Cinderella Pantomime, White Rock Theatre, Hastings, Review 2010/2011

Cinderella

White Rock Theatre

Hastings

Sat 11th Dec 2010 - Sun 2nd Jan 2011

Performance seen 31st December 2010

CAST

Buttons : Jimmy Osmond
Baron Hardup : Graham Sherman
Trinny : Ben Stock
Susannah : Gareth Wilde
Cinderella : Shinead Byrne
Dandini : Matt Dempsey

Prince Charming : Matt Wilman

Fairy Godmother : Amy Anzel
Lord Chamberlain : William Banyard

Churchill : As Himself

Ensemble : Aston Bradley, Kerry Histed, Matthew Holland, Charlotte Lee, Rebecca Tutt, Kane Verrall
Juveniles : The White Rock Babes

OK that's it Cinderella mania comes to an end for me,
 at least in 2010. Now that all 3 shows have been seen each panto now has a star rating.

Having seen the star studded Eastbourne production I honestly didn't think anything was going to equal it in entertainment quality but well done to QDOS entertainment, the White Rock Theatre and the cast and team behind Cinderella for what was a brilliant end to 2010.

I was already aware this production was the only of the 3 Cinderellas I was seeing not to have a live band.

Having seen shows before where the artists sing to prerecorded music with backing vocals I have witnessed the poor quality that can occur as a result.

However, whilst I love appreciating a live band, QDOS have proved that you can have a 5 star production without employing any musicians.

This was nowhere near a capacity crowd on New Years Eve. But those that weren't pub crawling or celebrating the New Year at home with family still made up a good size appreciative audience. I do know that this show has achieved excellent audience numbers and that the final shows on 2nd Jan are fully booked. It was only the fact it was New Years Eve that this show wasn't better booked.

Jimmy Osmond was quite a coup for Hastings as the star of their pantomime, probably one of the biggest names appearing in any UK panto.

I was never in any doubt as regards to this youngest Osmond brother's singing ability. What I couldn't get my head around was how they were going to build his own well known hits into such a traditional show.

This is where a very good script comes into play. His numbers work well with the Buttons/Cinders love story and making Buttons the cabaret at the ball gives the perfect excuse for a Jimmy Osmond medley of hits.

Now I know that many Americans can't get their head around the UK love of our pantomime tradition. Jimmy Osmond is an exception having now been in large productions for the past 3 years.

Very good at panto he is too! Despite being older than me ,with his cheesy grin and seemingly permanent youthful looks he also ,rather irritatingly, looks much younger than his age.

The older members of the audience really appreciated the great vocals and nostalgic old hits. The younger audience members didn't seem to care they weren't familiar with the hits clapping along to the music and appreciating Jimmy's acting and comedy ability as well as his music.

A lady behind me explained to her daughter that Jimmy Osmond was the 60's equivalent of today's Lady GaGa or Katy Perry. Mmmmm maybe a same sex comparison may have made more sense for starters?

Jimmy coming down into the audience and singing and dancing with audience members was a part of the show that got a great reception. Although to the 3 miserable women in the front row who all passed up the chance to have a once in a lifetime experience having a quick twirl with Jimmy what were you thinking? It was well deserved that you subsequently got a ribbing from Baron Hardup (comedian Graham Sherman) for being '3 miseries'.

Like Tunbridge Wells we had to resort to the water pistols at one stage for a bit of humour. OK I do personally find this desperate, but I'm also not one of those wingers in the audience who is going to complain about a drop of water.

Besides, I found it somewhat surreal that Jimmy Osmond was standing down in the stalls right in front of me squirting me in the face. It's not something that happens every day that's for sure!

I've mentioned Graham Sherman already. I know in some reviews he has been described as the star of the show. I don't know about that as it is just a great overall production but there is absolutely no doubt he is a very funny man indeed and a real asset to this pantomime.

Comedians nearly always build a few local places into their routine. Graham is no exception but he had clearly done a lot of work into putting many familiar localities into the hilarious script. I found the vast majority of the material to be fresh, funny and yes even cringe worthy at times as many of the best jokes are.

Graham, as is tradition, undertakes the "audience call outs" and the childrens' goodie bag sections of the show which are equally professional and entertaining in delivery.

Cinders is played by a young lady with a beautiful voice, Shinead Byrne. It's a lovely, well played, role and I can't fault her performance at all. I couldn't help feeling that, unlike the other two shows, she starts off looking more like Snow White than Cinderella both in appearance and costume but that is a minor qualm.

A good moment here to mention Cinderella's coach and Shetland ponies. A beautiful way to end the first half. This is a beautifully lit coach and the cast did what Tunbridge Wells should learn. They led the lovely ponies pulling the coach on from the wings and then turned them to come towards the front of the stage so that the audience could fully appreciate them before the curtain came down.

Churchill (the well known insurance company mascot) makes an appearance in the second part of the show. The company sponsors the production and fortunately the "Oh Yes" and "Oh No" sequence is short lived.

The ugly sisters, Trinny and Susannah, are nothing short of superb. Ben Stock and Gareth Wilde look brilliant in their diverse range of wacky costumes and the rapport between these two fine actors works well throughout the show.

The great thing about this panto is that the cast ,when things don't go quite according to plan, know what to do to get even more laughs. Trinny and Susannah are masters of unscheduled mirth and Jimmy Osmond  proved why he would never have made it as a baseball pitcher as he threw props the wrong way.

Matt Dempsey and Matt Wilman are great as Dandini and Prince Charming and it made a change having an American actress, Amy Anzel, as a very glamorous Fairy Godmother.

Watching 3 versions of the same pantomime has actually been quite interesting in seeing different variations of the same theme. The Fairy Godmother role being one of the most differing. Eastbournes funny, scatty, heavily used version. Tunbridge Wells more refined 'posher' take on her with the emphasis more on vocals than on humour. Finally Hastings truly glamorous fairy, not heavily scripted, when she appears its always with a pyrotechnic flash in true fairy fashion.

Actually I think I also ought to praise here the pyrotechnics which were used on many occasions but not overused and which were very effective. Loved Jimmy Osmonds 'firework spraying' keyboard too !!

The dry ice control man at the White Rock also seemed to have better control of his 'fog' than the other theatres did.

There is also one further thing I liked about this show and that is that local kids are given the chance to have their moment of acting glory. Both the other productions use the very talented youngsters from the Deborah Lamb Theatre School. Nothing wrong with that, they are always excellent. However the local kids who had auditioned for the Hastings show did just as good as job and hopefully made many parents very proud.

This show was a pleasant surprise for us. Hastings with their 2010/2011 panto didn't just get a top quality celebrity performer. The town got a premium quality production which was well cast with a continuously entertaining script too.

Final thanks go to Jimmy Osmond for the unscheduled signing he did for Great Ormond Street Childrens Hospital. Despite not being prearranged, a crowd of people, poor lighting and his family waiting we still managed to achieve this for a worthy cause. Thanks Jimmy! If you are a fan of the Osmonds clicking my picture of Jimmy with the card will give you details of how you may wish to bid on a unique collector's item during 2011 and help sick children in the process.

Cinderella Devonshire Park Theatre Eastbourne Review

 Cinderella

Devonshire Park Theatre

Eastbourne
01323 412000

10th December 2010 -16th January 2011

Performance seen 14th December 2010

Cast

(Appearance Order)

Rachel Jerram as Cinderella

Gillian Wright as Fairy Godmother
Clare Buckfield as Dandini

Nicolas Colicos as Baron Hardup **

Kate Burrell as Prince Charming
Joseph Pitcher as Buttons

Martyn Knight as Marjorie Hardup
Richard Pocock as Floribunda Hardup

** replacing Tony Adams who was indisposed

Ensemble: (alphabetical) Kelsey Cobban, Hollie Ellis, James Jacob-Lomas, Daniel Mackinlay, Gabriella Antrobus, Courtney Boyle, Alice Burton, Gemma Taylor

and the students from the Deborah Lamb School

Team A Chorus: Jenny Goff, Eleri Jones, Millie Jones. Emily Muxworthy, Gracie Lofthouse, Holly Bingham

Team B Chorus Beth Aldis, Fenella Smith, Gabby Conradie, Sally Neve, Emily Valentine, Leanne Tunaley

The Band

Keyboards/MD - Robert Cousins

Reeds/ Keyboards - Andy Stewart

Trumpet/ Flugal - Brian Rance

Bass Guitar - Oli Briant

Percussion/ Drums - Ollie Boorman



First things first I won't be giving this a final rating just yet for reasons I will explain in a moment.

However this is a truly excellent, very funny ,pantomime which will appeal to family members of all ages

If you want to give the family a really good night out this Christmas this is a must-book-show!

This show will receive a very high rating, quite possibly 5/5. However to be fair this county and indeed the whole country seems to have gone Cinderella mad this year. I have two further productions of Cinderella to judge at Hastings and at Royal Tunbridge Wells. I think it is only right to see all 3 and then compare their overall merits. (Rating has now been added)

Chris Jordan's Eastbourne production at the Devonshire Park Theatre has set an incredibly high standard for the other shows to live up to. It will be hard to equal let alone beat.

The cast are incredible, the script is great and hilarious with plenty of topical humour. The varied set, depending on location, is quite beautiful ,bright colourful and well made. The live band led by MD Robert Cousins are always impressive. There are some very clever special effects. The range and quality of the costumes is amazing.

The music has been kept up-to date with tracks that both children and adults are familiar with.

No real Shit-land ponies in this one. The spelling being intentional there as I know how many actors hate dodging pony poo on stage in this annual panto favourite.

I won't spoil the surprise but lets just say that Chris Jordan has gone all out this year to perform something that no Shetland pony could ever do. It is a piece of animation and (invisible) mechanical excellence that will impress everybody who can see it.

I say that because it was a great shame that when this effect took place so much dry ice 'vapor mist' was pumped into the auditorium at such great speed that the view of this great moment was obscured for the first 6-8 rows in the stalls. We were literally fog bound for a while. The rest of the auditorium thoroughly enjoyed this great piece as it was meant to be seen.

Anyway that's a minor point and I'm not going to mark the production down because of it and with such a long run into January there is still time to get this mist balance right so that this key piece of the show gets the full applause and appreciation it deserves.

One noticeable part of the show which was missing this year was the part of the show where they seem to find an excuse for a custard pie throwing / messy slapstick routine. Maybe it was difficult to find a way to incorporate it into Cinderella?

Thank God for that! I certainly didn't miss it and judging from the fabulous time every single child appeared to be having they didn't need it either. I am sure the stage hands didn't miss the speedy annual clean up either during the interval.

Lets talk about this fabulous cast but first a mention for a dear friend of mine,Tony Adams, who unfortunately was unable to appear due to ill health. Tony (who was last at the DPT in Last of The Summer Wine) was still scheduled to appear right up to the first night performance. Realising he simply wasn't going to be able to make it through the show Nicolas Colicos stepped into Baron Hardup's shoes.

It wasn't Nic's first time at the Devonshire Park Theatre either having been in By Jeeves three years previously. But on that occasion he had far more than 24 hours to learn a script and had the luxury of some rehearsal time.

Yes we saw Nicolas a few days after first night but I understand he was brilliant even on that opening show.

On this night Tuesday 14th you would never have known that he hadn't had the same rehearsal time as everybody else, he just fitted in perfectly. Although being the perfectionist he is he still left this after show function early to ensure  he has all his lines spot on. Now that is dedication to duty and a huge well done to you Nicolas you were amazing!

As for those who were hoping to see Crossroads legend Tony Adams I have been in touch with him and hopefully he is now on the road to recovery and, fingers crossed, he is hoping to feel more his normal self by Christmas.

I am sure the cast, crew ,The Friends Of The Devonshire Park Theatre and everybody involved with the production of Cinderella wish Tony a speedy full recovery and a Happy Christmas! We hope to see you back in Eastbourne again soon!

Well the belle of the ball is Cinderella and doesn't she just look the part even out of costume? This perfectly cast slipper losing princess is played so sweetly by the pretty Rachel Jerram who has only recently finished appearing in her West End role in Avenue Q.

Dear Gillian Wright - never before at the Devonshire Park Theatre have I heard such a long, spontaneous loud warm welcome for an actress when all she did was walk on in her fairy outfit. Eastenders ' Jean Slater ' clearly has a huge amount of public respect.

Rightly so as she was completely sublime

with her whole performance completely in rhyme. 

A regular wave of her wand in the air

cast aside her depression in Albert Square.

The kids adored her, adults too

professional acting through and through.

Asked if the entrance reaction had been nice

she said it had been a tremendous surprise.

She did a charity signing for great Ormond Street

for suffering kids a gift so neat.

Her role in Cinders is funny and crazy

but better than madness and yellings of Stacey!!

So Gillian Wright you were star of the show

Thank goodness for that as this rhyming can go!

Clare Buckfield as Dandini. I always love watching Clare and her equally talented identical twin sister, Julie. As regards to the theatre I find the only difficult thing trying to remember which production I saw which sister in last. It wasn't too difficult this time round as Clare had not so long ago starred in the touring Little Shop Of Horrors as Audrey.

In Cinderella ,the seemingly never aging, Clare dons the fishnets (the things us men have to endure in the interest of culture!) to play Dandini. Well as Prince Charming's valet she is predictably perfect and as always I am left looking forward to whatever productions the Buckfield sisters turn up in next.

Like Gillian, Clare was another star who kindly did a great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) signing for me for starcards.org. Thank you to you both so much for your kind support.

On a personal note I've lost track of the number of times I've met Clare now but no matter whatever the location, weather or setting she is always one of the warmest most genuine artists to meet. Always with a smile, always up for a chat and always never looking any older !!

Clare's partner in fishnets this year is the gorgeous Kate Burrell as Prince Charming. Kate's height makes her look particularly good in the role and the Buckfield / Burrell combination works extremely well on stage.

Kate has a diverse CV in theatre and TV  and seems to have played a fair number of roles in farces.

In or out of her fishnets I'd love to see Ms Burrell again. Yes perhaps I could have worded that better but hey if I can't put a bit of innuendo in at panto season when can I?

Ah the ugly sisters aka Richard Pocock and Martyn Knight. Martyn Knight is like a piece of furniture at Eastbournes Pantos. If the poster says "back by popular demand" for Martyn you can believe it, he is absolutely adored by all the kids. This is his 7th year and Martyn cannot imaging life without Eastbourne Panto and quite possibly panto could not be imagined without him. This year his partner in horrendous bright OTT outfits is actor Richard Pocock. Despite the fact in previous years we have got somewhat used to Carl Patrick playing Martyns sidekick the Pocock / Knight pairing works extremely well and is extremely funny throughout

A word of warning to adult audience members never, ever refuse to give Martyn your Christian name.

He has ways of making you talk !!

That really just leaves Joseph Pitcher as lovable Buttons. As usual Buttons is the true comedian of the show and quite possibly the kids best friend (although in all fairness I think it was a battle between him and Gillian for stealing the kids hearts) But with sweets in hand to throw to the audience and goodie bags to be dished out to a few brave young souls who got up on stage to perform bribery probably gets Buttons the 2010/2011 award as childrens' champion!

Finally lets not forget all the people behind the scenes who put this incredible pantomine together. Not only that but everything this year was a challenge. The early heavy snow meant the costume designers were snowed in! The artists trying to rehearse were snowed out! Poor Tony Adams was battling to perform but couldn't. Yet Nicolas Colicos achieved the seemingly impossible practically absorbing the whole script and performance in less than one day.

A triumph of a panto which could so easily have been a disaster without the hard work of so many dedicated people. Well done to Chris Jordan and everybody involved in Cinderella. Its a marvellously entertaining show from start to finish.

Book it, see it, love it!



Panto Preview Cinderella Alhambra Theatre Dunfermline

New date announced due to phenomenal demand! 28th December 2010 - 2pm & 7pm.

Date : 20th - 22nd December 2010 at 2pm & 7pm

Doors : 1.30pm & 6.30pm, Show 2pm & 7pm

Tickets : Adults £16.50, OAP's £14.50, Under 16's £12.50. Groups of 20+, all tickets £10.00

Theatre Box Office, opening hours 9am to 4pm 
Tel 01383 740384

Note the above details were correct at time of posting (6th Dec 2010)

It's looking like it's going to be a nippy few weeks up in bonnie Scotland. If you are up in the Fife area why not keep the family warm and entertained by having a ball at the Alhambra Theatre in Dunfermline?

Yes Cinderella is in town and it's proving so popular that an additional date has already been added to the schedule.

The honour of playing the ugly sisters falls to one of Scotland's greatest football legends, Jim Leishman, and to local comedian Bert Allan. As you can see from the publicity poster sorry gentlemen but, in the nicest possible way, you look suitably ugly for the parts!

The roles of the Fairy Godmother and Cinderella are filled by two artists who are both brilliant at promoting theatre themselves via social networking sites. If all actors grasped the benefits of keeping their fans within their social networks rather than excluding them I'm sure audience numbers would benefit as a result.

The lovely Shona White will, without doubt, be a superb Fairy Godmother. In fact for a young lady she is well versed in the art of pantomime and any roles with the word 'Fairy' in them suit her particularly well. A fact I can state confidently from personal experience.

Those of you who have been enjoying Shona's starring role as Florence Vassey in the current tour of Chess (for which she has received excellent reviews) should not miss this lighter side of her superb acting ability.

The equally delightful and friendly Kim Shepherd has the honour of playing Cinders herself. Kim is not only a respected actress having starred in such productions as the UK tour of Les Miserables, she is also a formidable singer.

If you can save a mere £12 per person from your Christmas extravagances you can enjoy Kim Shepherd in an evening with one of Fife's rising stars ,again at the Alhambra, on Saturday 22nd January 2011. The show also features Paul Gudgin's Razz Big Band, Cut The Cake and more special guests.

I think anybody in the Fife area should strongly consider seeing both these entertaining shows. I certainly would if only Fife would consider migrating a bit nearer to East Sussex!!

Oh and if you see either of these shows and would recommend them to others please do add a comment to this post by clicking the link at the bottom of this entry.

Alhambra Box office: 01383 740384

Useful links
Alhambra Dunfermline
Kim Shepherd's Official Site

Shona White's Official Site

Jack and The Beanstalk Devonshire Park Theatre Eastbourne

Jack and The Beanstalk
Devonshire Park Theatre
Eastbourne
11 December 2009 - 10 January 2010

(performance seen 15th December)

Cast (appearance order)

Karen Mann - Fairy Fuschia
Kevin Pallister - Fleshcreep
Carl Patrick - Simple Simon
Emma Barton - Jack
Martyn Knight - Dame Trott
Sophie Isaacs - The Princess Jill
David Alder - King Kuthbert
Daisy Meadows - Clarabelle
Herbert James - Giant Blunderbore
Chris Jordan - As Voice Of Blunderbore

Ensemble

Fela Lufadeju
Scott Mobley
Gemma Naylor
Jessica Phillips (Dance Captain)
Gabriella Antrobus
Nicola Cosshall
Rosie Firth
Katie Wiltshire

and the talented Students from the Deborah Lamb Theatre School

Men in womens clothing, women dressed as men, jokes that make you cringe, costumes that are so bright they may be able to restore the sight of the partially sighted, slapstick comedy moments, "it's behind you!" screams, loud boos, Benny Hill type cast chases around the auditorium, kids with infectious giggles and the constant rustling of bags of sweets.

Yes it's Panto time again!!

Now as over 2000 of you now read this little theatrical blog each month (thank you so much!) you may just want to know if it is any good and whether you should book a ticket?

Well we don't live in Eastbourne so it's not that easy for us to go again but if we were local we would. Our 2 friends who are Eastbournians, who were with us last night, are doing just that.

Just get on the phone and book it - 01323 412000 - and don't just take the kids. Take your parents, grandparents and anybody else who would like a good laugh and a very fun night out.

This isn't just panto - it's Eastbourne' panto.

This is an outstanding production by Eastbourne's artistic director Chris Jordan. But it is not simply excellent from an acting point of view but it is also a technological masterpiece. The beanstalk itself is amazing. This huge hydraulic stalk has actually had it's details and dimensions submitted to the Guinness Book Of World Records as it may be the largest and tallest panto beanstalk to date. We'll wait to see if The Devonshire Park Theatre gets an entry in the 2011 edition.

Then there's the giant and what a wonderful giant it is. If you look at my main site (http://www.fdpt.org.uk/) you will see Eastbourne Theatres wonderful preview shots. It's a great shame that there is no shot of the giant as it's a terrific creation and I think it would have been great at grabbing the attention in advertising. Hopefully more material may be released as the show progresses? It reminds me of one of Jim Henson's larger 'Muppet' creations, it is that good.

Lets also give credit to the unseen Herbert James who has to shuffle around on stilts inside this marvellous extraordinarily heavy creation. In addition to being very heavy and cumbersome it must be very hot in there! Herbert you really need to take a bow at the end along with the rest of the cast.

Anyway back to the acting, singing and dancing and comedy side of things.

Lets do the 'leads' first. Ex 'Eastender' Emma Barton makes a lovely Jack. With her beautiful voice, pretty face and incredible smile she was a great choice. Oh and I did just happen to notice that she put the hot into hot pants too!

Emma couldn't hang around long at The Friends Of The Devonshire Park Theatre after show meet the cast event though but she was kind enough to pop out and see us after the matinee the following day.

Emma's 'co-lead' and ex-Emmerdale star Kevin Pallister is no stranger to The Devonshire Park having appeared in the thriller Deadly Game and Noel Coward's Private Lives.

There is no doubt that Kevin is a marvellous actor and as the evil Fleshcreep in this he really makes the role his own. However it's almost worth going to see this show just to see another incredible talent this man has in the second half! I won't spoil it too much but lets just say that before he was an actor Kevin was a musician (and I only found that out from him last night) and Chris Jordan has resurrected this talent allowing him to play an instrument to a massive pop hit accompanied by a musically talented fairy (has to be seen to be believed!)

Now a lot of Panto's use the "back by popular demand" label for certain performers. Whether that is true or not for all is debatable. But in the case of Eastbourne it's absolutley true for Martyn Knight and Carl Patrick. The kids just love these guys. This talented duo must know they are doing something right when they get a massive cheer on their initial entrance that equals, if not exceeds that of the headline TV stars. I am sure Chris Jordan would hate to lose either of these from his annual production as they quite simply are so good at what they do and that is making people laugh - a lot! They also complement each other so well whatever they are doing on stage.

David Alder is perfectly cast as the bumbling King Kuthbert but the hidden talent in this show comes from the lovely Sophie Isaacs. Having just graduated from the London School of Musical Theatre this is not only Sophie's first panto but one of her first major productions. She looks like a princess even without trying and is beautiful vocally too. I am sure this young lady is going to go far in theatre land - a star in the making.

Jack and The Beanstalk at the Devonshire Park theatre has a bit of everything: corny jokes for the kids and a good splattering of 'inuendo jokes' to provide laughs for the big kids, a bit of slapstick (but not overdoing it), a little of on-stage audience participation, excellent vocal performances to a cleverly produced list of songs, stunning costumes and those tremendous props.

You simply can't ask for more.

How Chris Jordan tries to beat this in 2011 with Cinderella is anybody's guess - it will be interesting finding out! I'll just wait to see just where the line about how impressive the Prince's balls are (or similar) gets a place in the script!

Snow White And The 7 Dwarfs Devonshire Park Theatre Eastbourne

Note the panto is on from 12th Dec 2008 - 11 Jan 2009 so if you haven't booked already do so now as it is already heavily booked and it is well worth seeing with a terrific cast.

CAST (In order of appearance)

Shona White - Fairy Goodapple
Nicole Faraday - Queen Narcissia of Sovania
Stefan Booth - Prince Simon of Sofaria
Carl Patrick - Herbert Vore The Huntsman
Niamh Perry - Snow White
Martyn Knight - Dame Delores Dingbat

Ensemble

Dan Cooke
Jessica Philips
Gabriella Antrobus
Courtney Boyle
Robert Jones
Amy Ross
Alice Burton
Gemma Taylor

+ Students from The Deborah Lamb Theatre School

A bit sad to admit that at our age this was the first panto we'd ever seen on stage but it was. But hey at least it was a first great experience.

Directed by Chris Jordan and written by Chris Jordan and Ian Marr the resulting panto is a good mixture of the traditional Snow White story whilst including modern popular hit songs and a mixture of stand-up and slapstick comedy.

It sounds like a bit of a mish-mash that may not work. But work it does - from the beginning to the very end which is another pop music medley and I won't say from what artist or era so as not to spoil the fun for those who haven't been.

There are superb vocal performances, some good picking-on-the-audience moments, fantastic costumes, the usual 'he's behind you' type incidents, a strangely entertaining side-show involving a 'dead' stage crew member (don't ask...... it's far too complicated and I simply haven't got the space here) and even something involving soap suds, rubber gloves and a conveyor belt and dwarfs that are almost as tall as Snow White.... nobody can accuse this show of not having variety!

Now for the artists:

Shona White - we were already members of the Shona White 'fan club' having already seen and met her this year in the fantastic musical Shout. Snow White is very different to Shout but Shona makes a perfect Fairy Goodapple who's side job to granting wishes is to keep the show flowing, both through rhyme and song, which she does beautifully and she looks wonderful too! (incidentally for those who are wondering Shona would probably wish me to assure all reading this that her after-show purply-blue-do is actually a wig (at least that's what she said )

(My review of Shout is under 28th April 2008)

Nicole Faraday - As my wife said how can somebody who looks so beautiful play the evil, nasty, vile Queen? It is true though no matter how horrible and vile she is meant to be to poor Snow White she still looks lovely.

Well aside from being the best looking nasty-piece-of-work in Panto Land how does TV Bad Girl (mmmm..... I see a theme running here!) Nicole's performance stand up?

She was utterly brilliant is all I can say - she's not only a powerful actress both on TV and stage, vocally I found her incredible. I'd gladly go and see Nicole again any day.

With herself and Shona taking time out to chat to us at the Friends Of The Devonshire Park Theatre after show meet-and-greet it was a pleasure meeting two of the friendliest, down to earth artistes around.

Stefan Booth - We could kick ourselves now for not having seen Stefan when he was touring in Summer Holiday.

Having now seen the superb singing and acting talent of Mr Booth in a Pantomime I can now see what a great show Summer Holiday must have been.

Stefan is really turning out to be a real jack-of-all-trades talented entertainer. TV soaps, drama's (The Bill), ice skating, musicals, pantos. It seems that there is nothing Stefan can not do well.

And on top of that he does a heck of a lot of valuable work for the charity World Vision.

As the Prince Stefan is......well...........as you would expect Charming!

And that's how he is off stage too - a lovely, friendly, easy going, guy. My wife thought so too... can't think why..... although I told her she really needed to wash her face again one day!

Niamh Perry - The second former I'd Do Anything contestant we'd had the priviledge of watching and meeting in a matter of weeks. Although Snow White's costume is understandably much more conservative than Samantha Barks skimpy outfit in Cabaret she really looks the perfect Snow White.

Niamh's performance as Snow White is as you would expect Snow White to be - ever so sweet (ahhh!), singing and dancing merrily amongst the giant dwarfs, waiting to be rescued from the (still beautiful) evil Queen, Nicole, and to be kissed at the end by Stefan Booth (I wonder if she regards this as business or pleasure?)

Martyn Knight - I've alway's wondered why on Eastbourne's Panto posters Martyn Knight is there year after year 'Back by popular demand'. Demanded by who? And Why?

Well now I know both answers - By everyone who's ever seen or booked him and because the guy is very very funny - especially in drag! In this Panto he plays Dame Delores Dingbat - a woman of many colouful outfits who has the audience in hysterics throughout the show.

I should stress that the talented Martyn does plenty of 'straight' stage acting too and hopefully we'll get to see him out of his frock sometime in the future.

Carl Patrick - Funny guy number 2 working very well alongside, the aforementioned, Mr Knight. The comedy flows well between these two. And remember that crew member 'death'.... watch out this character could be bad for your health!

This is now Carl's 3rd year in Eastbourne. It isn't hard to see why.

Eastbourne theatres seem to know when they've got a good funny-guy and with a pairing like Knight and Patrick I wouldn't think they'd want to lose them in a hurry either.

The Ensemble

Credit must go to the all singing and dancing ensemble (named above) for working so hard throughout the show and for providing great entertainment.

Not forgetting the many students of The Deborah Lamb Theatre school for their young talented pupils who took part.

The Dwarfs

As I have already mentioned the dwarfs are rather big. Probably because on this occasion they are not played by human dwarfs but by some rather courageous 8 year old's togged up in some rather hot, bulky, but very impressive costumes.

These kids deserve a lot of credit for performing well in outfits they could barely see through and which must have been quite heavy to move about in. Well done little people for bringing the bigger little people to life!

This really was an excellent show for young and old. The entertainment is great, the talent is excellent and the scenery changes, of which there are many, are quick and impressive with the sets being beautiful too.

Any critisisms? Only one which may seem pathetic to some.

We couldn't really see why the writers decided to change the names of the dwarfs from the movie originals. For example Dopey to Dippy, Sneezy to Allergy.

I can't see that changing these names really added anything to the show. In fact for any kids who loves Snow White I felt they may feel a little sad at this change.
I know that many things are changed in Pantos for the sake of entertainment and to keep things up to date. But this little change may make some a little Grumpy (or is that Grouchy?)

However the odd change of names is my only trivial winge and whether you have kids, are young, or old it doesn't matter. It's British stage entertainment at it's best and a good deal better for you than sitting in front of the TV watching repeats of The Great Escape whilst stuffing mince pies!!

Book it now before all the seats go!