Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Snow White and the seven dwarfs is the age-old tale of beautiful Princess: Snow White whose evil stepmother Queen Malevolent’s fading beauty caused her to take drastic action: ordering her huntsman to take Snow White deep into the forest and kill her, only by the kindness and loyalty of the huntsman and the charity of seven dwarfs does this classic pantomime result in a Happy Ever After ending. Directed by Eric Hickson with Liam Etherington as the assistant director used their skills and enthusiasm to bring this 1812 Brothers Grimm classic story to life; resulting in a first class performance, drawing on their wealth of skills and knowledge they combining all the elements and ingredients that is characteristic of a traditional panto and as a result this production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was enjoyed and very much appreciated by the audience.

Supporting the story line was a well-chosen choice of seventeen musical numbers all performed well thanks to the groups resident Musical Director Martyn Jones and his musicians Dave Young and Jackie Adams, they ensured that the cast’s delivery of the numbers was well conveyed. Choreography was in the capable hands of Ann-Marie Clayton and Stacey Thompson who made certain that the dance numbers and movement was competently delivered and added to the overall quality of the performance. Congratulations to Eric who artistic flair ensured that the set looked fantastic: the back cloths as ever looked incredible, rich in colour and eye catching and certainly lifted this performance to another level, Well done to the stage manager Dave Jackson and Lucy Greathead as properties mistress who made certain that the movement of props and scenery was carried out without any disruption to the performance and well done to wardrobe the costumes looked incredible adding to the overall production. Congratulation to the production team for sound and lights; the use of pyrotechnics looked stunning and the quality of the sound was audibly good, and finally a special mention to De Hickson; Front of House Manger and her team who as always ensures that the audience are well taken care of and I love the finishing touches that this group includes down to the plate of red apples on the booking in desk, maybe only a simple touch but it certainly adds to the whole experience of theatre going.

Playing the part of the evil Queen Malevolent was Ann-Marie Clayton and what an excellent performance from start to finish: the audience loved this character, booing from the minute she walked on the stage, lovely interaction with the cast and I loved the transformation to the old women, well done Eric you may have cemented yourself as the director but no costume could disguise your presence on stage. Playing the title role was Stacey Thompson as Snow White, who delivered a confident and convincing performance; great stage presence and lovely interaction with the Dwarfs; vocally I enjoyed Stacey’s musical numbers “Castle on the Cloud” and “Honey Honey”. Playing the valiant and dashing Prince Rupert was Jayne Etherington who delivered a thigh slapping performance; I thoroughly enjoyed her solo musical numbers “Eternal Flame” and “Seize The Day” with the chorus and her duet with Snow White “Love Is An Open Door”. No pantomime is complete without its Dame; and in this production Ian Patterson excelled as Dame Doitall and what a showcase, bursting onto the stage with a shopping trolley full of birthday gifts for Snow White, from that moment we knew that this Dame meant business and was going to bring the comedy element to the show, loved the colourful costumes and the interaction with the audience, and a confident delivery of the musical numbers “Uptown Girl” sang with Jack and the female chorus and the Community Song with the invited children from the audience  “Football Crazy” which was well delivered; well done Ian on a stand out performance. Playing Handy Andy was Liam Etherington who excelled in his high position within the palace, great character who certainly entertained the audience and his interaction between the cast members certainly held the story together, a good solid performance from this talent artist, vocally I loved the number “Downtown” with Snow White and the cast. Playing Lord Chamberlain was Michael Coulson, who delivered his character with absolute perfection I loved how this character kept annoying the cast members by constantly repeating his words and been referred to as the wet blanket, excellent stand out performance as always from Michael. Playing smaller cameo roles were Bethany Hitchen as the Spirit of the Mirror who delivered a confident and lovely performance as did Christopher Jones who gave a sterling performance as the Huntsman.

Playing the seven dwarfs superbly were twins Dilian Sample as Chief and Rhys Sample as Smilie excellent stage presence from these two young youths, they delivered their characters perfectly; lovely stage presence and great clarity in their vocals, Emma Stainsby delivered a confident performance as Snoozy; lovely portrayal of her character she certainly made best use of the stage, Sophie Priestley delivered a convincing performance in the character Sniffles, confident acting ability coming through  and good interaction with her fellow cast members, Ruby Symons delivered a first class performance as the character Timid, lovely acting ability and her character was certainly an audience pleaser, a stand out performance from Jonah Ranyard as Growler, excellent characterisation and certainly showed no nerves with delivering his dialogue, this young man is someone to watch, excellent performance and finally concluding the line-up was Dozy played by Molly Hall, I always feel that this is the hardest character to play as a dwarf as the audience look to see the similarities between this character and the Disney’s Dopey character but in this case Molly delivered her own version and it certainly paid off; great depiction of the character and confidently delivered, well done Molly on a great performance.  

Excellent performance from the ladies and gentlemen of the court who supported the principal cast; each and every one contributing to the story and adding their individual characters loved the opening musical number set in the beautiful throne room  “Brand New Day” and the numbers “Celebration” which was well choreographed,  “Spread The Love Around” and the opening of act two; “Reach For The Stars” excellent delivery and confidently sang; well done to Eve Angstmann, Alex Catterson, Sarah Gray, Lucy Greathead, Wendy Hindmarch, Jessica Horniman, Sue Marley, Robyn McGouch, Jennifer Horniman and Paul Simpson. Special mention to the juniors of the Court: Olivia Comby, Elsie England, Tiffany Holliday, Lily McCrone, Sarah Lippeatt and Scarlett Revell great performances from these young performers, excellent stage presence and certainly some future principal stars in the making.  

Congratulations and well done to all at Spennymoor Stage and Song you had the audience hooked from start to finish, providing two hours of family entertainment. Thank you for your kindness and support and I can’t wait to see you all again in your next production Annie.

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