THIS pantomime, celebrating 25 years of fundraising for the Countess Mountbatten hospice, looked as good as it sounded, with co-producers and writers Peter Pitcher and Chris Davis expressing their pride in the programme notes.
Sam Frith and Holly Ind made high-quality debuts as Cinderella and Prince Charming, with Elle Wolf matching them as the Fairy Godmother.
With a ‘Strictly Dumb Dancing’ theme to the show, Andrew Jenks was very entertaining as Truno Bollioni (get-it?), displaying no trace of his late call-up to the role.
Mark Johnson also had little rehearsal-time and was a likeable Baron Hardup, but Davis stole every scene as Buttons, totally at-home with his self-penned script. Helen Wood and Paul Young continued the theme as ugly-sisters Claudia and Tess.
Sam Dickinson’s choreography (especially the knockout ensemble-piece Uptown Funk), orchestra (Harriet Carey) costumes (Liz Powney) and sets were all excellent, with the crowning-glory being the wonderful carriage pulled by a real pony!
Alan Johns
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