cinders cast

Paul Lawrence-Thomas as an Ugly Sister, Alison Hammond as the Fairy Godmother, Gemma Naylor as Cinderella and Paul Hawkyard as Baron Hardup.

Cinderella

Malvern Theatres

*****

What a sumptuous and fun-filled evening of family entertainment! UK Productions have graced Malvern with a great evening of conventional pantomime jollity, with local and contemporary jokes thrown in.

Cinderella remains a great favourite with the charm of romance and the harmless villains getting their comeuppance. The transformation scene, with the instant and dramatic change in Cinderella’s dress and transport to the sparkling and bejewelled carriage drawn by two small but beautiful white ponies, was a delightful moment that wowed the audience just before the interval.

Visually this was a delightful show. The costumes were beautifully designed with a great number of different outfits for the characters, all in striking coordinated colour schemes. The ballroom gowns and décor were fantastic.  The sheer number of costume changes was amazing and they were bright and brilliant. These were of course complemented by the lighting plot which likewise was highly effective.

While some of the cast were perhaps older than imagined, the level of professionalism and performance skills were great. The show was almost stolen by the impish Buttons, (Mark James), a Billy Bunter figure whose love for Cinders remains unrequited, but who has a delightful capacity to improvise humorously and make the little kids invited onstage at ease. He has a great vocal range and a capacity to create humour thereby. He was superb.

Prince Charming (Ben Harlow) and Cinderella (Gemma Naylor) sang very strongly and moved well in the dance sequences. David Ball and Paul Lawrence-Thomas as the two ugly half sisters made a very striking and often hilarious team with their manifold and extravagant costumes, sharp wit and vindictiveness.

Alison Hammond as Fairy Godmother established a very warm rapport with the audience as she worked her magic and earned her wings. The singing and the choreography worked very well and the local young dancers from the Cecilia Hall Dance Centre added great charm and local flavour.

This show has all the warmly received and conventional elements of pantomime - the pyrotechnics, the corny jokes, the local allusions and participants – it provides a fabulous Christmas evening for all the family! To 07-01-18

Tim Crow

14-12-17 

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