Snow White and the Magnificent Seven Dwarfs

Moving the traditional Snow White story to a ranch and gold mine in the Wild West proved a good way to add a twist to a familiar story and a great excuse to introduce lots of corny cowboy and mining related gags and amusing character names. All the usual panto ingredients were still included and the packed audience on the second night were obviously having a ball - a great tribute to Gail Norris in her first foray into directing.

The show opened with lots of opportunities for audience participation (oh yes there were!), getting the children and adults alike wound up and joining in the fun. Leading the rabble-rousing were Danny Jeffs as Silly Billy the Kid (the comic) and Roger Minors as Nanny Oakley, the dame. Both have great talent and obviously know how to handle a live audience. They kept the jokes flowing and the show moving along at a good pace. Both were excellent, making the most of their characters and Jeffs’ accent particularly was spot on. More great characterisation came from Mike Clay as One-Eyed Slim (so called because there is only one “I” in Slim – love it!), sidekick to the evil baddy, Drusilla Blackheart (Brenda Lambert) – and what a wonderful cackle she has!

The love interest was ably provided by Annie Dillon as Snow White and Ben Pharoah as Sheriff Vince Charming (great name!)  Both have superb voices, which they demonstrated well in their two duets – talents to watch for the future. The Sheriff modestly using his hat, to cover the kiss that wakes up Snow White, was a lovely touch. The Magnificent Seven dwarfs were also very good, each with his own character and appropriate name – I particularly liked Forgetful Fred’s (Richard Searle) forgetfulness, and Zak Norris delivered Punning Pete’s awful puns with great panache.

Huge congratulations must go to the set design and construction team, and to the wardrobe department. Everyone was kitted out with colourful and highly appropriate costumes which, together with an amazing set, clever props and good lighting made for a stunning picture on stage. Choreography by Caroline Powell complemented the overall effect, particularly in the Indian Dance and the very well-drilled final number – furnishing everyone with sunglasses was most effective. A surprisingly wide and authentic sounding variety of music was provided by just a two piece band (Peter Fellows on keyboard and David Powell on bass guitar). I particularly enjoyed the music that accompanied the Indian Dance - composed by M.D. Fellows – just a shame that the sequence wasn’t a little longer.

There were just a couple of little niggles. While the principals had head mics and could be heard easily when singing, I felt the chorus were a little timid and, despite their large number, were rather hard to hear from the back of the hall. I also felt that the gag of the horse farting would have been funnier if used less often.

It’s good to see a company with such a wide age-range amongst its members, and which offers them all an opportunity to shine on stage. The whole cast and backstage crew have obviously worked really hard together to bring us a great evening’s entertainment, which the audience clearly appreciated. Well done!

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