Review Sleeping Beauty by Jane
Sleeping Beauty is not an easy subject for a panto as the heroine is asleep until the end of the story, but Richie Halsey-Watson solved that problem by having her awakened at the end of Act 1 to reveal a feisty, modern Princess with a mind of her own. The show was lively, colourful, full of energy and up-beat music from several eras.
Sarah Marr was superb as the Princess; she sang and danced with confidence and we rooted for her especially when she fought the ridiculous, cheating Prince in a well-choreographed sword fight.
Iain Watson played his part with enormous energy and conviction; how could he repeat those jokes every night?
Andrew Hamel-Cooke, as always, gave an astonishing performance as the Dame, relentlessly feminine and completely in command of the audience.
Sophie Johnstone was a good match for the Princess despite having to be saved by her. Sophie also played her part with energy and conviction.
The baddies (the Prince and his side-kick, Damien) played by Chris Poplett and Daniel Burns were a delightful comic duo and their ‘I’m too sexy’ routine was hilarious. Their comic timing and Daniel’s turns to the audience were wonderful.
The standard of singing and dancing was high throughout; congratulations to Jordan Farrell and Sarah Marr for the choreography and to James Marr as Musical Director. The Dame’s opening number ‘These Boots Were Made for Walking’ was brilliantly staged and set the tone for the evening.
Sleeping Beauty needs two fairies, one good, one evil. Lisa Arnold, vivid in green and red with a scots accent, played Fairy Liquid with panache and managed to make rhyming couplets sound a natural way of speaking. Collette Wighton as the evil Carabosse was a good foil.
Sebastian Roughley as Jason, a trainee Fairy, held the stage well in a tricky role projecting warmth and concern while being dazzling both vocally and in appearance.
Hazel Eve and Alice Baron enjoyed themselves playing the ‘chav’ side of ‘Arry and the entire chorus were a joy to watch and sing along with. Special mention goes to Millie Franks.
The set and costumes were colourful and appropriate while the lighting was quite beautiful and professional looking; congratulations to George Veys.
I had the pleasure to see the panto with my husband and daughter. We enjoyed it. I enjoyed it so much I wanted to write my own review, but I am a bit surprised at the review you already have. While I must agree with many of the comments I feel that the reviewer must have got the two fairies mixed up? For us and MANY of the people we spoke to, The evil fairy was the one of the highlights. We felt she was self assured in stage and interplayed well with the audience (in ryhme). Her costuming was great as all fairies, good or bad, should be be beautiful. We actually felt that the the green fairy sounded as if she had in fact forgotten many of her lines? We also felt a bit confused with scottish streak and her ‘scottish’ accent? We on the whole had a good laugh- the evil prince and his sidekick were outstanding.