It has been soooo freezing cold this November; I thought my fingers were going to drop off as Mum and I got out of the car. The relief to walk into the warmth of the Connaught Theatre! I loved the way the foyer was full of little children dressed as Snow White, running around with sparkly tiaras and flashing wands, but it wasn’t only young children, people of all ages were talking in excitement as the doors to the theatre opened to let us all in to find our seats. The first thing I noticed was the colourful scenery on the stage, glittering under the lights. The musicians were warming up there was a buzz in the atmosphere as the background was filled with Christmas tunes playing and people rushing to get to their seats, getting in the panto mood.
The show began and first we were introduced to the Wicked Queen Grizelda, played by Linda Nolan, who barely had to open her mouth before the audience ‘booed’ her. She opened the show very well, really getting the audience involved as she explained her wicked plot. Her deep red costume rippled as she moved and her whole presence screamed out ‘evil’! Herman, played by Dan Riley, was her evil henchman. He gave his part a lot of humour and was brilliant when the Queen put him under a spell to kill Snow White. He was very believable and yet not scary enough to make the younger members of the audience cry to go home. At one time the audience were left screaming at the top of their voices, begging him not to kill Snow White. Luckily the Woodland Fairy (Angelina Treva Riley) was there to protect us all from the Wicked Queen’s spells and carry the story forward. She was a very funny fairy and one of my favourite characters as I loved her costume and her bubbly personality. She really got into her role and it was clear that all the little ones LOVED her. As soon as she appeared on stage, some little voice would cry out, “it’s the fairy!” I thought in general all the characters played their roles really well and really got everyone involved. The Prince, Grant Neal and Snow White, Hannah Spicer had a really difficult job to re-capture the fairytale magic of the story of Snow White with so much humour and audience participation between their scenes. Both had brilliant singing voices and they were a perfect match in this pantomime!
The night I saw Snow White, the audience were especially noisy, joining in, laughing and booing in all the right places. There were a few slip-ups but none of it mattered because the entire performance was captivating and exciting. When the dwarfs marched on stage, the auditorium literally exploded in excitement. People young and old sung along to and clapped as we were introduced to each and every one of the little men. I thought it was brilliant how their names fit their personalities and they really brightened up the show with their humour and clumsiness. It must be so difficult to perform in hot and heavy dwarf heads for the show. I really admire anyone who was inside those costumes! Despite how difficult it must have been, they kept the audience smiling and did their work helping Dame Dolly, played by Peter John, in the diamond mine and of course, Snow White. The Dame and her son Muddles, played by Philip Oliver from the TV series Brookside, made the show really fun. They each had great facial expressions and voices, constantly making the audience laugh. I have to say, they are by far the strangest mother and son I have ever known in my life! I felt that they really carried the show, keeping everyone in high spirits and involved.
I somehow always think of a panto as a play for children and it always surprises me how many jokes are included for only adults to understand. They include remarks about local places and the sorts to things my Mum is always going on about, like the traffic jams and the cost of parking in Worthing and stuff I have absolutely no interest in, obviously!
On the whole I felt it was a really great pantomime, with fabulous live musicians, great dancing sequences, lighting effects and of course, the principals. I know I had a great time and by the smiles plastered across everyone’s faces as they left the theatre – I think they did too! A real Christmassy treat to brighten up a very cold and icy evening!
