Cinderella

Published Friday 21 December 2007 at 16:55 by Scott Matthewman

From the moment former Bad Girls actress Victoria Bush steps on stage as a brash, mouthy Fairy Godmother, the audience knows it’s in for a treat.

The cast and crew work perfectly together to provide a textbook traditional panto that cannot fail to entrance its audience.

Ellie Boswell’s Cinders is delightful, with a strong vocal performance that is able to turn the up-to-date pop songs that comprise the show’s musical numbers into full theatrical showstoppers. She is matched by Simon Bell’s Prince (who is truly Charming), providing the chemistry that drives the show forward at every stage. The panto’s most recognisable face, children’s TV presenter Mark Speight, keeps the youngsters on side at every opportunity in his role as Buttons.

The stars, of course, are the Ugly Sisters, here named Trinny and Susannah. Philip Armstrong and Oliver Gray form a perfect double act, providing enough off-the-cuff and risque humour to keep the parents amused without offending younger theatregoers.

An audacious attempt to create an onstage instant transformation for Cinderella doesn’t quite work, thanks to Cinders’ double being on stage with her back to the audience for far too long. But when that’s the only fault you can find with an otherwise superb show, who’s complaining?