Review of The Sleeping Beauty from NODA (National Operatic & Dramatic Association) The Sleeping Beauty Director: Simon Reader Performed at Kingsway Hall on Sunday 14th December 2014 A lively opening number sung by Rebecca Dunbar and the chorus. Nathan Curtis stood out right from the start as being 100% committed to the performance, with great energy. The first couple of scenes introduced us quickly to the main characters. Lewis Rodger as Billy gave a confident performance, with good presence and a clear voice. Richard Kemp-Luck as Queen Dorothy was everything we expect in a pantomime Dame, along with her long suffering husband King Norbert played by Greg Potter. The fairies all looked suitably sparkly and good, in comparison to Carabosse played by Linda Potter, and her sidekick Spindleshanks played by Gemma Quinn. Linda had great stage presence, and was powerful on the stage interacting well with both the cast and the audience. Gemma was suitably feline like and evil, with a good relationship between her and Carabosse. Caroline Thomas had a tough job playing Kitty, with no lines other than the occasional Meow – she had good facial expressions. Something stupid was a lovely introduction to Prince Orlando, Katherine Johnson and Princess Aurora, Kathleen Dunbar. It gave them the quick romance as always in panto! There were some sweet moments between the prince and princess, and I believed in their relationship. The baking scene was quite entertaining, although it could have been improved by actually covering King Norberts face in some sort of ‘slosh/foam’ to show his face had been pushed into the cake mix. The use of the rat puppets was very clever and added a twist to the story. Giving them their own number was a nice touch and the audience reacted really well to it! Hushabye Mountain led by Fairy Graceful, played by Sara Talbot-Ashby and supported by Jacqui Caudill and Margaret Coleman was a lovely contrast to the upbeat numbers. Act 2 opened with Thriller, complete with zombies in Carabosse’s lair. It was a good lively number to start the second half. Dreamland was a strange kind of place with 3 songs following each other. Although seeing the dame in a leotard complete with heels a la Beyonce, was very entertaining, one of the other girls looked quite uncomfortable in her costume and kept watching the other for the dance. The King doing We Will Rock You was great, Greg is clearly a strong vocalist and this song showed that. I have a dream, sung by Kathleen was also lovely but all three lasted for too long which spoilt the effect a little, and some of the audience were becoming restless. As we know the baddie is always stopped and the goodies always win, and it was great ending with Everybody Needs Somebody. The Royal Singalong was a bit complicated for some people but everyone joined in and seemed to enjoy it. Ending with All I Want For Christmas was a great idea, leaving everyone feeling very Christmassy. Overall a well directed show, with lots of laughs. The set was simple but effective with some simple props to help with the suggestion of locations. The lighting was effective and the sound balance was always good. The costumes all worked really well, and were bold and bright, or suitably drab for the zombies/chorus in Carbosse’s lair. Good use of make up and wigs for those who had them. The programme was nice, I particularly liked the adverts!
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 21:50:20 +0000
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