Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
This is a must see! OH YES IT IS!
After getting a sneaky insight to the wonderful world of panto through the eyes of Kirsteen Wythe (costume designer extraordinaire!) when I interviewed her last month, I was eagerly anticipating the big show. It’s actually been years since I last went to a good old fashioned pantomime with all the trimmings and Snow White most certainly reignited my love for the sublime and ridiculous pantomime madness!
The babes and the ensemble gave an outstanding performance; perfectly coordinated and bursting with enthusiasm. I was especially enamoured with the animal costumes worn by the babes; the tarantula was particularly adorable and worn by the smallest babe in the pack.
The seven dwarves were played by fantastic hand crafted puppets and also operated by members of the ensemble who were cleverly disguised and hidden amongst the scenery while the dwarves had their big moments.
Snow White herself was a joy to watch as she won the hearts of all those around her and the audience as she flitted through, scene to scene, unaware of what terrible danger she was about to get herself into with the evil queen. Jennifer Ellison gave an excellent performance as the tradition “baddie” with her formidable appearance, harsh commands and criticism of the audience. The boos and hisses were certainly ringing out loud and clear whenever she came on stage. However, her solo number left a little to be desired, with a rather cringeful performance of the recent hit Black Magic by Little Mix. Prince Frederick on the other hand had an absolutely outstanding set of pipes and brought the house down in the finale songs.
Nursey, Muddles and Igor gave superb performances throughout and had the audience in stitches the entire time, I especially liked all the local references and jokes made with the audience, it was all very cleverly done. However, the simple is sometimes he most effective; demonstrated by Muddles trying to call his goat Gretta back on stage repeatedly for about three minutes. So silly, but just so damn funny!
The set design, props, costumes, imaginative entrances and exits were all just so impressive. I also loved the Magic Mirror played by Norwich’s very own Look East News Reader Stewart White.
This is a must see! Oh no it isn’t!
OH YES IT IS!
Merry Christmas!
