Floral Pavilion and Martin Dodd for UK Productions bring Cinderella to audiences this festive season. With a cast known from TV, Pop bands to theatre stars, there was an array of talent on stage tonight.
Cinderella follows the story of a young girl, Cinders, who is treated unfairly by her stepsisters and follows the handsome Prince Charming as he throws a ball to find the girl of his dreams. This evening’s show was their first day of performances and as an I felt that they had not yet fully settled in. There were a few issues with sound where, on numerous occasions, mics did not come on at the beginning of people’s lines meaning the audience were missing bits of dialogue. In the larger numbers in the show, the band seemed to completely overshadow the cast on stage, again, leaving the audience struggling to hear much of the words to the songs
This is a very traditional style panto with lots of humour, audience participation, topical jokes and dance breaks for the ensemble and Hoylake School of dance to have their moment to shine. I enjoyed the majority of the dancing, choreographed by Aaron Ashley Parker, but I did feel it was a little tentative in parts and you could see some performers looking at others for the next move. This could be down to first night nerves and I’m sure it’ll become slicker as the run continues. Some of the topical jokes seem a little out of date and I felt there were times the mark was slightly missed especially when it came to jokes about certain MPs or places they work.
Sean Jones as Buttons seemed a hit with the younger audience members, adding lots of humour and joy. Bethan Jacks was a nice Cinderella with some lovely songs, and I feel once she relaxes into the role, the performance will shine. Jacks seemed to rush over punchlines so not letting the audience recognise and enjoy the joke or innuendo
Mark Paterson as Dandini is a fantastic performer with incredible vocals, great humour and brilliant moves. Prince Charming played by Steps star Lee Latchford-Evans was brilliant in the role. He gave everything to the part and when he mentioned anything to do with Steps the audience went wild. Especially so when they included Tragedy and Love’s Got a Hold of My Heart, which gave us of a certain age a great feeling of nostalgia and warmth.
Jamie Morris and Tarot Joseph as Melody and Harmony Hard-Up, Cinderella’s stepsisters, completely stole the show with over-the-top costumes, hilarious rapport and fantastic audience interaction. I looked forward to every time they came on stage.
Although traditional pantos are the staple of the Christmas season, I think for a lot of the show, the children in the audience seemed distracted and bored, spending a lot of their time playing with their flashing and spinning wands which were sold in the foyer, which then became very distracting for others in the audience or running in and out of the auditorium. I felt, at times, there didn’t seem to be enough aimed at the younger audience members to keep them fully invested.
Costumes were beautiful and could not be faulted in any way and for the most I enjoyed the lighting immensely. And the little surprise at the end of Act One was something that had everyone in the audience smiling.
Hopefully the issues I found this evening will be ironed out in the near future and I hope the run has a great success and brings lots of joy over the Christmas period.
Running until Monday 2nd January 2023 with tickets available at https://www.floralpavilion.com/en-GB/shows/cinderella/events/4
Reviewer: Damian Riverol
Reviewed: 3rd December 2022
North West End UK Rating: ★★★