Red Riding Hood

Huddersfield Light Opera Company presented Red Riding Hood a pantomime with all the spellbinding magic that you would hope for encapsulated in this absolute stunner of a production.

The set was of a professional standard and huge congratulations must go to the stage crew, Jon Hunt and the “Crew in Black” who never missed a step in having everything in place at the right time.

Lighting and sound were out of this world. The Technical Team need to be applauded for the slick and faultless creations on display. One absolute stand out moment involved the audience being transported to an Ice Kingdom. As the music played out, Icicle lights appeared on the stage and the auditorium was twinkling with the splendour of lights reminiscent of snow flakes. Then its started to snow!! The whole theatre was caught in a magical snowstorm with had audible gasps from the whole audience as their heads were covered in a fine covering of snow. From here we were transported to Iceland and to a fabulous reveal, more on this later.

This production had a quality cast throughout. Sharon Whitehead as the Ice Queen was majestic whenever she appeared and held such beautiful poise.

Colin Harris, The Barontologist, was perfectly cast as the failing inventor with a heart of gold. His heartwarming demeanour shines ever present.

Isabelle Barker brought us a delightful performance as Maid Marion and she sang and danced effortlessly.

Ella Midgley was Robin Hood, the quintessential principal boy. Every thigh slap or change of standing position was perfect and everything you would hope for in this role.

The good and the bad characters are a constant dynamic of any good pantomime and Huddersfield were blessed with Gemma Armitage as the Jade Fairy and Craig Squance as Sir Cyril the Wolf. Gemma sparkled with every interaction and Craig complimented this with a knockout bad guy display.

Victoria Taylor was our leading lady of Red Riding Hood. Victoria gave a brilliant performance which wasn’t the twee vulnerable character this can be but she brought a strength to her with was refreshing.

No Panto is complete without a quality Dame and a comedy sidekick. Step forward Chris Brearley as Granny Hood and Dom Moccia, Naughty Norris. Chris and Dom were a fabulous double act. Dom was brilliant and had the audience laughing with his antics and terrible jokes. He played off Chris with exquisite timing and Chris rinsed every inuendo out of his jokes like a pro. Remember my comments relating to Iceland. Well as the snow settled, we were in a ice kingdom as Chris appeared, dress not to dissimilar to Elsa in Frozen. The audience was in tears of laughter and amazed, not by the singing but the sheer spectacle complete with a change of dress mid song. A true stand out moment.

Robin Hoods Merry Men were played by Toby Kershaw – Much the Miller, Amy Blackburn – Friar Tuck, Tom Waltham – Little John, Louisa LeFarve – Will Scarlett, Ben Maffin – Alan-a-Dale and Grahame Whitehead – Barry of Batley who delivered his name to perfection to huge laughs from the audience.

The Villages that supported the main cast were  Anne Cockling, Katie Beadle, Caz Brough
Mark Denton, Susan Roberts, Kate Smillie, Shivonne Taylor, Imani Collier, Imogen Dixon,
Ruby Ingham, Isobel Henderson, Emma Cameron, Emily O'Sullivan, Amelia Crowe, Isabel Greenwood, Scarlett Stead, Freya Quarmby, Hollie Webb Eloise Johnstone, Mia Hopkins, Georgia Potts, Isla Baines, Emily Baines, Poppy Greenwood, Abigail Gregson, Sophia Stead, Sylvie Stead, Verity Moore, Arabella Franklin-Smith, Gracie Payne, Ellie Newbury, Libby Stirling, Beau Armstrong, Ella-Jayne Maiden, Lola Ayrton, Poppy Harrop, Xander Harrop, Jessica Copley, Evie Crouch, Katie Greenwood, Lyla Banks, Matilda Wolski and Elli Klemm. The  younger villagers of Much Tittering are pupils of The Strickland Cook Theatre School. They sang and danced with such energy and a was in awe of the flips and somersaults on display.

Speaking of Choreography, congratulations must go to Pam Strickland and Zoe Cook. Every song had the right amount off movement and dance, and it enhanced what was already a first class production.

MD for this panto was Scott Kitchen. With a live band this was another high quality glaze on what was an already tasty doughnut (a one with no hole for me) The music was slick and pacey with some brilliant pop numbers.

The Artistic Director & Producer was Chris Brearley who had Dom Moccia as his Assistant Producer. They are a formidable double act not only on stage but also putting this together. The show was pacey with great use of space and some fabulous effects brought true panto magic to Huddersfield.

Costumes handled by Judith Hollingworth, Judith Birley and Karen Allison were knockout. The Dames dresses were glam as you would hope and the rest of the cast had first rate attire. The Wolf costume was very impressive alongside some stunning make up. Props, Joanne Brier and Sarah Taylor ensured the set was adorned in the necessary trimmings and I especially loved the box which held the magic spell.

As always it was a delight to see a near full house with roars of laughter. HLOC are a very popular society and they never fail to bring top draw entertainment to the local area. Many thanks for inviting me along and it was a pleasure to speak to Richard Cook – President and Sallie Beaumont- GM before and after the production.

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