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