Grimmly Ever After

Rainhill Musical Theatre Company’s Youth production this year was an interesting innovative show called "Grimmly Ever After" devised and adapted by two talented hard-working ladies Samantha Moores and Claire Jones who were both also the Directors and the Choreographers along with some of the cast members. The show included in its programme adaptations of well-known fairy stories from the books published in the 19th century by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm generally known as The Brothers Grimm, who were two German academics and cultural researchers who collected and published stories and folk law which had been passed down through generations. The stories included in the show were “Rapunzel”, “Elves and the Shoemaker”, “Red Riding Hood”, “Hansel and Gretel”, “Rumpelstiltskin”, “Cinderella” and “Puss in Boots” which are only a few of the stories they collected. Each story was read by narrators, (a different person for each story), while other performers told the story by mime, and between each story there was either a song or a dance routine as a link. Among the musical numbers included were “What About Us “Let the Mystery Be” and a nice rendition by some of the older children of the difficult to sing title song from Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” The cast included some enthusiastic young performers covering a wide age range from the very young too older teenagers, I believe there was some as young as 4 years old, who all performed together and supported each other well. The children appeared to be enjoying themselves (especially the very little ones) and they were all given a chance to shine weather it was reading the narration or singing or performing in a dance routine.

There was a multipurpose static set which included a typical fairytale house and along with good technical input facilitated smooth transitions between each section of the show. All the children wore basic black T-shirts and Leggings but added various pieces of colourful costume when required for the story, which was effective and added to the feel of the production. Just a constructive point, accompaniment was by backing tracks, which is not always easy to sing to, another option may be live music from a keyboard.

Well done to all the children and to everyone involved in bringing this show to the stage and for all their hard work in producing an entertaining evening. There was a very appreciative audience of parents and family members who appeared to be enjoying themselves very much watching their children and having a good time. Thank you very much for inviting us we had a lovely friendly evening as usual.

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