Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Panto season is still with us and this one opened with a topical introduction by Boris himself! For the first time in panto at the Norbury, I believe, we find a twelve-piece orchestra at the rear of the stage which given the great depth at the Norbury worked well, for this production directed by Andy Brown. The opening number ‘Magic to Do’ was led by ‘Fairy Fortune’ played beautifully by Merie Eglesfield and you just knew all would end well. But she did not have it all her own way as the evil ‘Queen Avarice’ ruthlessly played by Melanie Brown demonstrated. Melanie quickly engaged with the audience and even called for more boos whilst relishing her evil moments. There were also some entertaining exchanges with ‘Merlina’ (Vicky Moloney) the magic mirror.

‘Snow White’ played by Molly Hill had a delightful presence and a lovely voice to match and first- time dame, ‘Edna Bucket’ (Paul Steele) made an effortless connection with the audience. ‘Chuckles’ the royal jester played with great panache by Jimmy Hill delivered a great natural patter and his ventriloquist act wearing a covid mask was very funny. Boris (‘Chuckles’) even reappeared in ‘If I was not in pantomime’ which was also funny.

‘Justice Quill’ played by Tony Boardman and ‘Scribbles’ played by Emma Waters a bright and natural performer, worked well together. Whilst ‘Queen Avarice’ had eyes for ‘Prince Ferdinand’ he was naturally drawn to the lovely ‘Snow White’. Nathan Wilde had great stage presence and sang ‘The Girl that I Marry’, a duet ‘The Song that Goes Like This’ and ‘Till I hear you sing’ with great control. Good support was also provided by ‘Slurp’ (Nigel Payne) who was sent to kill ‘Snow White’ and remove her heart, but ended up buying a sheep’s heart from Morrisons.

The seven dwarfs each with their own coloured hair, all spoke up well, particularly ‘Brainy’ (Darcie-Ella Eglesfield) and ‘Smiley’ (Elizabeth Radford) but they all portrayed strong individual characters. (Lexy Steele, Evie Makepeace, Tallula Eglesfield, Tim Radford and Holly Dufty). The senior and junior ensemble together with the young dancers provided support throughout and I particularly enjoyed a harmonious ‘You will be found’ at the end of Act 1.

Act 2 maintained a good pace with many musical highlights including ‘Pumping Iron’ (‘Edna’), ‘Moonshine Lullaby’ (‘Snow White’), another lovely duet ‘As Long As You’re Mine’ (‘Prince’ and ‘Snow White’) and Snow’s ‘On My Own’, sang with great control and feeling. If you love musicals then this was the panto to see, with music extracted from no less than 43 musicals along the way.

The set, sound and lighting were all effective and the costumes provided a blaze of colour throughout. Congratulations to all involved in a great evening’s entertainment.

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