsend and her hard-working crew, seemed a little longer than necessary but I’m sure they will speed up as the run progresses. Costumes (Rebecca again, and her team) were fantastic, bright and colourful, and so many of them! One set in Pearly King and Queen style was only used briefly once for the cast to walk across the stage!

Panto need strong leads, and that we got with Hannah Skelton as Dick Whittington and Kimberley Genziani as his cat Grizabella. Both exuded confidence and commanded the stage with their strong acting and singing abilities. Indeed, Kimberley’s rendition of “Memories” would not be out of place on a West End stage. Malcolm Graves as King Rat lived up to his billing as “a baddie of the worst kind”, with all his dialogue in rhyme he seemed to relish the boos and jeers he easily earned from the audience. Emma Marlow charmed us as Fairy Bow Bells, also speaking in rhyme, and ensuring Dick was looked after and everything went to plan.

Les Hilton held the audience (and possibly a local postman) in his hand as the Dame, Sarah the cook, with some great costumes, wigs, make-up and double-entendres. Marie Thornton was a beautiful Alice Fitzwarren, nicely sparky with such a lovely singing voice. Lousie Latchford made a very believable Idle Jack, while Daniel Townsend as Captain Jack Sparrow was more like Johnny Depp than Depp himself – a great act that was well maintained throughout the show.

What a great standard the singing was – chorus and soloists alike. The songs chosen were modern and appropriate, and the soundtracks used were of good quality. The head mics and sound system were excellent so that we heard all the words. Amelia Aburrow’s choreography used the stage to the max and was well executed by the cast.

As much as the adults might like to think they are the stars of the show, of course that honour goes to the children of the Arabesque School of Dance. What talent those youngsters have, executing all their moves with confidence and style, always smiling and completely focussed on what they are doing. A credit to their dance school.

As always, it was a pleasure to visit your pantomime – truly a family occasion where you make everyone feel so welcome and give us a brilliant evening’s entertainment (and the best value ice creams in the district!) Thank you Cloud Nine and a huge well done to everyone involved.

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