Sleeping Beauty

Dream Team

Sleeping Beauty

by Alan McHugh, additional material by Richard Cadell and Matt Slack

Crossroads Pantomimes at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking until 5^th January

Review by Thea Diamond

This star-studded panto extravaganza certainly has the wow factor, with panto veteran, Christopher Biggins being joined by 90’s pop sensation, Faye Tozer and multi-talented magician Richard Caddell and his friends Sooty, Sweep and Soo joining in with the fun! Crossroads Pantomimes have excelled with amazing costumes and slick dance routines, as well as jaw dropping special effects (no spoilers here, but I guarantee you’ll be completely blown away by what Gary and Paul Hardy-Brown, known as The Twins FX, have in store for us!)

We are transported to a wintery themed prologue as The Spirit of Dreams (Christopher Biggins) floats across the sky, perched atop a crescent moon, to narrate from his story book the well-known fairy tale of Princess Aurora (Rhiane Drummond), who is cursed by the Sorceress Carabosse (Faye Tozer) but will be rescued by love’s first kiss provided by Prince William (Will Richardson). 

This is where the story faces some detours as we are joined by Muddles, The Royal Magician (Richard Caddell) who, along with his loveable puppet pals, will save the day, and free the King and Queen (James Paterson and Brenda Longman), despite his unrequited love for the Princess. 

Caddell excels by providing comedy, magic illusions and puppetry, as well as directing the production!  He escapes from certain death being chained in a box suspended from the ceiling, he teases audience members by name, and gets the audience in stitches by effortlessly setting up the couple of willing children who come onto the stage.  He introduces Sooty’s rendition of Nessun Dorma, and allows his mischievous friends free reign to soak the front rows with their water pistols, and transports the older members of the audience back to their childhoods by letting us join in with the once well-known ‘izzy whizzy let’s get busy’ incantation. 

He faces off against the baddie Carabosse, who is depicted by Tozer’s statuesque striding and her haunting cackle, and she also provides some light relief with Caddell’s description of his booty call gone wrong where she feeds him lines from pop songs to tell the story.  Although she is the villain of the story, she has a rather likable quality, and shouldn’t cause too many bad dreams for any of the younger audience members.  It’s a shame we don’t hear more of Tozer’s singing, but she excels in the finale by bursting into one of Steps’ well known numbers which the audience can’t help but dance along to.

The production misses out some standard panto ingredients, such as the pantomime dame, but when Biggins repetitively interrupts the verses of the hilarious rendition of ‘If I were not upon the stage’ his progressively more ridiculous cross-dressing outfits more than make up for his lament.

The ensemble really excels with its high kicking and acrobatic dance routines.  Their beautifully intricate costumes follow seasonal themes, such as the sky blue gowns from Frozen, the festive candy cane red and white stripes, and the Quality Street purple soldiers.  Halfway through Act One, we are treated to a Christmas medley which reminds us that Woking truly has this year’s top panto to get into the spirit of the season and one that adults and children alike will love and remember.

Thea Diamond, December 2024

Photography by Ian Olsson