I had the great privilege of taking my two children to see Sleeping Beauty at Worthing’s Pavilion Theatre, and it was another pantomime triumph!
Featuring non-stop music and dance numbers, plus a huge amount of silliness and laughter thrown in (from the audience and the cast!), Sleeping Beauty is a treat for all of the family.
Top of the bill is Michael Auger from Collabro, who found fame on Britain’s Got Talent. Although playing the dashing lead, Michael gets just the right balance without being smarmy or arrogant. His leading lady is rising star Marcavia McCarthy, playing Princess Ariana in her first professional role, but more than holding her own.
I always love the supporting cast, sometimes even more so than the leads, and this year was no exception. Ross Muir returns as Queen Dorothea, a restrained but still endearing dame. Jay Rawlings, another Britain’s Got Talent alumni, is great as jester Muddles but really stuns with amazing juggling and balance tricks. He’s born to perform and was a great addition to the cast.
Another returning cast member is Katie Pritchard in her fourth Worthing panto appearance. With a great set of pipes and natural comedic talent, Katie is great in every scene and really brings the whole story together.
However, Katie Pritchard was trumped to the top spot this year for me by Patrick Monaghan, playing the Evil Underlord. Hilarious from the start, Patrick is a superb pantomime villain with bags of energy and quick witted ad-lib. There’s plenty of audience participation involved when Patrick is around, but all very light hearted (and completely side-splitting!)
Completing the cast are the ensemble, who are fantastic in the song and dance numbers.
Sleeping Beauty runs at the Pavilion Theatre until 1st January, with afternoon and evening performances every day. There are BSL signed, captioned, relaxed and dementia friendly performances on certain dates. Tickets are available from £10 and can be purchased online or at the Box Office.
*We were gifted tickets for Sleeping Beauty in exchange for an unbiased review.