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Thursday, March 13

Tag: Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty – Thingwall Players
North West

Sleeping Beauty – Thingwall Players

Thingwall players should be very proud of themselves for their fun and energetic retelling of the traditional tale Sleeping Beauty. From the moment we entered it was a welcoming atmosphere. With a cast of mixed ages with excellent chemistry which shines through on the stage ensuring their audience leaves with a smile. One thing to note, this venue is a small, cozy and intimate venue which would be a fantastic performance to see for any children or adults who struggle with crowds or larger venues. But don't underestimate the talent and execution of this performance based on the venue size. It will have you beaming from ear to ear all the way home. Don't be fooled into thinking this is just an ordinary retelling of the tale. Brilliantly written by Nigel Holmes but superbly directed by ...
Sleeping Beauty – Normanton Junior Academy
Yorkshire & Humber

Sleeping Beauty – Normanton Junior Academy

There is always a warm welcome at an Encore production and right away you are made to feel part of the evening, with smiles and greetings galore. Established in 1944, Encore is a well-known Theatre company in the local Wakefield/Castleford area and boasts The Lord St Oswald (6th Baron St Oswald) of Nostell Priory as its Honorary Patron. What made this production special to me was the Inclusivity on the stage as well as off. It really was a diverse (in every sense of the word) community performance and just how panto should be – a collective experience for the cast and the audience – as one doesn’t exist without the other! Sleeping Beauty is very well written by Sue and Andrew Sheppard and directed by Sue, the detailed and clear storyline follows the well-known tale of Sleeping Beauty an...
Sleeping Beauty – Storyhouse Chester
North West

Sleeping Beauty – Storyhouse Chester

Back for their 8th Christmas Season, we have another Storyhouse original production, this time the classic Sleeping Beauty, but as usual, done in their own way. This year, Storyhouse have tried something different and produced their show on the proscenium stage rather than the thrust stage. This gives them more scope to include a bigger set and more stage magic including flying and pyrotechnics. It does feel like it loses a little bit of magic not having the cast as close as usual as in the past, with the audience surrounding the stage and the cast entering through the audience at times but what they have done with this year’s set and storytelling makes up for that. Written by Samantha O’Rourke who also wrote last year Cinderella, we are taken on a journey of love, self-discovery and be...
Sleeping Beauty – M&S Bank Arena
North West

Sleeping Beauty – M&S Bank Arena

On 20th December I had the pleasure of watching ‘Sleeping Beauty’ at the M&S Bank Arena Auditorium, which turned out to be a truly wonderful evening of seasonal entertainment for an audience of all ages. The abundance of customary double-entendre did not fail to provoke giggles from the adults without detracting from the traditional family-friendly format of the great British institution of Christmas panto. The eclectic mix of popular music was adapted perfectly to the storyline with some notable pieces perfectly showcasing the beautiful vocal ability of Lucy Kay, playing The Fairy in our tale. Audience members, young and old, thoroughly enjoyed clapping and dancing along to the well-known songs throughout. A particular highlight and example of this was the ever-popular ‘YMCA’ which...
Sleeping Beauty: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto – Theatr Clwyd
Wales

Sleeping Beauty: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto – Theatr Clwyd

A theatre renovation was never going to stop Theatr Clwyd from putting on yet another smash-hit pantomime. Instead, the team have created their very own “Big Top”, where the usual madness ensues. The outdoor Big Top features a giant thrust stage, adorned with webs of light and tiered seating all around. No matter which side of the auditorium you sit in, the boundless energy of the cast makes sure that you are fully immersed in the pandemonium of this year's panto. This version of “Sleeping Beauty” is not the tale you may have in mind. Christian Patterson's script has a brilliant balance of classic pantomime charm and modern flair. There's still the typical spinning wheel curse, but this Princess values friendship and freedom over romance. Part of the reason that this twist works, ...
Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty – Edinburgh Festival Theatre
Scotland

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty – Edinburgh Festival Theatre

IMHO the fairy tale tradition meets tattoos meets masks meets humour meets intense physical creativity meets time … is a feast. Matthew Bourne’s recreation of Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty is all his Gothic own and yet not. The man himself credits the original dancers with contributing to the exquisite storytelling and, there is no doubt, his long-term collaboration with designer Lez Brotherston is a winning combination. It is a beautiful creation of light and dark. The performers clearly love what they do and their passion bleeds into the auditorium and captures your body and soul. Bourne cares about every detail and he inspires equal attentiveness in his cast and crew. The result is a deeply, deeply satisfying and uplifting narrative. A radical vampiric element is stirred into vari...
Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty – Liverpool Empire
North West

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty – Liverpool Empire

Thanks to years of experience in dance and choreography (and with an MBE to boot), you know any production with an affiliation to Matthew Bourne will pack a punch. And Sleeping Beauty is no exception. This show was expertly performed by New Adventures, a multi-award-winning UK dance-theatre group, who have become synonymous in the world of dance for storytelling with a unique theatrical twist. Sleeping Beauty – now in its 10th year – was the fastest-selling production in New Adventures’ history, and it’s easy to see why. Described as “a gothic love story”, Sleeping Beauty clearly has many an inspiration across film, TV and literature. The main inspiration for the story is less Disney and much more original folklore, as the story weaves narrative strands from different iterations of t...
Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty – Bradford Alhambra
Yorkshire & Humber

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty – Bradford Alhambra

Once upon a time… All great fairy tales start with those immortal words, and this one is no different. However, what Matthew Bourne has done with this version of Sleeping Beauty is so much more than a standard fairy tale. And it’s definitely more than just a dance show. Bourne and his team, Etta Murfitt and Neil Westmoreland, have taken the story that we know and built on it to produce an epic visual tale of love and overcoming adversity. As the show opens, we meet baby Aurora, the result of a bargain Aurora’s parents made with Carabosse, the Dark Fairy. As in the traditional tale, Aurora receives gifts as a baby from various fairies. Carabosse’s threat of a short-lived life is once again mitigated by the King of the Fairies, who promises sleep over death; but just as Aurora is falling ...
<strong>Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty – The Lowry</strong>
North West

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty – The Lowry

Wow! For the awesome stage set and evocative costumes (such creativity from Lez Brotherton). Wow! For the hauntingly beautiful music (composed by Tchaikovsky) Wow! To the director, choreography and scenario concept (the incredible Sir Matthew Bourne) Wow! To the amazing talent of all the company for their performance, of this sublime version of this well-known fairy tale of deception, passion and devotion.  That could be the full scope of my review for the performance at the Lowry – WOW! but I want to share more …… Matthew Bourne is an advocate of the astonishingly beautiful works of the Russian composer Tchaikovsky, having already directed and created the ballets The Nutcracker! (Composed in 1891) and Swan Lake (1877) and now his latest gothic take on the masterpiece S...
Top Panto Star Steve Royle is a Grand Millennial with 1,000 performances!
Interviews

Top Panto Star Steve Royle is a Grand Millennial with 1,000 performances!

Much-loved panto star and stand-up sensation Steve Royle will celebrate an incredible 1,000 pantomime performances in this year’s seasonal spectacular Sleeping Beauty at Blackpool Grand Theatre Ever popular panto star Steve Royle will take his 1,000th bow on the beautiful Blackpool Grand Theatre stage this year as he once again delights thousands of families in the magical pantomime Sleeping Beauty this Christmas. Oh yes he will! Everyone’s favourite finalist from ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent will star as Silly Billy in this year’s fabulous, festive tale and it will be the thousandth time he has filled every member of his lucky panto audience with sheer joy and delight. In his millennial year, Steve Royle will be swapping lines with Dancing on Ice champion and Emmerdale star Hayley ...