Sleeping Beauty

As the shouts of “Hurry Murray” resonated around Queen’s Hall, in Burley in Wharfedale, it was quite clear that pantomime was back. Oh, yes it was ! There’s been some discussion over the last couple of years as to whether Burley’s production was a pantomime or a family musical – well, there was no doubt this year, with a dashing Prince, a pretty Principal Girl, a battle between good and evil and, of course, a “gorgeous” Dame.
Sleeping Beauty is the age old tale of the beautiful Princess Aurora who is cursed by the evil fairy for not being invited to the royal christening and, as a consequence, declares that on her 18th birthday the Princess will prick her finger on a spindle of a spinning wheel causing her to die. Whilst the evil spell cannot be broken, the Good Fairy declares that Aurora will not die but go into a deep sleep only to be awakened by true love’s kiss. Burley Theatre Group delivered a sterling job bringing this classic tale to life in this pantomime version written by Celia Fox.
Under the direction of Pam Leach and supported by her Musical Director, Tony Clegg, they ensured that the skills and talents of each individual member of the cast delivered a first class performance. 
Princess Aurora was beautifully played by Lauren Varley, the heroine role suited her well with good stage presence and she delivered her musical numbers well I especially liked “Both Sides Now”. She had a lovely on stage relationship with Prince Rupert who was dashingly played by Leah Turner, who delivered her role confidently and again had great vocals bringing lots of strength to the role.
Nanny Noodle, the royal nurse maid and panto dame was played by Damian Burras, this was a great role and Damian gave his all to engage with the audience. An auspicious start for what I believe was his first time in a dress ! (Minor point – his base makeup needed brightening up, he looked very white)
Tony Clegg delivered a splendid performance as Murray, great rapport with the audience and everyone on stage.  Father and daughter, Phil and Caroline Marston, appeared as King Neil & Queen Mitzi. Both gave a strong “regal” performance, getting the show off to a rousing start with a vocally strong rendition of “Celebrate”.

Every Pantomime needs a good vs evil battle and this was no exception – good portrayed by Amanda Clegg as Fairy Sunrise, evil by Tania Kosma. They were beautifully costumed and wigged in white and black, respectively. Obviously Fairy Sunrise won the day – Here Comes the Sun !
You don’t expect politics to rear its head in pantomime, but it certainly did in this one – albeit comically. The Prime Ministers of the royal houses of the Princess and Prince, Balderdash and Bunkum (how apt for politicians) were played by David Tomlinson and Kathy Jackman respectively. Both had great stage presence and comic timing. I loved their sing song at the end, taken as a  political rally, sort of !
Husband and wife team, Keith and Elaine Gavlin, played Digory and Sarah. Although new to Burley, they both brought their experience to the fore playing these two character roles, especially in the classic panto routine with the rhubarb.
Finally, and by no means least, well done to all the children on stage  - you could see that they were genuinely enjoying themselves, especially in the School’s Out number. A special mention to Abby Macintosh-Dixon for her solo rendition of Castle in the Cloud.

The thing that makes Burley’s Pantomimes unique is it’s music – where else would you get a quartet of harpists, a violinist, an acoustic guitar and a group of ageing hippies playing ukuleles, along with their Angels Choir, supplying the backing tracks? And it works brilliantly. You’ve not lived until you’ve heard the Star Wars theme played on harps, or the haunting rendition of Both Sides Now, accompanied by guitar and violin. So, massive congratulations to Musical Director, Tony Clegg, for bringing it all together and to name check the Ukelele Jammers, the Angels Choir, Clare Richards (violin) and the Transpennine branch of the Clarsach Society.

Huge congratulations to the Stage Managers, Angus Macintosh and James Jones-Tinsley – it can’t be easy staging pantomime on a small stage, but their innovative use of stage extensions and set design made it work. This was all enhanced by some excellent lighting effects, courtesy of John Barker and George Peters, and timely sound effect, thanks to Andrew Horton and Tony Clegg (that man gets around !) Costumes and makeup were by Lorraine Penhale – busy lady.

Thanks to everybody at Burley for a thoroughly entertaining evening.

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