Rapunzel

The sets looked great in this production with use of same set through each Act thereby minimising time between scene changes. The props worked well and the costumes looked fabulous. The lighting and sound worked well and complimented the scenes.

The direction was excellent by Carole Griffiths who also had the major part of The Queen. The choreography was fantastic, looking very effective and with the chorus smiling and looking like they were enjoying themselves. I think this is the best choreography I have seen from this society so huge congratulations to Samantha on her hard work.  The songs chosen were a good mix of genres form Musical theatre to pop and suited the scenes and actors well.

Rachael Pearson was fabulous as Rapunzel despite suffering with a rotten cough and sore throat the night I was in. She sang beautifully and acted well with nice dance moves too.

Maureen Copp was fabulous as the baddie Rumplestiltskin with a gruff voice and small stature. Her sidekick Groton who was mute throughout was brilliantly played by Lauren Copp and stole most scenes she was in.

Rebecca Henry made a lovely Sorceress with great vocals on her numbers and Nathan Simpson as The Captain of the Guards was very comical especially in the The Twelve Days of Christmas.

The two younger Rapunzels were very well played by Maisie Hopwood and Erin Lowthian with nice vocals and acting skills.

The King and straight man was well played by Tony Mooney in comic contrast to the Queen played by Carole Griffiths who was hilarious in every scene especially her opening number as a Honey G Lookalike called Dame G. Carole has impeccable comic timing with full on stage presence .The dual role of Dame and Director is incredibly demanding but Carole fills both beautifully and with such passion.

The final player in this talented cast was Muddles played by Jack Griffiths who follows in his mum’s footsteps with great interaction with the audience, fantastic comic timing, great vocals and a complete enjoyment of the art form he is undertaking. Even Ad libbing when things go wrong is second nature to Jack and he has such great stage presence.

The show was a sell out and the audience thoroughly enjoyed the evening’s entertainment. This was a great family pantomime from a talented society.

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