Sleeping Beauty

Many thanks to OLSS Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society for inviting me along to see their production of ‘Sleeping Beauty – The Pantomime’, written and directed by Leo Appleton and Rob Fearns, performed at Our Lady Star of The Sea Parish Hall on Thursday 1st December 2022. My immediate take away from this performance was ‘Wow! I really needed that!!’ Leo did a splendid job at crafting this classical well known and loved story with a traditional panto flare, which was faced paced, high energy and perfectly played by all cast members to give members of the audience, who were of all ages, a thoroughly enjoyable evening, with audience participation happening from start to finish within the show, having the audience stand where able for the National Anthem as a prologue immediately penetrated the fourth wall and welcomed active participation throughout. The stage blocking was also used to its highest potential though out, making great use of the aisle for exits and entrances, and the attention to detail tying together the theatrics and the design was superb.  

Musical Direction was provided by Pauline Hardy. I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed all the selected numbers for the piece, ranging from 90’s favourites from Spice Girls and Bewitched to musical theatre numbers from Dear Evan Hansen and of course the standard panto power ballads included to ham up the theatrics. There were great arrangements of all numbers performed by a 5-piece band, and with some complex harmonic vocal arrangements and descants added to texture the numbers further. The most notable musical moment for me was a cello and viola duet rendition of ‘Wrecking Ball’ au fait with Bridgeton, to which a courtly dance was performed by some of the cast. This was a stunning arrangement and very relevant to both the era the panto was set, but also bringing the panto topical with the reference to the award-winning series.

Choreography by Amy Appleton was simple yet effective throughout the show and incorporated different techniques across the numbers within panto. The cast, of different technical abilities, looked well drilled in their movements. I would make note for future to try ensuring eyelines and head placements are aligned within the unison choral moments, but when I’m commenting on minutia like this, you know the standard is high.

Set design and props were of a good standard for the performance, using detailed painted backdrops and different gauzes to split the locations for the show. Downstage left was a spiral tower throughout the show, from which a puppet crow appeared, who acted as the Evil Witches confident and messenger. The iconic spinning wheel had a functioning wheel that was made into a gag through being mistaken as a unicycle when it arrived from the courier. There were also flying butterflies dropped into the set when the Snowflake fairy spoke, this was a nice tie into the detail contained within her costume. On that front, costumes were magnificent throughout the show and much time and effort must have been spent to have them at this level of detail, for example, each of the fairies (except Edna – more to come on this) were named after a flower or plant. All their costumes tied into their names and followed through to their foot and headwear. This notion of detail was embedded into all characters, so I feel Janet Appleton deserves a call out for this within the review.

As a general note, all the cast delivered a good performance throughout the show and contributed to a wonderful evening of entertainment, which had all audience members laughing and singing along with them. All performers should be please with their efforts. I have chosen to use the rest of the review to call out the most notable performances from the show.

Upon the opening number, I could not stop watching John Gill playing the Dame, Edna, chewing at the scenery. Wearing a green wig and a crooked hat, I assumed she was the wicked witch and thought ‘ooh yes we’re in for a right treat with this one.’ I was not mistaken about the treat, but my initial judgements were wrong! This pivotal pantomime roles was a part of a group of 7 good fairy godmothers, the unblossomed ugly duckling, if you will. John played this role with a gentle sensitivity, underplaying some of the dry, quick-witted humour, which made the delivery ever so more enchanting and relatable with the audience. This was consistent throughout the show and Edna had the hearts and bellies of all audience members with her throughout the show. Extraordinary work John, well done!

As noted, there were 6 other good fairy godmothers; Poppy, Marigold, Tulip, Daisy, Snowdrop and Sweat Pea, played by Sarah Cosgrave, Pauline Hardy, Mia Barlow, Elise Heron, Sofia Hardie and Carolyn Clapham respectively. Each of these characters were written to have different characteristics, relating to the gifts that they gave to Princess Aurora. They each took this notion and delivered exceptional contrasting characterisations throughout the performance. They all played well as a part of a solid unit, and each of the performances had individual charms. Of note, their rendition of ‘Sisters are doing it for themselves’ was spectacular! The harmonies and dynamics of them were perfectly delivered, this was another of the highlights of the show for me.

Lynsey Heron was simply outstanding as the evil fairy godmother, Minerva. She embodied this role perfectly throughout with a fabulous energy and meanness throughout. She created this character physically through providing detailed posture through rolling her hips slightly forwards, giving an almost awkward feel to the character’s physicality. Vocally with text work, she spoke with great power and with an earthiness delivered from held from the solar plexus and then throwing her voice through cackles and snares. The delivery of her solo number, 'Good n Evil', was brilliant, with flawless vocals, consistent characterisation and great reactions and facial work, such as pulling cross-eyes whilst grimacing, to add an element of comedy to the role. Lynsey really did create a character each member of the audience loved to hate!

Sammey Coffey gave the character of Princess Aurora a lovely innocence and delivered a wonderful song, ‘Gonna Be My Day’, from My Little Pony which the Good Fairies provided great harmonics for. Maia Coffey played Prince Custardos a provided him with a real charm. She had a great affinity with the audience and delivered great storytelling through her version of Lewis Capaldi’s ‘Someone You Loved’. There was a great version of ‘Truly, Madly, Deeply’ delivered by Maia, David Bury and Nimah Heron, which served as a Prince’s Lament to decide who should tackle the thorned wall to win the love of the princess. Mia Wood excellently played the Jester. She delivered the lines with great comedic execution and performed multiple backflips and other tricks, she provide excess energy which greatly animated this character.

Many thanks once again to OLSS Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society for a wonderful evening of entertainment. I look forwards to meeting you all again soon.      

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