Rapunzel

Once again the Montgomery Theatre welcome HHTG with their annual dose of magical madness as they present a break from tradition with their version of Rapunzel the Pantomime. Baby stolen at birth by the evil witch, locked away in a tower for 18 years until the handsome Prince rescues her and they live happily ever after, however, in the world of HHTG nothing is quite that simple. Life long family commitment along with maintaining a traditional community feel forms the backbone both on and off stage. Their level of encouragement to the many young performers is excellent but never easy as this often requires extra rehearsal when separate groups are used and all the support of parents and chaperones ensuring the youngsters are well cared for.

When attending a pantomime performed by HHTG you may know the story well but be prepared for the unexpected, whilst having a script they have ability to skip in and out of it adding twists and turns with hilarious outcomes. The whole production team of Matthew, Jane, Steve, Hayley, Beth and Joseph must all take heart from the finished article. The level of vision along with years of combined theatre experience shows through within the principal work and full ensemble pieces alike. Matthew and Joseph, with your high level of involvement in the actual performance I congratulate you on finding the time and direction to impress on the cast whilst perfecting your own on stage roles.

An innovative opening treated as a Prologue with Samuel Laird Widdowson singing ‘Anything is Possible’ still wearing his pre performance dressing gown along with Richard Granger, alias stage Manager, checking over the stage as if pre the official opening. With a comparatively small number of principal cast along with Adult, Children and tiny ensemble, who all performed really well, clearly taking on the direction from production and Choreography when performing on a fairly small stage area.

In typical pantomime style stage right being occupied by Fairy Dandruff by Lou Loftus, the good and gracious one, complete with fairy dress and wand and even though purporting to still be a learner displaying a large ‘L’ the quality of your all-round performance would suggest you have already passed the test. By contrast taking up stage left Mother Gothal by Sarah Buckley, the wicked witch and dreaded ‘Mother’ of the stolen baby Rapunzel, showing your years of theatre skill in clarity of delivery, the ability to stir up the audience along with a beautiful performance of ‘One Way or Another’ . Prince Ryder by Sam Widdowson the dashing prince involved in so many of the scenes, excellent delivery and stage presence along with a number of well performed songs including ‘Heaven is a Place on Earth ‘ ‘The Climb’ and ‘Rapunzel’ . The totally mad King Bouffant by Andrew Stansall complete with the finest array of crazy hair styles as befits someone of your stature. A quite hilarious role performed wonderfully, involved in so many laugh out loud scenes.

Rapunzel by Sara Ross hidden away from the real world for so long! it didn’t take long before you started enjoying singing and talking, quickly becoming attracted to the handsome Prince. Some special scenes, comic and serious with a beautiful singing voice, I really enjoyed ‘Together’ and the ‘Colour of Love’.

Pascal by Joseph Walker, it might be the ‘Silly Billy’ role but take nothing from the quality of the performance. A hilarious script delivered with great timing with the ability to inspire the audience and cast alike. Your facial reactions and body language never stopped bringing smiles and reactions throughout delivered, in word and song, with absolute clarity.

 Gerald the Herald by Stuart Ogden, hilarious !! what can I say, the antics, costumes, physical theatre, body language, interactions and the ability to push the boundaries often with over the top glances to the audience, great part performed well.

Frank Spin-atra by David Jefferson having fallen out with previous costumes we now meet the singing Nit ! A cameo role, with a top quality rendering of ‘Witchcraft’ surrounded by a group of ‘nitlings’ thoroughly enjoying dancing around him.

Dame Fanny Follicle by Matthew Walker. It’s not how you start it’s how you finish!!!! In reality where do you start and finish? A classic top of the tree performance from a person who can skip around all situations, make the most serious situation laughable with excellent timing and skill. The pantomime has so many scenes, your Sheffield area sketch, the hairdressing Salon to name but two. One never quite knows when you as a group are on or off script and last night, I was privileged to see plenty of both, all delivered quite hilariously.

This production has so many stand out moments not just with the principals but the whole ensemble. Beautiful well-choreographed dances along with excellent singing. How lovely to see the beaming smiles from all those young actors who must love being a part of the pantomime. The sound and lighting worked really well and the choice of costumes so full of colour and flair. I really enjoyed your break from tradition with the finale costumes all  based around orange.

Thank you to all the unseen members of the society, backstage, FOH, chaperones and more, and delighted you have good ticket sales. If you haven’t already booked don’t miss this spectacle of pantomime

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.