Peter Pan The Pantomime

I just love coming to see Young Expressions perform!  The cast are always enthusiastic, well drilled and the levels of confidence they display gives me great hope for the future of Musical Theatre.

This is the first time I have been able to attend an actual performance of the annual pantomime, in the past I have had to watch the dress rehearsal due to other commitments.  It is lovely to see the support that the company gets from the audience and there was a real family feel about this show from start to finish.

Every single member of the cast performed well and it was evident that the Director, Louise Hunt and the MD Andrew Lindfield, had worked hard to get all the children in the right place, at the right time and doing the right things.  It was quite a large cast and, from the smallest to the biggest, they were all terrific.

Pippa Bloom played Peter Pan really well.  I had been told, beforehand, that she was suffering from tonsillitis and this was evident in her speaking voice.  However she didn’t let it affect her performance and the fact that she was not actually singing did not notice.  In fact my companion, who did not know the Pippa was ill, did not notice anything amiss; so well done to her and to those in the cast who picked up her songs.  Truly professional behaviour.

Georgia Bennett played Wendy beautifully; her singing voice has matured nicely.  Grant Clark displayed his talent in the role of Captain Hook, well done.  Jared Bates played Tiger Lily with a terrific sense of comedy timing, this is an unusual ‘Dame’ role but one that Jared embraced whole heartedly.  Megan Greenwood (Starkey), Hannah Gladwin (Mrs Darling) and Jayme Abela (lead Redskin and make-up) completes the group of older cast members who are leaving Young Expressions after this show.  They will be missed but they have left behind an excellent example for the younger members to follow.

James Ravenscroft (Smee) demonstrated that he will be one of those the others follow in later years.  I have seen him in three different roles now and I am always impressed by his abilities.  Rose Whitwam was an absolutely delightful Tinkerbell, great ‘attitude’ and a very nice singing voice too.  George Knight played John and his enthusiasm on stage is infectious.  Anna Bellamy (Michael) Sienna Doyle (Mermaid) Elena-Maria Noguchi (Mr Darling) completed the people cast.  I must give a special mention to Eleanor Whitwam and Tyler Payne who played Nana and the Crocodile respectively.  It’s not easy working the whole show without people being able to see your faces but they displayed the characters well using their bodies, well done.

The scenery was excellent and the costumes outstanding, my only criticism was for the technical team.  The young people in the cast have worked incredibly hard to perform in this show and it was a great shame that the sound and lighting was not as good as the performers.   Full credit to those members of the cast that had to suffer the severe feedback during their songs and well done for not allowing it to put you off your performance.   The show was quite technical and the cast deserved a more rehearsed technical backup.

Overall an excellent start to the festive season, well done to all and I am looking forward to the next production.

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