Rapunzel the Pantomime

The fairy story Rapunzel became Rapunzel the Panto at Watlington this year. This was a new one
for me so I was interested to see how Watlington Players worked Rapunzel’s tower on stage. Very
well as it turned out. In fact all settings were good and the two drop cloths depicting the wood and
Rapunzel’s room inside the tower were excellent.

The hall is probably difficult to light but that didn’t seem to be a problem to lighting techs Kevin
Rooney and Cameron Lewis. There was only once when I thought a player was in a dark spot but
that may have been because of a bit of over zealous smoke or a green-coloured gel. Sound tech
Chris Coady got a bit of stick from the stage once or twice which was overturned by VAR!
Costumes were extremely colourful and well thought out by Jenny Ives and the costume team.

The secret of panto is energy and attack. The opening number from the mainly younger members
of the cast was certainly full of energy which came over the footlights in waves. Their overall
contribution to the show was impressive. MD and Choreographer Ellie Fradley had obviously
worked the cast hard; throughout singing and dancing was first-rate especially the extra treat of the
tap dance routine in the Finale.

From his programme note I gathered Ian Halliday was making his directorial debut assisted by
Megan Abbott and there was no doubt that his cast gave him support and commitment.
As Dame Trixie Phil Melia gave an energetic pun-filled performance sporting a grand assortment of
wigs and colourful costumes. Dale Hornsby was really splendid as Trixie’s son and the Prince’s
Valet Frankie. He had the audience with him from his first entrance. A stand-out performance.
Greg Aviss as the Prince was, at times, pretty shaky on his dialogue but he certainly has an
excellent singing voice matched only by that of Megan Daugherty, beautiful as Rapunzel. Their
duets were a highlight of the show.

Being a “social animal” the Prince had a trio of social secretaries Lacie, Macie and Gracie: Harriet
Melia, Sophie Briffitt and Madison Cole respectively. Three very confident performers. It was a
pleasure to watch them. Of course no panto is complete without a comedy duo, in this case Bob
(Tom Marshall) and Curly (Jenny Ives) who made much of their on off moments. King and Queen
Tim Casey and Claire Cooper weren’t much called upon but they had their moment with “Putting
on the Ritz”.

All panto has a good versus evil element and the “good” came in the form of young Alice Hornsby
as Fairy Flora. Alice gave a super confident performance. I don’t know how old Alice is but she
certainly held her own against more mature and experienced cast members. Added to which she
has an extremely good voice. Alice is certainly one to watch and I am sure she will grace many
stages in the future. What would we do without a baddie to boo? Well we certainly had one;
Sarah Melia was tremendous as Gothel the evil witch who imprisoned Rapunzel. She certainly
knew how to get the audience going. Two excellent performances which will stick in the memory.
As much as I would like to I can’t mention every member of the cast or you would just be reading a
list of names. Suffice it to say that Herald, Captain, Hair Monster, Villagers and members of the
Paparazzi all played their part to provide the full Watlington Village Hall audience with a great
evening of live entertainment.

NODA Review
Thank you for the inviting me to join you and for the warm welcome from your Front of House
Manager.
Julie Petrucci
NODA East Regional Representative D4S

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