Mother Goose

The fun started even before curtain up, with the various 'egg' puns used in the pre-show announcement. The hall was almost full, with plenty of children present, which was lovely to see and surely helps to secure the future of this group.
The curtain rose on the colourful and vibrant village of Little Dooing. The Junior chorus started the number with great energy and were soon joined by the Senior chorus who performed some quite energetic choreography. These lively dance routines have been a feature of this group's pantomimes for many years now, and this one was no exception, with all dances performed to a high standard.
Principal characters were introduced and all brought energy onto the stage with them.  When the auditorium door was used for entrances, I was pleased to see the characters interacting with the audience on their route to and from the stage. Principal characters worked well together, in particular Mother Goose and Tommy, and there was a nice contrast between the rather 'scatty' fairy and Nasty Nick.
There were many enjoyable and original moments in this pantomime. My particular favourite was the synchronised swimming number at the start of Act 2. Not only was this a very clever idea, but it was performed skilfully and with great conviction. Comedy is always funnier when played 'straight' and this was an excellent example of this. The children's Swan Lake (Goose Lake?) ballet was another highlight, and a real crowd pleaser. I am sure there were many parents bursting with pride during show week! The appearance of the children as animals in Act 1 was another delightful scene, featuring some fabulous costumes. The transformation of Mother Goose into Marilyn Monroe was quite unexpected, and the classic 'up draught' scene was very funny. There was a funky U-V number to 'Disco Inferno' which featured some beautiful costumes, enhanced by some good choreography. The business of Priscilla laying the eggs was very well done (with an ingenious costume which actually contained the huge eggs) and extremely funny. The ghost sequence was a good opportunity for audience participation, although the ghost would have been better in white trousers instead of black.
Music was a big part of this show, with new lyrics written to many of the songs. All songs were performed with great energy, and could perhaps have been further improved by more smiling from the chorus.
Backcloths were very impressive and scene changes occurred swiftly, with no background noise. The moving log was well used, as was the signpost. Props were well handled. Make up and wigs were good. Sound can sometimes be a problem at this large, cavernous venue, but the radio-mics were used to good effect so that all the Principals' lines were projected well. The chorus singing was perhaps not as loud or clear as it might have been, but I'm not sure that there is a lot that can be done to rectify this owing to the poor acoustics in the hall. Lighting was good, and the pyrotechnics for the entrances of Fairy and Nasty Nick were dramatic and well-timed. The falling snow was very effective.
There was some excellent physicality from the Principals, in particular the pratfalls by Tommy and Gertie. The business of Gertie fainting at the party was particularly well done; in fact, she seemed so relaxed when her body was turned over, I began to think she really had fainted!
Make up and wigs seemed appropriate from where I was sitting. As I have come to expect from this company, there were some lovely costumes, including the Dame's outfits and the lovely goose ballet headdresses worn by the junior chorus. The costume department really surpassed themselves this year with some superb finale costumes in cerise, white and silver, so that the stage at the end was a riot of colour.

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