After 20 years at St Helens Theatre Royal, Regal Entertainments’
producers Chantelle Nolan and Jane
Joseph reach out down the East Lancs Road to where they made their first panto
a quarter of a century ago, at the Epstein in Liverpool (or as it was then, the
Neptune).
Straight off the blocks with a belter of an opening number,
the tremendous Samantha Palin sets the bar high in the singing department. With
some great casting choices, she is well matched by equally strong vocals from
Sammy Winward as Cinderella and Andrew Geater as her Prince Charming. All three
give warm and cleanly delivered performances and are the genuine highlights of
the dramatic team. Geater is taking a bit of a change of scenery from his recent
role of Pharaoh in the Joseph tour, and here he also acts as company manager
and assistant director.
Warren Donnelly too is both convincing and funny as Dandini,
making the very most of a relatively small part. Slightly over-written is that
for Buttons, who appears to be cast as the lead vehicle in the show. However,
the constant Les Dawson-like gurning from Lewis Devine strips the part of any
real warmth, and this usually lovable character ends up being rather aggressive
and unsympathetic. He is however very good with the children who come onstage
to claim chocolates in exchange for a song.
Instead of a dame, Cinderella of course has two ugly
sisters, and here they are played un-dragged by Crissy Rock and Sarah White.
White plays it nicely for laughs, and in a way she is almost the Joan Crawford
to Rock’s Bette Davis, whose make up and wig almost reincarnate Baby Jane Hudson.
Sadly, no matter how loud Rock shouts, few of her lines are fully decipherable,
whilst White is both clearly audible and witty.
Where the trio of Cinders and her Godmother and Prince are
the dramatic centre of the show, its visual appeal has its highlights in the
big production numbers with the troupe of dancers. It’s here that the sets and,
especially, glittering costumes really come into their own. The choreography is
outstanding and has an almost balletic feel to it, with real shape and poise to
the stage pictures it creates. There are plenty of these set pieces to bring
glamour to the proceedings, with obvious highlights in the coach and horses
scene at the end of act I and the big ballroom walkdown that closes the show.
It is all accompanied by fine musical direction from the pit by Alan Moore.
Looking past its minor shortcomings, this Cinderella has a
great deal of charm and style, and it certainly hits the target, passing the
all important barometer test of the attentiveness and engagement of the younger
members of the audience. If it polished its buttons it would be almost perfect.
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| The cast of Cinderella - all photography by David Munn |
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| Sammy Winward |
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| Sammy Winward and Andrew Geater |
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| Samantha Palin |
Star Rating: Four Stars
This review was originally written for publication by Good News Liverpool
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