Sleeping Beauty
Darlington Hippodrome
Until Tuesday 31 December 2024
Writer: Alan McHugh
Director & Choreographer: Alan Harding
Darlington's pantomime has arrived and is entertaining packed houses until the end of the year. Starring Su Pollard and Lee Mead, it is seasoned with enough Christmas cheer to be a highlight each family that attends.
Carabosse (Su Pollard) has been pushed further down the line of succession as her sister got married and the gave birth to a daughter. She used her magic to remove her sister and her husband, which just leaves their daughter Princess Aurora (Stephanie Costi) as her sole target. She casts a spell which means that she will die if she is pricked by a spinning wheel before the end of her 21st birthday.
Enter the good guys: panto dame Nurse Nellie (Jamie Jones), comic Muddles (Josh Benson) and the Princess's love interest Prince Lee (Lee Mead), who are supported by The Spirit of Pantomime (Olivia Foster-Browne). This is a classic tale of good against bad, though the script addresses the issue of a non-consensual kiss by the Princess wanting the Prince to kiss her, and offering consent, just before she goes into a deep sleep.
Su Pollard is magical as the evil one. She knows how to get the audience reacting and she gets a good response from them. Given that Lee Mead first come to many people's attention in a television search for Joseph, it is no surprise that he is given the opportunity to shine with a song from that musical.
This is one show that relies heavily on the comic to deliver and in Josh Benson they have the requisite quality. He is engaging with the audience and seemingly rarely off the stage. Even in the interval he was spotted doing photos with a group of the audience. He never stopped. He helped make this show work and be funny.
The Twins FX, who get a feature in the programme, deliver a great special effect to end the first act. It certainly gave us something to discuss during the interval.
I know we get to see a lot of panto and this year has been a good one... this year's panto in Darlo delivers that special something that may have been missing in previous years. We watch the audience around us and there were plenty of excited kids who really enjoyed the show - and that's so important.
Special mention go to the kids in "Muddles band", they were fabulous tonight and showed how well Josh had bonded with the audience. (Though we did debate if Penny was a stooge... happy to be corrected if she was not!) This part of the show felt less of a bolt on to proceedings and part of a fun show - I mean, how excited was the first lad with the triangle?!
Darlington has a great panto on its doorstep. It was a pleasure to watch.
Review: Stephen Oliver
Tickets:
Sleeping Beauty runs at Darlington Hippodrome from Friday 6 to Tuesday 31 December 2024. For full details or to book call the Box Office on 01325 405405 or visit www.darlingtonhippodrome.co.uk
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