Sleeping Beauty

What a pleasant Sunday afternoon we spent attending the above Production of ‘Sleeping Beauty’. I was delighted to renew old friendships and meet new members during my first visit since the pandemic. I was sorry to have missed your excellent Pantomime last year due to Covid.

The atmosphere as we entered the Memorial Hall was one of expectation, with families, and groups of excited Brownies filling the hall. The piece opened denoting The Royal Palace Scene with ‘Billy’, the Kings and Queen’s right hand person, suitably played by Casey Baillie-Young, with a group of children delighting us singing, ‘Hap Hap Happy Day’ One of the things which impressed me from the start was the high level of voice projection each and every member of the cast had in their script. Even the smallest members of the Company, one could hear every word. ‘King Norbert’ played by Emily Williams gave us a commanding performance from the onset, never forgetting the character’s Royal position. Gwion Davies cast as Queen Dorothy, the Dame in the panto, had the audience in the palm of his hand from his very first entrance, and they loved every minute he was on stage. It was obvious he was ready for any comments the audience confronted him with. Great performance, well done!! The band of Fairies were led by Heather Blackman as ‘Fairy Peaceful’. Heather rose to the challenge, leading the beautifully dressed Fairies, Phoebe Williams ‘Fairy Graceful’: Lily Redpath ‘Fairy Beautiful’: Lottie-Sue Jones ‘Fairy Thoughtful’: and Autumn Bach ‘Fairy Helpful’.

Lara Robinson was chilling to say the least in her characterisation of ‘Carabosse’, the baddie of the piece. Lara had obviously studied the role resulting in a very powerful performance which received a great reaction from the audience, just what we need at panto time. ‘Carabosse’ teamed up well with the faithful ‘Spindleshanks’ played by Jasmine Buyang-Ali, who fully justified her selection as ‘Carabosse’s Cat’. Nice contributions from Ellie Hughes as the adult ‘Princess Aurora’, lovely singing voice, and Cara Richardson as ‘Prince Fernando’ together with Lawrence Blackman as ‘Kit’ the palace Cat who mimed throughout the Pantomime. 

Chorus numbers and choreography were well executed, and the fantastic costumes and amazing scenery, hair and make-up departments, pulled out all the stops so efficiently for this production.

Thank you so much for your invitation and I look forward eagerly to your 2024 offering.

This is the opinion of the Reviewer.      

 

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