You shall have a ball at this one
IT’S probably the most famous pantomime of them all and audiences are having a ball this Christmas as Cinderella takes over the Tyne Theatre.
I went along for opening night and having false started a bit on being full of festive spirit this year, I left feeling as a Christmassy as one of those houses in your street that is covered in flashing lights!
There is nothing quite like a panto raise a smile and wish jokes aplenty, as well as an excellent array of music and some great performances, Cinderella will have you grinning from ear to ear. We’ll start with the jokes and the lion’s share of them are delivered and in cracking style by Charlie Richmond. As well as playing the ever loyal but unlucky-in-love Buttons, Charlie ensures that even the most restrained of mams and dads will join in – even if they pretend not to know the moves to Baby Shark!
With terrific stage presence and a warmth that would rival chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Charlie is a great performer and has more enthusiasm than an overexcited child on Christmas morning! The title role of Cinderella, the girl who sees her life turned upside down by the arrival of her step sisters, is taken on by former X Factor star Lola Saunders.
Lola herself admitted that nerves often go the better of her during her time on the ITV show, but there are no signs of any in the panto, with her vocals sounding fantastic in uptempo numbers like You Can’t Stop The Beat and 9 to 5 and heart string-pulling ballads like When You Believe and, one of my highlights from the show, Time After Time.
Lola’s Prince Charming is played by Britain’s Got Talent winner and Collabro member Jamie Lambert and it’s her duets with him that are real standout moments, as well as showcasing what stars the North East has produced.
I’d have hedged by bets that a Greatest Showman song would be in there somewhere and Jamie and Lola’s duet of A Million Dreams is brilliant, as is their take on Time of my Life.
And Jamie gives Tyne Theatre audiences a reminder of why he was a key part of Collabro’s BGT win with an emphatic take on Whitney Houston’s One Moment in Time, complete with THAT key change.
Enchanted Productions has assembled a great cast for Cinderella, mixing