Sleeping Beauty

Once again  the citizens of Northallerton  were treated to another first class production, excellently presented and very well acted .  Amidst the gloom of the wintry weather the audiences were treated to a laugh-a-minute show.   Largely responsible for the hilarity once again was Nigel Thomson, who played Muddles and really was outstanding.  His partner once again was Nik Browne, who played Nurse Dottie Dettol.  Between the two of them they have you rolling in the aisles.  Nik is celebrating 30 yrs with the company, having played the Dame for 10 years or more.  They were well supported by the cast. The Princess was very well played by Emma Greehalph, while Lucy Owens played the princess as a child. The Prince Alexis was delightfully played by Amelia Richardson.  Her parents, the King Cactus and Queen Marigold, were played by Martin Holdsworth and Christine Brayshaw respectively very well.  The King’s two helpers were played by Roger Kiddle, as Fetch, and Susan Wildon as Carry, who tried to get  everything right.  

The boos and the hisses were directed to bad Witch Hazel, played by Tracie Birdsall, but the more the children booed the better she liked it.  Dianne Henry played the good Fairy Lilac very well indeed. The Rainbow Fairies were played by Lucy  Browne, Megan Howlett ,Eleanor Reynolds and Laura West, who delighted the children when they brought the Princess back to life.  We had a very young Chorus, who performed very well and could be the Stars in the future.  During the pantomime we had the usual dash around Northallerton on an Olde London bus, raiding Mitchells newsagents for sweets and books etc, very well filmed by Howard Wilkinson.  The Forest of Thorns was a spectacular black light scene, with everything flying about very impressively.  Alan Owens had just the balance right with his small Orchestra,  and also devised the songs for the show. The-back stage staff did a first class job with excellent scenery, very colourful costumes from Molly  Limpets Theatrical Costumiers.  James Cornick must have been delighted with this Pantomime.  He has directed now for many years, and deserves an Oscar for all he has achieved over the period. The capacity audiences would all go home looking forward to next year’s Pantomime.  Very well done Variety Company.

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