Puss in Boots

As I take my seat for the final pantomime of this season it is so nice to be seated in such a lovely venue as Spennymoor Settlement Everyman Theatre and a big thank you to both the group and the front of house staff for making me and my colleagues from NODA feel very welcome. For this year’s pantomime the audience were treated to the story of “Puss in Boots” written by John Morley whilst a good story line the content of this pantomime is a little dated with many of the gags and innuendoes lost of the new and young audience, the original story was wrote over 300 years ago by Charles Perrault and tells the delightful tale of trickery and deceit by a cat to obtain power and wealth for his master Arthur Miller with the help of his magical boots. Louise Defty as director certainly knew how to get the best out of the cast using all her skills and experiences to ensure this talented group of youths delivered an enjoyable performance to a delighted and packed audience. There were some interesting routines choreographed and assisted by Holly Welsh performed to some well-chosen pieces of music which is vital to support a pantomime story line.  The set was well thought out and looked very professional as were the scene changes which were smooth and efficient, lighting was good and the pre-recorded music well cued although there were some issues with the sound on the performance I attended but this did not detract from the performance or the audience enjoyment. The show opened with the cast singing their musical opening number “I've gotta feeling” followed by “Tulips from Amsterdam” both songs were well delivered and set the scene for the rest of the show. In the principal roles were Heidi Angstmann as King Bulbo of Holland, Heidi gave a good performance and worked well with Charlie Jackson as Queen Tulip, Charlie is no stranger to the stage and her confidence and acting skills has certainly flourished over the last couple of years she has good stage presence and vocals and engages with the audience well. Catherine Kirklands gave a good performance as Princess Daffodil and worked well with other cast members, Lord Edam was played by Isabelle Monaham and again some nice acting skills coming through. Freya Graham gave a strong performance as The Millers cat (Puss-in-Boots) again good stage presence and a confident performance. I would have liked to have seen more improvisation when playing the cat but overall delivered a sterling performance in this principal role. There was a good partnership between the cat and its owner Arthur Miller played by Zac Greenman; I particularly enjoyed their musical number “Lean on Me” which was well sung. Zac played this principal role well good stage presence and is a very confident young actor vocally he was able to deliver his musical numbers well and I particularly enjoyed “I Won’t Last a Day Without You” with the cast and one of my favourite songs “This is the Moment” which is not an easy song to sing but he delivered this number confidently well done.

The comedy duo was provided by Megs Defty as Max Miller and Charlie Hobson as Glen Miller good partnership and stage presence and I enjoyed their musical number “Money, Money, Money”. Millie Newham gave a good performance as the magic cobbler as did Skye Monahan as Dr Frankenstein.  Emma Belshaw delivered an evil and sinister Blackleather, excellent characterisation and had the audience booing in all the right places. There were good performances from Amy Lowes in the role of Klonk Autbolt the monster and Mille Cowan as the chief of the spooks and I enjoyed the characters Carrots and cheeky rabbit played by Amy Gatland and Lilly Anderson as Tabitha- Queen of Catland. There were some great musical numbers I particularly enjoyed the cast singing “Thriller” and “Dancing Queen” but no pantomime is complete without the audience sing a long and in this pantomime it was “ I am the Music Man” to the audience delight. I must congratulate the ensemble of villagers, spooks cats and rabbits played by Katie Barnett, Lauren Wakes, Megan Jones, Bethany Wanless, Chloe Armstrong, Charlotte Robinson, Holly Watson, Scott Anderson, Patience Ritchie, Neve Anderson, Imogen Smith, Sophie Preistley Tamsin Tyra Wilson, Lily Anderson, Millie Cowen, Amy Gatland and Amy Lowes all of whom contributed to the success of this entertaining pantomime well Done to everyone.

Youth adviser comments

Puss in Boots, Spennymoor Youth
Every young person in the show was giving their best and was enjoying the experience of performing. They tackled the panto audience interaction well creating the necessary rapport and having the whole audience join in for a fun evening.

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