Cinderella: Theatre Royal Plymouth, 21st December 2015. THEATRE REVIEW

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Qdos Entertainment's Cinderella at the Theatre Royal Plymouth is a wondrous, fantastical and funny production- incorporating every rich element of a classic, seasonal pantomime that you would hope for and expect- and more.

Sweeping, majestic sets, coupled with colourful, atmospheric lighting, create the perfectly indulgent and exciting setting for the lovable characters of this familiar magical tale.

Affable underdog-hero, Buttons; poor hard-done-by Cinders, herself; the Fairy godmother; Prince Charming and aide Dandini; and the infamous 'bad-eggs' of the show- the Ugly Sisters (boo, hiss!), take the audience on a magical ride of the well-loved fairytale of love, friendship and a fantastical royal ball, amid much mirth, merriment and heart-warming splendour. It is an engaging, wonderful and energised production with plenty of laughs, that has all ages rooting for the characters and their plight; dusted in plenty of welcome sparkles, glitter, and perfect pizazz.



Cinderella, Buttons & Sam (Robyn Mellor & Paul Zerdin)
Photo credit: Alastair Muir
 

This time, 'our hero', Buttons, is played by ventriloquist extraordinaire -Paul Zerdin- now, not only the popular British entertainment industry stalwart, but also the acclaimed recent winner of this year's 'America's Got Talent'. Paul's exceptional ventriloquism and comic-timing, incorporating his puppet-characters: 'Sam', 'Baby' and some other unsuspecting guests (!), is faultless and hilarious; whilst his own warmth and genuine, contagious charm builds an instant, easy rapport with the crowd- who are at once in the palm of his hand; and he ably commands the stage throughout.

 

The fairy godmother, now aptly renamed the 'Fairy Gokmother' , is performed by UK television presenter, designer, stylist, celebrity cook, author and all-round 'national treasure' Gok Wan, - whose entrances to the stage suspended on shiny, sparkly moon or in puffs of smoke and glitter are a lovely smile-inducing wonderful thing. During the course of the show Gok's performance is thoroughly entertaining, and his sparkling personality is perhaps only outshone by his utterly 'fab-u-lous' costumes!

The Fairy Gokmother (Gok Wan) & ensemble cast
Photo credit: Alastair Muir

 

Cinderella / Princess Starlight (Robyn Mellor - most recently seen on London's West End stage in 'American Idiot') is endearing as the pantomime's title character and plays her with warmth, wit sweetness and grace; and has excellent vocals to boot.   

Cinderella - Prince Charming & Cinderella (Ashley Day & Robyn Mellor)
Photo credit:Alastair Muir

Costumes in the whole production are sparkling, detailed and dazzling (and often outrageous!), but it is the beautiful dresses belonging to Cinderella/ Princess Starlight that epitomise the image of a princess that probably every little girl in the audience has ever dreamed of.

The lead performers, together with a supporting cast of handsome Prince Charming (Ashley Day) and aide Dandini (Matthew Malthouse); the Ugly Sisters (Alexander Delamere & Mark Dugdale); and a fantastic singing, and well-choreographed dancing ensemble of eight; along with ten children from 'The Theatre Royal Babes' - who play mini-people and animal dancers- execute each scene superbly; and whether softer, touching moments, amusing perfectly-timed comic interludes, or high-octane, outright slapstick-comedy or big, dazzling routines; every second is highly entertaining and spectacular.

Prince Charming, Cinderella & Buttons (Ashley Day, Robyn Mellor & Paul Zerdin)
Photo credit: Alastair Muir

Singing, on the whole, is all high quality and a catchy original score melds flawlessly with crowd-pleasing popular chart-hits.

 

Mesmerising, superior special FX and stunning pyrotechnics add an impressive 'wow-factor'.
In particular the including the truly magical transformation of a small humble pumpkin to a large, glittering, flying coach, magically suspended and floating over the auditorium at the end of the first half, is a wondrous spectacular.

Cinderella/ Princess Starlight (Robyn Mellor) in her magnificent pumpkin-coach



Sound quality is crisp and clear, and accompaniment to proceedings from an amazing, live orchestra - under the direction of Mark Crossland- (who even join-in on some of the comedy!) is well-balanced with the onstage dialogue, and compliments and adds to the show's wholly electric atmosphere.



Ugly Sisters (Alexander Delamere & Mark Dugdale)
Photo credit: Alastair Muir

Witty scripts operating on many levels for all ages to enjoy,- with lots of local geographical references and topical puns thrown-in, -are executed and delivered with a seemingly natural fluidity and believability that only adds to the thoroughly enjoyable style of the performance that fully involves and appreciates the audience; whilst lots of 'pantomime-obligatory' audience-participation - including a vintage-style sing-a-long song with a giant song-sheet, is seen in a fresh light, and is high-energy and fun.


Buttons & Cinderella (Paul Zerdin & Robyn Mellor)
Photo credit: Alastair Muir

 

 

 

From start to finish, Cinderella is a classy, classic & funny show - for all the family.

A fantastic night out that you will want to bring everyone along to, that you'll want to see again and again.
Billed as 'The greatest pantomime of them all' - with this production, you won't doubt it!


Cinderella runs until Saturday 16th January 2016 at the Theatre Royal Plymouth- for more information and to purchase tickets, please visit:Theatre Royal Plymouth



For information on this, and other Qdos Entertainment productions, please visit: Qdos Entertainment



 

Wicked: Theatre Royal Plymouth - 21st January 2015

Wicked is a magical, fantastical show with twists and turns that will have you on the edge of your seat, close to tears, holding your breath and squealing with joy and laughter; often at the same time!

Based on the characters from L.Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’, this story is that of an unlikely but profound friendship between two sorcery students and their extraordinary, exciting roller-coaster of adventures in Oz.

Immediately upon entering the theatre, even before the curtain rises, the audience's attention is grabbed by an intriguing, sparkly map featuring the Emerald City and a giant mechanical dragon looming above-head, framed by an assortment of peculiar clockwork components; and the scene is set for the spellbinding show that awaits.

A couple of technical glitches and some early sound issues on the night did not hinder nor detract from the overall feeling of sheer wonder and amazement, where certainly by the second or third scene, the audience had blissfully suspended any 'real-world' disbelief, and were indeed bewitched, and fully immersed into everything mystical and OZ.

Each cast member sang and acted superbly - demonstrating wide-ranging vocal ability that was not only mostly pitch-perfect, but also pleasant on the ear in tone and execution. They were all fantastic: from Ashleigh Gray as the kind but mostly 'misunderstood' chracter of Elphaba (who becomes the 'Wicked Witch of the West'), her best-friend/ 'arch nemesis', 'in the cool-clique' G(a)linda (Emily Tierney), and their charming love-interest Fiyero (Samuel Edwards); to the strong character of Elphaba's sister, Nessarose (Carina Gillespie) and cute, sweet munchkin, Boq (Richard Vincent).

Not forgetting the 'Wonderful Wizard' himself, and kindly animal-professor Doctor Dillamond played equally brilliantly, and diversely, by Steven Pinder, and sorcery teacher Madame Morrible (Marilyn Cutts).

Each lead-character portrayal was believable and compelling, and the audience watched their entrancing tales unfold with bated breath.

The joyous ensemble were a formidable supporting cast and consummately played any character from scary monkeys, to students and palace guards; to extravagant denizens of the Emerald City, and other citizens of Oz.

The story, despite partly all-glittery, light and fluffy, full of zing and zap; also covers relatable social themes, and delves into the deeper, darker and 'bad' undercurrents of Oz that run beneath the shallow, glossy exterior.

However, whether sparkly, glitzy, lively dance routines or more sombre, subdued, or poignant moments of dialogue, the audience's attention hung on every second of the action, and the show displayed throughout that it is full of real heart.

Each inch of a vast, fantastic, complicated and multi-layered set was well-used by the actors, who were dressed in sumptuous quirky costumes. Extra sorcery was created with freaky, imposing animatronics and ethereal lighting and special effects, and lots of extra on-stage surprises conjured even more enjoyable mystique.

A magnificent music score and lyrics created a lasting impression- whether in the well-known, if not iconic, empowering Defying Gravity, to perhaps lesser-known but still familiar numbers - Popular and The Wizard and I;- through to songs that were possibly previously unknown outside of the perimeters of the show, but became instant classics: - such as the very funny and catchy,- rhythmic What is this Feeling, and the touching song that probably every female can relate to- I'm Not That Girl.

This show is indulgent escapism; a delightful mix of dark and emotive moments alongside endearing and heartwarming scenes with plenty of rire-some, sweet parts interspersed that will have the audience welling-up for both happy and sad moments. Many congratulotions to the whole production!

A brilliant, captivating Ozmapolitan show- those lucky enough to watch Wicked will undoubtedly fall in love with it and want to see it again and again.