Snow White

SNOW WHITE ... a pantomime presented by Rainhill Musical Theatre Company at Rainhill Village Hall, Rainhill on Friday 19th January, 2024

It was great to see Rainhill back on stage in panto!  January 2020 was when they last trod the boards in panto producing their take on ‘Pirates the Panto’!  I said then and I’ll say again now… ‘that was different!’… in a good way and who could forget Mathew C Roach truly inspirational take on ‘Bluebeard’ it was amazing! But they’re back with a more traditional tale… that of Snow White, a story I think we all know reasonably well, but what we may not know is that the story began its life way back in 1812 as a fairy tale by the “Brothers Grimm”. The story line follows the eponymous princess, Snow White, who runs into trouble when an evil, power-hungry queen marries her father and tries to kill her out of vanity. Aided by the seven dwarves on that occasion and a handsome prince who becomes her love interest, Snow White deposes the queen, exacting her rightful revenge. The fairy tale is one of the most famous of its genre in the Western world and has been adapted into numerous films, plays, and parodies. This version of Snow White was adapted for Rainhill with kind approval of Ben Evans-Clarke with additional material from Karen Woods and Ruth Gibb.

Production Team… Karen Woods (Director) did a great job with this script which, as stated above, she had some input into.  Karen had gathered an enthusiastic cast, who as soon as those curtains parted were ready and willing to give us their all.  The cast were well rehearsed and it was obvious from the off, that Karen had a really good idea of what she wanted from this pantomime and there was a lot of attention to detail. The ever so experienced Wayne Oakes (Musical Director) had gathered together a great band, but the Village Hallisn’t the easiest of places to get great sound, but under Wayne’s leadership, they did just that and supported and accompanied the singers ever so well.  Megan Charlton, Claire Jones, Michelle Williams and Bryan Dargie (Choreographers) did a great job with the movement/dance which was simple yet effective and which played to the strengths of every cast member which isn’t always easy. Well done folks, great job!  

The Cast… well folks its ‘sticky neck out’ time… where I identify MY favourites… in this case MY fab four!  I’ve cheated a little with my ‘Show Stealer’ … but I don’t care, because my “Show Stealer” … wasn’t an individual it was an ‘Ensemble’ …  ‘The Miners’: ‘Bossy’, ‘Silly’, ‘Hungry’, ‘Scrappy’ and ‘Snappy’ played by Ruth Gibb, Annie Topping, Liam Fitzgerald, Charlotte Orme and Rachel Bancroft respectively…  Rainhill’s answer to the ‘Dwarfs’!  OMG they were hilarious!  Each created their own individual character which they played with great aplomb, but their best work came when they got together as a ‘team’!  Just loved their enthusiasm, their chemistry, their comradery which was there from first entrance to their last.  Loved everything they did or were involved in … be very proud indeed!  Not far behind ‘The Miners’ we had Claire Heaton’s take on ‘Helga’… the hand maid to the ‘Evil Queen’.  Honestly, Claire Heaton just made me laugh!  She took this part and made it her own, totally believable, she created this wonderful unique character with great mannerisms, great facial expressions and a great accent … loved the ‘cackle’, loved the ‘gait’…. never out of character, stage presence aplenty… just loved it all… be proud!  Then we had the ‘Evil Queen’ played ever so well by Sarah Johnson. Sarah was the perfect fit for this role!  Sarah oozes confidence, has great stage presence, a great singing voice and her ability to create believable characters, on this occasion the ‘evil queen’, is always noteworthy… well done Sarah, be proud!  The final member of the ‘fab four’ goes to Megan Charlton who took on the role of ‘Riff’ a ‘very nice fairy’.  Megan was another who made this ‘Semi-comedic’ role her own!  Another with great stage presence, her diction was clear and precise…great dancer, another who provided us with a larger-than-life character… amazing, well-done Megan!   Diane Glover took on the role of ‘The Mirror’ and made a great job of it!  Diane showed all her experience in this role… stage presence, clear diction, great singing voice and another great character created!   Be proud Diane, great job!  ‘Snow White’ was played well by Michelle Williams our leading female character.  Michelle looked totally at home in this role and should be applauded for the character she created. Looked the part, good stage presence and worked well with all other cast members … be proud Michelle. ‘Muddles’ the loveable fool… treated with contempt by the Evil Queen was nicely played by David Stevens. David had a good rapport with the audience, his comedic timing was good, and he worked well with the Dame… but, on a couple of occasions in Act 2, he had the misfortune to forgot some of his lines, which we all can do, but if I may offer a small piece of constrictive advice, not just for David, but anyone who finds themselves in a similar position… don’t tell the audience you’ve forgotten your lines… try and make something up, try and hide the fact, by all means, especially in a pantomime, make a joke by perhaps approaching the prompt and have an ‘an-lib’ conversation whilst trying to get back on track, but don’t tell the audience!  Dru Fitzgerald played the ‘Dame’ and made a good job of it.  Looked tremendous, loved the costumes and the wigs, worked well with Muddles… had a great connection with all the cast… well done Dru!  Final named character was the ‘Prince’ played with style by Dawn-Louise Wright… another that looked the part and another that created a good character and who worked well with all the cast members, be proud Dawn. To complete the cast, we had three villagers Fiona O’Gorman, Ryan Greenall and Emily Boycott… who supported the principals really well… well done one and all. 

Set/Staging/Tech… once again, Rainhill had created ‘out of nothing’ the perfect stage to allow this panto to flow! Andy Pink (Stage Manager) and his ‘set building team’ created a very usable set, (designed by Karen Woods) that was adapted for every scene and worked really well, allowing the actors all the space they required to do their thing!  
Lighting… Ian Kemp did a great job with the limited lighting on offer here at Rainhill Village Hall.
Sound… as stated previously, the Village Hall here at Rainhill isn’t the easiest of places to get ‘sound’ just right, but congrats to Kelsey Fulton for doing an excellent job. 

The Band… led by the ever so experienced at talented Wayne Oakes (Musical Director) The four-piece band included Wayne on Keys, Paul Taft on Guitar, Kev Bates on Bass and Amy Gray on Drums.  Great sound, great accompaniment for the singers, by proud folks… great job!

Costumes … were excellent and enhanced to production ever so much… the Dames Costumes and wigs were impressive.  Congrats to Karen Woods, Ruth Gibb, Fiona O’Gorman and Annie Topping for sourcing such an excellent wardrobe!  Props… were again excellent and used really well, under the watchful eye of Les Dagnall, Megan Charlton, Claire Jones and Fiona O’Gorman.

It really is always a pleasure to visit Dane Court to watch/listen to this ever so friendly society... so once again can I take the opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to everyone connected with the society, thanks for inviting my wife and I to your panto… we really did enjoy!  Again, as always, a ‘special thanks’ to Keith Marsh who looks after us ever so well throughout the evening… and can’t wait to see you all again for ‘Sunshine on Leith’ in June…

Stay safe, keep well…
‘Stronger Together’

Jim Briscoe
NODA NW
District 6 Rep

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