Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs

Not your usual Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, the Pantomime written by Alan Frayn had all the main characters all there but we had some re named and the seven dwarfs were now Smiley Dozy Grumbly Blushful Snoozy & Sniffle and very good they all were with amusing characters to match the names. I thought all were good. The story line was sort of the same as the traditional one but all the songs were modern and I certainly missed “Hi Ho Hi Ho’ ”from the dwarfs to name but one, and not all the songs gave the same feel as the tried and tested ones. In this story line the King had died, so Snow White had an even harder time with no one to look out for her other than Chuckles. She really was just a servant working for her stepmother Queen Avarice, played so well by Rachel Shortland ,who had a great rapport going with the audience, and met many an ad lib from them with a quick and witty reply which was excellent.A very intelligent and effective part .I really enjoyed this performance. Fairy Good Fortune played by Daisy Greenwood did really well. A good clear speaking voice and interpretation of the part with confidence. Edna Bucket the Dame played by Jordon Murphy had a good feel for the part and was a very energetic Dame. Sophie Stocker looked just right with all the attributes to make the perfect Snow White, and sung well in a sweet voice. Abigail Morgan as Spirit of the Magic Mirror gave a funky feel to her dialogue which was fun, also Daniel Carr as Chuckles as usual gave a great performance and I hardly recognized Peter Greenwood as Prince Ferdinand who has risen through the various shows to quite an accomplished actor. Leon Kennedy gave us a splendid Justice Quill and together with his assistant Scribbles played by Andrew Stocker were good foil for one another. Well done. I would have liked rather more in the opening number which was all a bit of a jumble, and with such a large cast there needed to be real strong vocals to give the show a great opening. The singing generally was not strong and in some numbers the songs were quite difficult for the cast as they were set in very low range and were very difficult for young voices. I am aware how hard you all work with KYDS, and it was encouraging to see some new members joining the group. There are some strong performers in the group and ALL the cast need to up their performance to match these one or two who really know how to deliver and perform to an audience. A good set, great Benny Hill style numbers rushing around the auditorium all adding to the fun that all the children in the audience loved. A good choice for the group and it was so good to see such a large audience. Keep up the good work and best wishes for your productions in 2013

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