AD: Press night invite.
Pantomimes are a Christmas staple in the UK. Every year families pack into venues both large and small to cheer, boo and sing their hearts out. Celebrating ten years of pantomimes at The Maltings in Ely, KD Theatre Productions this year performed the quintessential panto, Cinderella.
Directed and choreographed by Katherine Hickmott, the show was written by Daniel Bell and Terry Gauci (who is also one half of the very glamorous ugly sister duo). The script was witty, and the production had great pace overall. The show was written without a wicked stepmother and whilst the ugly sisters had villainous moments they mostly served in a comedic role and the show therefore lacked a real villain for the audience to engage with. Another panto staple, the call and response with a character (in this case Buttons played by Tommy Carmichael) was present and very successful. However, the audience were never instructed to do this as there was no mention of it in Buttons’ introduction and therefore it took a while for the audience to realise this was what was expected of them.
Pantomimes have always strived to make jokes related to both current events and locations and the topical tie ins were particularly strong in this show with a joke about Harry Kane’s missed penalty drawing equal amounts of groans and applause from the audience.
Hope Thompson as Cinderella brought both a sweetness and a strength to Cinderella that can often be missing from the character. The straight nature of her character allowed the comedic strength of Terry Carmichael’s Buttons to come through. A personal highlight was Button’s performing a McFly song accompanied by a gang of woodland creatures. Prince Charming (Joshua Edwards) had a wonderful voice and whilst he seemed a little nervous at first, he really settled into the role as the show went on. He was accompanied by his manservant Dandini (Sean Hinds Jnr) who had some spectacular dance moves. The two were a greatly matched pair and bounced nicely off of each other. Rachel Michelle served double duty as both the Queen and the Fairy Godmother, her vocals shone through in big numbers as both characters, and she should be commended for bringing two distinct characters to life so successfully.
The dominating figures in this show however were undisputedly the Ugly Sisters, Sharon (Terry Gauci) and Tracey (Terry Burns). From the moment they sashayed on to Lady Marmalade wearing French monuments on their heads they held the audience captive in their hands. The pair were joined by Dandini for a delightfully frenzied rendition of the Twelve Days of Christmas themed around banquet foods. One of the most successful set pieces for the two was a convoluted story about Sharon’s boyfriend John Lewis which used shopping bags as a visual gag to further the story. Dame characters are always flamboyant but the energy of the sisters in some places became chaotic and pride was taken in making other members of the cast corpse. In several places the ad-libbing went on too long and became a little uncomfortable as it broke the flow of the show. Overall, however the cast performed wonderfully, and each was perfectly suited to the role they portrayed.
One final note should be made about the music. The songs fit perfectly with the story and the musical direction of Tim Shaw, and the arrangements and original music created by Mark Aldous, shone throughout. The show had a perfect blend of upbeat numbers and ballads. In particular a mash up of You Will Be Found (Dear Evan Hansen) and This Is Me (The Greatest Showman) was genius and performed beautifully by Cinderella and Prince Charming.
Overall, this was a fantastic pantomime, and I can’t wait to see what KD Productions brings to The Maltings in Ely next year!
Cinderella is playing at The Maltings, Ely until 2 January 2023. Tickets are available.
