Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Published Friday 21 December 2007 at 15:50 by Susan Elkin

The star of this glitzy show is, without doubt, the glittering Sheila Ferguson, whose wicked queen is more charismatic and wicked than most, although some of her cabaret numbers - as beautifully as she delivers them - are a bit long in the panto context.

Ferguson is well supported by the lilting Irish voice and rugged good looks of Shane Lynch as the dishy prince and Claire Huckle as an a sweetness and light Snow White, with an excellent singing voice and versatile dance technique. The indefatigable Paul Burl is good value too, with his funny voices, faces and imitations, which come thick and fast all the time he is on stage, which is for most of the show.

Each dwarf in this production has a fully developed personality and voice so each is an accomplished actor - a welcome change from some productions. In particular, Raymond Griffiths gets lots of well deserved laughs as Cheeky and Sarah Bennett’s energetic Loopy is a good foil.

In this show director Well Kenning, who also plays Herman with panache, meets the challenge of injecting freshness into a tried and test formula. I enjoyed several new - yes, new - jokes too and, as always, appreciated the live music. And what a good idea to project the magic mirror 20 feet above the stage.