SEC ARMADILLO, GLASGOW, 12.12
CINDERELLA
all about part was thought THE main but I Krankies Ugly The The quite funny. they they were bit weak, were a But Sisters really funny. weren’t all it was an thought I panto. right LOOK out your flares and dust down your platforms, because you’re heading straight back to the 70s.
The jokes are all of that vintage and the sleaze-o-meter was in danger of blowing a gasket.
Lines like “She had Merry Christmas on one leg and New Year on the other, maybe she’ll ask you up between the holidays” were uncomfortable to listen to when you are surrounded by children.
Ugly though the ugly sisters undoubtedly were, hearing them described as “cows, dogs and slappers” is no longer acceptable.
And stripping a man to his boxers on stage was just tacky.
Baron Hardup also rankled. Talking of his daughter Cinderella’s many attributes, he opines that her beauty is “most important of all”.
Is that really the message we want to give young girls in 2018?
The Krankies were far from word perfect but the mistakes are part of their appeal. Indeed, their ad libs were funnier than most of the script.
Little Jimmy Krankie at 71 still shows a remarkable energy on stage, being thrown about by Ian Tough like a rag doll. And the faces “he” pulls still throw children into peals of laughter.
Gavin Mitchell and Jonathan Watson, above, rarely got a chance to shine as the Sisters, a poor script letting them down.
Cinderella was a fair enough actress but her nasal singing voice was grating. Keith Jack (Prince Charming) was without doubt the real talent on stage.
While the costumes and set were good, generally, the panto was stilted and under-rehearsed.