CINDERELLA, Palace Theatre, Mansfield till 6 January
Mansfield.
CINDERELLA.
Palace Theatre To 5 January 2008.
various dates 10am, 2pm, 7pm, 12pm and 4pm 24, 31 Dec only.
no performance 25 Dec, 1 Jan.
BSL Signed 14 Dec 7pm, 15 Dec 2pm.
Runs 2hr 40min One interval.
TICKETS: 01623 633133.
www.mansfield.gov.uk/palacetheatre
Review: Alan Geary: 4 December 2007.
A lot of traditional elements missing but enjoyable all the same.
Early on, Buttons (Dave Benson Phillips) revealed that Ethel, a ninety-eight-year-old from Nottingham was at the show; and it was her birthday. This info seemed oddly similar to some we were given a few years back, only that time it was Jessica, celebrating her hundredth.
There are other old things in Buttons’ routine: kids in the 1950s were being shunned in school playgrounds for “Your teeth are like stars; they come out at night”. Nevertheless Phillips has an excellent rapport with the children and gets everyone to sing a less-than complex song called Buttons.
Most of the shamelessly obvious commercial sponsoring lines are given to Buttons, but the gags dishing it out to Mansfield District Council, those foreigners in Chesterfield, and so on, are shared between him and the Ugly Sisters. Bobbie Kent (short) and Marcel Deaville (tall) are splendidly contrasted: their many outfits get increasingly outrageous and their campery is good, though the punch-lines of some of their gags seem to lose themselves.
A low point, which seems to hark back to that chav racist incident on Big Brother, comes when the Ugly Sisters first meet Cinderella (Gemma Hunt). It’s a jarringly tasteless (and cut-worthy) routine.
There are no sweets thrown into the audience, no free showers to be had, and - a major pity - no messy slapstick involving flour, paint, pies or crockery. Nor is there any real visual spectacle, though there were gasps of approval for two beautiful, white Shetland Ponies pulling the coach; and the basically eighteenth-century costumes are a delight.
One of the best things is Cinderella herself, played as naive, pure and pretty. Unlike a lot of the singers in this show, Hunt has a tuneful, ringing voice. As per usual, Cinders looks a lot more fetching in rags than she does at the ball. Her appearance at the end in the wedding dress is a highlight for the blokes.
Pedants will notice the absence of Baron Hardup’s wife - strange, since they’ve only just married; and on press-night Cinderella fled the ball at 11.54 pm instead of waiting for nearer midnight.
But strong men as well as the tinies were enjoying this panto.
Cinderella: Gemma Hunt.
Buttons: Dave Benson Phillips.
Fairy Godmother: Jean Ferguson.
Daisy: Bobbie Kent.
Lily: Marcel Deaville.
Baron Hardup: Don Crann.
Prince Charming: Lucinda Lawrence.
Dandini: Lois Urwin.
Villagers: Leanne Clark, Kate Hallam, Heather Parkin, Nesta Wren. Emil Dale, Matthew Russell-Jones.
Village Children from the Christine March School of Dance and DanceMania.
Director: Terry Morrison.
Designer: Ian Wilson.
Lighting: Dai Evans.
Choreographer: Tracey Iliffe.
2007-12-06 00:44:58