Sleeping Beauty

There is always a great atmosphere of expectation when I visit the Chardstock pantomime. This is a keenly supported fixture on the community social calendar and you know you will always be royally entertained. This year was no exception, despite the incredible lengths the team had to go to, to ensure the show went on!

Before the curtain opened, we were made aware that two of the principle characters had been replaced due to  illness and the Music Director and Assistant Director were playing King Norbert and Carabosse.

Sleeping Beauty is a classic fairy tale featuring an evil fairy godmother intent on revenge for being snubbed at the christening of the Kingdom’s baby princess. Carabosse gatecrashes and reveals plans to murder the child on her 18th birthday, when she’ll prick her finger on an enchanted spinning wheel. This spell however is retrieved by a good fairy who converts the spell of death into a 100 year sleep.
 
This was Ben Crocker’s version of Sleeping Beauty a witty, funny script, full of colour and mischief.
As the show opened and the stage was awash with really stunning purple and gold outfits, it was clear a huge amount of thought and work had gone into the costumes with magical results. The backdrops and scenery were gorgeous another example of the huge toil and talent which had been at work with some really lovely effects.

The show was kicked off by the wickedly funny Billy with great energy.  Billy was joined by the company for the opening chorus. There seemed to be a feedback issue with the tech as the number kicked off but it was soon lost to sight as the company sprang to life and belted out Dolly Parton’s 9-5.  

This was a pacey, action-packed show, generously packed with great characters – added to this was some inspired casting – the fairy godmothers were Fairy Peaceful, Fairy Thoughtful and Fairy Graceful. This trio was full of humour and energy and Fairy Graceful was played very tongue in cheek which was much enjoyed by the audience.

King Norbert was a triumph, not only did the Music Director manage to curate and coach the excellent soundtrack but his last minute adoption of this character was very silly and funny and he also left anyone who has ever had to learn lines in a certain amount of awe (myself included) as he reeled off the new royal princess’s full name which had 25 middle names, all in alphabetical order!!

Queen Dorothy who entered on a rickshaw was a lovely confident performance and,  like Billy, had an instant rapport with the audience.
Aurora (I won’t list her full name!!) entered with her cat on her 18th Birthday, this was a lovely performance and Kitty the palace cat was enchanting. She does of course fall in love with the Prince Orlando at Panto speed and their duet of Then I Go and Spoil it All was lovely.
The baddies were a joy – Carabosse and her Evil Sidekick Spindleshanks were deliciously wicked and the two actors worked brilliantly together, creating the most loved ‘evil’ characters I’ve seen in some time – particularly when they are squabbling over which of the two of them will play the old lady decoy for Aurora at the spinning wheel – this was hilarious, well done guys.
This was a panto with so many witty, memorable moments; one which the audience really enjoyed was a member of the cast walking across the stage with an ‘18 years later’ The next line was “Did 18 years just go by?”
There was a superb chorus of young rats and a fabulous, rat dance which was hugely entertaining not to mention the ballet at the end of act one.
Act 2 Begins with a UV scene opening to Thriller with some excellent vocals and then we are into the Addams Family theme as the Royal Household sleepwalks its way on and off stage.
The costumes deserve another mention as we meet zombies, ghosts, Dotty in her Marie Antoinette costume and the grand piano… superb.

 The action gets increasingly frenetic as Billy sings We Will Rock You, King Norbert plays the saxophone and Aurora sings a lovely acoustic version of Holding Out For a Hero.

This was an absolute romp of a show full of all the ingredients for a great night out, the crew and production team created a stunning template and the cast smashed it – congratulations guys!!!
 

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