Sleeping Beauty

Last year the pantomime of choice was Aladdin.  This year it seems to be Sleeping Beauty, this being the second version I have seen in two weeks.  Fortunately, with pantomimes, the contents of the show may be similar but they are never the same.

Whitley Bay Pantomime Society always put on a big show at The Playhouse. Including Principals, Chorus, Senior Dancers, Junior Dancers and Tots, I count over 50 cast members in the programme.  Amongst the Principals, we have Sarah Harris as a winsome Princess Beauty and Joanna Wingate as a dependable Prince Handsome in true Principal Boy fashion.  I must admit I like a traditional Principal Boy.  Stephen Bell was, as ever, a dependable and amusing Dame, Penelope Pinchme.  Another familiar face was that of David Lindsell, taking the comedy honours as Oddjob.

Also on the comedy side, a word must be reserved for Robert Wilson Baker who, as Gormless, seemed to have wandered in from the Shrek family, performing in deep green make-up throughout.  Robert is, I believe, just 17 and showed great promise in what was his pantomime debut.

The Chorus and dancers filled the stage with colour, movement and song which kept the whole performance moving along nicely.  The plot?  Well, in this version the Princess actually does prick her finger but Prince Handsome is there to bring her back to life despite the best efforts of the Joan Purves as the odious Helga Pong.

Chris Johnson’s production was bright, colourful and entertaining with just the right amount of interplay between the cast and the children (and many of the adults) in the audience.  The musical contribution of Andrew Mair complemented the production, never intrusive but always keeping the show moving along nicely.  As choreographer, Julie Cockburn had a lot of dancers (some very young) to deal with.  All in all, this was a very pleasant evening’s entertainment and the audience, both children and adults, left the theatre in a buoyant mood.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.