We went to see Worthing’s very own panto – Cinderella – this week, at the Pavilion Theatre. It’s the first time that we’ve all made it through the whole performance, and we all loved it! There were so many highlights for us; firstly
The Music
Any show which starts off with the Fairy Godmother belting out a Foo Fighters song gets top marks in my book (although I may be a little biased).
Cinderella carried on with musical treats after that, from the Ugly Sisters being Respectable to a brilliant When You’re Good to Momma, complete with white feather fans.
There’s also a lovely slow version of Take On Me for the ball scene, leading to a rousing reprise at the end. With plenty of modern songs too, there’s enough to keep little ones and big ones entertained alike.
Our favourite had to be The Twelve Days of Christmas – more on that later!
The Cast
As with every panto these days, Cinderella features a mix of big name stars and comedy performers.
CBBC’s Naomi Wilkinson plays a convincing Cinderella, with plenty of kindness and empathy mixed in with the inevitable gliztz and glamour of the later act. The scenes between Buttons and Cinders strike just the right balance of friendship and companionship.
Ex-Strictly professional makes his panto debut as Dandini, although you’d be fooled into thinking he’d been performing for much longer. His dance background is evident but without being too in your face.
Mark Read from pop group A1 plays Prince Charming, in an excellent casting as he makes a brilliant bashful prince looking for love. His strong vocals really bring the big song and dance numbers to life.
Bad Girls actress Nicole Faraday was wicked as the Evil Stepmother, with plenty of flouncing, facial grimaces and the pre-requisite scary lightning strikes!
What was great about the panto is that it’s not all about the big stars, in fact the supporting cast were equally favoured by me and my family.
Both Buttons (Mark Jones) and Fairy Godmother (Katie Pritchard) completely held their own, with ‘Fairy G’ being the stand out for me (and not just because of the Foo Fighters song!) She was funny and feisty in equal measures, with a fantastic voice to round it off.
The Memories
This took me a bit by surprise. We’ve taken the kids to the theatre in the past (and half of Aladdin last year) but hand on heart I can say that Cinderella was the best show we’ve been to.
There were so many moments about the whole experience that I will truly remember for years to come; whether it was my daughter ‘borrowing’ one of the photo-booth Santa hats, to the look on my son’s face when he got covered in foam snow.
One stand out example was The Twelve Days of Christmas, featuring Buttons, Prince Charming and Dandini, plus rubber chickens, Pikachu and smelly socks 🙂
Panto has a magical quality about it, I would defy anyone not to enjoy it, and Cinderella is a brilliant example of that.
Cinderella runs at Worthing’s Pavilion Theatre until January 5th, with tickets available online or at the Box Office.