Cinderella

Revel in It  

Cinderella

by Alan McHugh, additional material by Pete Firman and Matt Slack

Crossroads Pantomimes at the New Wimbledon Theatre until 7^th January

Review by Thea Diamond

What’s there not to love about a well-known rags-to-riches story this Christmas?   And it is something special when it is produced by Crossroads, whose tried and tested large scale panto productions never fail to impress with their magical special effects, spectacular costumes, breath-taking scenery, lighting and pyrotechnics; along with all the glitter and glamour of familiar household stars taking centre stage. 

This production of Cinderella is no exception, with a fab-u-lously Strictly themed panto with its long-standing judge, Craig Revel Horwood taking centre stage with his trademark terse and acerbic attitude on full display.   His statuesque command of the stage, showcasing his glorious singing voice with seventies’ classics such as Don’t Stop Me Now and I will Survive, was a treat to behold.  So were his quick-witted humorous jibes, and his ad-libbing particularly well to (possibly) unscripted remarks … and a hilarious costume failure, when his wig fell off stage right.   His Latin dance moves could have evoked a loud ‘ten’, particularly in the dance-off with Buttons when the show’s pace started to pick up, and then at the ball, where his costume was less constricting than in some of his other dance routines and allowed us to witness his never-ending legs and slinky snake hips in all their glory. 

Although we all know that the stepmother and stepsisters are the villains of the piece, this production let Revel Horwood glimmer in glamour as the sole dame, with the ugly sisters, Tess and Claudia, being comically portrayed by Catherine Morris and Leanne Jones.   None of the trio, however, oozed evilness nor evoked any tears or quivers from the younger audience members, and I’m sorry to say they received only a trickling of boos from the audience.   This production was particularly clean-cut for a panto, again making it suitable for younger audience members.   There was a splattering of cheeky gags, but smutty innuendos and jokes about current affairs were thankfully in short supply. 

The audience absolutely loved well-known comedian and magician Pete Firman’s portrayal of the cheeky but loveable Buttons, and who on three occasions included audience members in the entertainment.   He combined amazing magic trickery with superb comedic timing and left us all in awe of how he baked cakes and made money move, as well as interacting ever-so gently with the adorable pint-sized children in the audience sing-a-long. 

Firman shared a particularly memorable scene of physical comedy with the well-and-truly fairy- tale Cinderella (Cassie Compton) and clean cut and earnest Prince Charming (Solomon Davy), where he elbowed in on their romantic moment of love at first sight.   All performers were able to channel their powerful singing of eighties’ love ballad Everything I Do, despite this culminating with an undeserved wedgie. 

Daniel Norford’s slick yet loyal Dandini was slightly underutilised and joined the ensemble in some of their routines showing the versatility of their dancing.   Particularly unforgettable were the tap-dancing polar bears and the disco-dancing lords and ladies at the ball, who boogied to musical director Michael Bradley’s live orchestra in a backdrop of beautiful candelabras and sparkling stars. 

Alison Jiear’s dependable Fairy Godmother completely saved the day, transforming a bevy of wonderful tap-dancing pumpkins into what must be the most spectacular use of special effects when the enchanted coach and white horses transported Cinders across the stalls in a magical scene of falling snow which could be felt and touched by those in the front rows (the snow that is).   This scene made the audience literally gasp in amazement and added to the fairy tale atmosphere.   As the tagline goes, this wondrous sight really made it The Fairy Godmother of All Pantos. 

Thea Diamond, December 2023

Photography by Craig Sugden