This is essential family entertainment this year and, for me, the best pantomime ever put on in MK theatre!
A fast paced show with a very strong cast, tons of music, great singing – very current tunes so easy to sing along to, very high energy dancing, lots of audience participation – well for some people!! At least try to look like you are enjoying yourself (sigh!). Gareth Gates hit the big time in 2002 in Pop Idol but more recently has concentrated on developing his theatre career with stints in Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and a critically acclaimed performance in Les Miserables. He is BRILLIANT, very sweet and funny, and with Nicola Brazil as the Princess the two of them are really charming. They both have gorgeous voices and their duets were believeable and romantic. 
There are tons of laughs and at times total hilarity - as always in panto not all of them planned! It’s Paul Burling’s role, as Wishee Washee to provide the majority of the laughs and he does not disappoint. This Britain’s Got Talent finalist is in his element, born to be on stage and a fantastic entertainer; one set of impressions will have you both laughing and astounded at the speed of them. He is perfect.
Widow Twanky (John Barr), is excellent, very sharp and quick, full of double entendres, but not in an overly smutty way; this is a big improvement on recent years when the humour has stepped over the line into being unsuitable for younger audiences. This year it was fabulous to see that this is truly family entertainment.
Major Pong (Chris Nelson) was suitably daft and silly. Abanazer (Adam Pearce) is incredibly strong, with great stage presence, a larger than life character with a belter of a voice; suitably bad and scared the living daylights out of a particular 4 year old!

The rest of the cast from adult to child and even elephant gave it their all! This is SUPERB cast from start to finish.
In addition to the cast, there is lots of glamour – and not just from Widow Twanky’s costumes! The genie of the ring and the genie of the lamp (Camilla Dallerup) were a treat for the men! There are truly gorgeous backdrops and scenery, all garishly coloured and smothered with glittering, sparkling sequins. There is a definite nod to Strictly here.
The added attraction at MK is the guest genies that will appear over the run - Russell Grant (20 – 24 Dec) and Anita Dobson (26 – 31 Dec) from this current season of Strictly. Camilla Dallerup will perform at all remaining performances except Fri 6, Sat 7 & Sat 14 Jan.
A real first class show, perfect family entertainment. But please, if you go, try and show some enthusiasm. It’s hard work being on stage so give something back and show some appreciation!

Run continues until 15 Jan 2012
Milton Keynes Theatre Box Office, Call 0844

8717652 (bkg fee) or visit www.atgtickets/miltonkeynes (bkg fee)  

 Strictly Gershwin is on tour after its sell out time at the Albert Hall 

Celebrating the beautiful music of George Gershwin and using it as the foundation for this dance extravaganza is an interesting idea and generally works quite well. All the elements are there – fabulous glittering costumes (Roberta Guidi Di Bagno), gorgeous, lyrical choreography (Derek Deane), effective lighting (Howard Harrison) and most of all the most wonderful music.

On stage Valentine is a charismatic and amusing band leader and kept the ENB orchestra plus the gifted jazz musicians (lead trumpet, lead trombone, saxophones and rhythm section) truly swinging along. He also makes great use of his quartet of singers – Hannah Richmond (haunting performance of ‘Summertime’, Sarah Fuller, Alastair Brookshaw and Ross Sharkey. The performances of the band and the singers really are the keystone of the production. The roars and cheers and prolonged applause for this set of musicians was very well deserved.

This show is directed as a series of set pieces which illustrate a wide variety of dance styles – mostly ballet, but also some jazz, ballroom, and tap. It goes without saying that the quality of dancing is superb. The most interesting interpretation was of An American in Paris which very much conjured up Gene Kelly’s innovative choreography. This section also has the most interesting costumes and creative combinations of characters and staging. This is not to say other scenes are less interesting – they are all quite beautiful.



The screen at the back of the stage which projects images of past Hollywood and its stars is the one aspect of this show that doesn’t work that well. The intermittent projections don’t add anything and are a distraction at times.  

On the whole this show is a great crowd pleaser and a lovely way to lift your spirits.

Catch Strictly Gershwin at Milton Keynes until 19 November

http://www.atgtickets.com/2460/657/Milton-Keynes/Milton-Keynes-Theatre/Strictly-Gershwin-ENB-Tickets or call 0844 871 7652 Booking fee applies  

Visit http://www.ballet.org.uk/strictly-gershwin/strictly-gershwin.html for further details of the tour.  

Glyndebourne has a great season on offer this Autumn and Donizetti’s popular opera buffa exploring greed and matrimony is a fabulous production in all areas – top notch singing, effortless performances, incredible staging, sumptuous costumes and as always, perfect playing from the orchestra under the direction this time of the excellent Enrique Mazzola who whipped the score along in a suitably bright and bouncy fashion. This is a perfect antidote a dull winter’s evening; light, frothy, absurd and great fun.

The opening moments set the tone for the opera very effectively, with the floor to ceiling red velvet curtains opening onto a circular stage rotating to reveal the characters in separate rooms. First, is Don Pasquale asleep in his bed. Dr Malatesta enters pondering his mischievous plan and as the stage turns to reveal Ernesto, slumbering half dressed and part way through writing a love letter, Malatesta appears by climbing through the wardrobe between the rooms. As the stage rotates again revealing Norina at her writing desk, also dozing and halfway through a letter, Malatesta appears through a painting on the wall! The stage continues to rotate as Malatesta visits the characters through the scenery. It’s a really clever and eccentric way to start the evening and this use of the rotating stage is repeated throughout the production to very great effect. The overall staging, costumes and lighting are gorgeous and work together to set up quite beautiful, painterly tableaux. Full credit goes to Julia Hansen’s design and Bernd Purkrabek lighting design plus all designers and makers of the costumes and wigs for the chorus - a stunning white spectacle en masse.

Director Mariame Clément has a real hit on her hands for her debut at Glyndebourne and hopefully this will be the beginning of a long and happy relationship with the company. She has though, re-interpreted the story and this has come in for some criticism. As a result, perhaps the story is less touching than in its original narrative form. It depends on your philosophy - on whether directors should leave well alone or attempt to put their own mark on a work. So, in Clément’s take on the story Norina and Malatesta are clearly having a ‘secret’ affair, and this adds an extra layer to the story and perhaps brings an extra dimension to the dishonesty or cruelty of the story overall.

Jonathan Veira is superb and plays Don Pasquale just right – a touch of arrogance, a touch of stupidity, a touch of eccentricity and all totally believable; he does not play for cheap laughs here. Enea Scala has a clean crisp tone, Ainhoa Garmendia has a soaring soprano and is a fabulous actress; right on top of the emotion, humour, and cruetly of the role. Nicely finishing off this excellent cast is Andrei Bondarenko. This young Ukrainian won the song prize at Cardiff singer of the world this year. He is definitely one to watch as his voice and roles further develop. He is a very good performer and was oddly seductive, charming and sinister in his role as Malatesta.

This is an excellent production and sure to be revived for future seasons.

Don Pasquale plays on Saturday 12^th November

http://www.atgtickets.com/2475/657/Milton-Keynes/Milton-Keynes-Theatre/Don-Pasquale-Tickets or call 0844 871 7652 Booking fee applies

For further details of Glyndebourne on Tour go to http://glyndebourne.com/season/glyndebourne-tour-2011

Straight from London's Barbican, South Pacific is at MK theatre ONLY until Saturday but due to exceptionally high demand for tickets extra matinees have been scheduled for 13 and 20 October. There are only a few tickets left for these extra shows. If you miss the show at MK you can try the New Theatre, Oxford where it runs over the Christmas period.

This production started at New York's Lincoln Center and received high praise indeed from critics in the US, coming away with 7 trophies at the Tony awards and playing to sell out audiences for 2 years.  Critics were slightly more reserved in their judgment at the Barbican so it was with some interest that I went to see this show. 

The first night at MK starred Jason Howard as Emile de Becque, a fine baritone and a very well established artist in both the opera and musical fields. He is exceptionally strong of voice. The part of Nellie was played by understudy Carly Anderson, instead of Samantha Womack. Anderson has a lovely voice but seemed quite reserved in her performance. Alex Ferns as Billis was full of energy and cheek. Daniel Koek as Lt. Cable was well suited to the part and has a super voice. However, star of this production is Loretta Ables Sayre as Blood Mary who was by far the outstanding performer and stole the show whenever she was on stage.
 
This is considered one of the finest musicals ever written, and the score includes Some Enchanted Evening, I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair, Happy Talk and There is Nothin' Like a Dame.

Rodgers and Hammerstein have been accused of schmaltz in the past.This story and score has very definite areas of light and shade. Perhaps one of the problems with seeing it in 2011 is that it was written in 1949 and it is showing its age. The world has changed so much in the intervening years and as a comment on race and racism something doesn’t feel right. I was interested as to how the production would tackle these issues and it is fair to say director Bartlett Sher has attempted to  present the story in a ‘gritty’ way. For some reason though, it wasn’t fully effective tonight.

Michael Yearga’s stage design is interesting, especially with his use of blind-type drops which create layers and depth to the stage and scenery.This, along with backdrops and effective lighting by Donald Holder, tie the scenes together very successfully.

A superbly tight orchestra in the pit was a real treat and made the music come alive.

South Pacific is at MK Theatre until Saturday 22 October with EXTRA MATINEES on 13 and 20th October.
Book tickets on 0844 871 7652 (bkg fee) Mon – Sat 9am – 10pm, Sun 10am – 8pm 
or online http://www.atgtickets.com/3014/657/Milton-Keynes/Milton-Keynes-Theatre/South-Pacific-Tickets 

The extensive tour continues at the Palace Theatre Manchester 25 Oct – 5th November. See website for details of all other venues http://southpacificonstage.com/

Three Days in May



Set during three critical days in 1940 when Winston Churchill (Warren Clarke) had just become Prime Minister after the resignation of Neville Chamberlain, this play depicts the grave discussions that the new Prime Minister and his War Cabinet engaged in about how to proceed against Germany’s continued advance across Europe. After the sudden visit of French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud (Timothy Knightly), in which Churchill learns that France is on the brink of surrender and that Reynaud wants Churchill to join him in asking Mussolini to negotiate a peace treaty, the cabinet, consisting of Churchill, Chamberlain, Lord Halifax, Atlee and Greenwood have the immense responsibility of reaching a decision about whether to follow a policy of appeasement or resistance. It is almost impossible to believe now that anything other than resistance was considered but this play shows that giving in to Hitler was considered – and most seriously considered.

The discussions surrounding the decision make for fascinating viewing and this play does have the air of a thriller at times. Even though the outcome of these times is known, the tension whilst the decision is discussed and played out is very intense at times. Churchill has to try to persuade and negotiate with the other members of the war cabinet that Britain must not give in. The dynamic between the different personalities is very well portrayed and this is down to the extremely solid and experienced cast, who have a wealth of stage, film and TV experience between them, and the tight direction of Alan Strachan.

The three main players in the cabinet - Warren Clarke, Robert Demeger and Jeremy Clyde have an on-stage chemistry that is completely believable. Clarke is one of the UK’s most recognised and versatile actors and portrays Churchill brilliantly. At no point does he descend into impersonation or caricature and his portrayal has a solidity and authority to it.



Robert Demeger, as Chamberlain, is excellent, appearing totally broken, both physically and emotionally after the Labour government has refused to serve under him in a coalition government, and his subsequent resignation.

Jeremy Clyde, as Foreign Secretary Halifax, plays a seemingly quiet and gentle character, who keenly wants to follow the appeasement route. His anger and despair at  the cabinet's decision is palpable and his sense of betrayal by Chamberlain is poignant.

Churchill’s young private secretary, Jock Colville, (James Alper) is on stage much of the time at his desk writing (his diaries, perhaps?) and plays the role of narrator. He presents the facts and connects various strands together and is convincing as a promising, young upper class civil servant. Clarke and Alper portray the relationship of Churchill and Colville with humour and sensitivity and Churchill’s fondness for Alper is plain.

Gary Mcann's set and costumes are suitably restrained and realistic. The backdrop projections and lighting of Mark Howett add some dimensionality.

This is a superbly orchestrated production - theatre as it should be: solid, convincing, fascinating and intelligent.

Three Days in May is at Milton Keynes Theatre until 8th October as part of a strictly limited national tour prior to the West End

Then at Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, 10-15 Oct 
Visit http://www.kenwright.com for details of the West End run. (Not available at time of publication).

Box Office:                0844 871 7652 (bkg fee)

Online Booking:        www.atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes  (bkg fee)

The Syndicate

By Eduardo De Filippo
In a new version by Mike Poulton
Director Sean Mathias
With Ian McKellen and Michael Pennington

While writer De Filippo may be familiar through one of his other plays, Saturday, Sunday, Monday or Napoli Milionairia for example, he is not generally well known in this country and this is the first time The Syndicate has been performed on stage in the UK. De Filippo’s work is very specific in its sense of time, place and people and is a depiction of 1960’s Neapolitan life and characters as perhaps only he knew it. Whilst the overarching sentimentality and optimism of the play is not convincing and the storyline not particularly gripping, in places the acting and characterisation are superb.
Aging Don Antonio (McKellen), a Napoli godfather commands and demands loyalty and respect from all. Whilst his relationship with his family is warm and happy and he is gentle and loving to them, he is intended to be a complicated character for everyone else. It appears that he has bullied and threatened his long serving doctor and right hand man Doctor Fabio (the excellent Michael Pennington) for over thirty years and only finally gives the doctor his permission and blessing to depart Naples and spend his final years in New York right at the end of the play.



Housekeeper Immacolata (Jane Bertish), ministers to his every whim but often gives the impression she is indulging him rather than petrified of him.

As a youth Don Antonio committed murder and ran to New York, under the protection of a local godfather, to escape justice. Having built up money and a fearsome reputation he returns to his hometown in Naples with the desire to help settle disputes among the locals. So, wherever Don Antonio is, there appears a string of villagers needing help with often bitter civil or family matters. Rather than go through the courts they attend Don Antonio for his very personal dispensation of rough justice.
Among those seeking help are Rafiluccio (Gavin Fowler) with the pregnant Rita (Annie Hemingway). Both Fowler and Hemingway are superb; passionate and energetic in their roles and convincing as the excitable and desperate couple.  Rafiluccio informs Don Antonio that he plans to kill his father in the morning. Don Antonio sees himself as a young man in Rafiluccio and feels a paternal need to help him, often calling him ‘my boy’. In his desire to resolve Rafiluccio’s problems with his estranged father, Arturo (Oliver Cotton is excellent as the suave looking, arrogant and cold-hearted baker businessman), Don Antonio plays the ultimate price.  This central story of this rather episodic play seems forced and oversentimental.



McKellen’s character gives him plenty to get his teeth into. Don Antonio enters the play in his silk dressing gown, shadow boxing around the room and imagining he cuts a dynamic figure when in fact his frailty and vanity are highlighted – and the audience laughs. Our opening impression of Don Antonio is of this slightly ridiculous man and this image remains paramount even as the depths and contradictions of the character unfold. As Immaculata helps Don Antonio dress for business he takes on the instinctive behaviour of a godfather: strutting and gesticulating. It’s as if Don Antonio physically wears his dominance, power and status and in the final act, when he is back down to his underwear and dressing gown, he is again reduced to the frail, flesh and bone man we see at the start. McKellen veers between aggressive menace and whimiscal humour. It's a complicated and uneven character to portray as is the play as a whole.
The final scene of the gathering together of characters, to dish up some sort of justice  seemed strangely overdone. With the fully laid dinner table, rotating stage and Don Antonio's personal tabletop microphone, which ironically made his speech incredibly difficult to decipher, it all seemed highly contrived, too much of a contrast and did not sit comfortably with the rest of the play.

The acting is superb, the story is less convincing.

This short tour finishes this week at Milton Keynes. There are still tickets available until 17 September 0844 0871 7652

http://www.ambassadortickets.com/milton-keynes-theatre

Il Trovatore WNO
reviewed 16 April

This revived 2003 production is solid and strong if a little problematic at times. Firstly, there are certain implausible aspects of the plot that, in the spirit of storytelling, need to be overlooked in order to engage fully with the drama. Secondly there is the set. Peter Wilson’s staging is thoughtful and powerful, and Tim Hatley’s set design of four massive, bronze, sculptural walls which are configured to create the various interiors and exteriors of the scenes – palace, gypsy camp, convent, military encampment, prison - mean the stage is always dramatically dark, stark and foreboding. This is effective overall but the seemingly interminable breaks between scenes, necessary no doubt in order to shift the massive set, mean that the drama is interrupted constantly and so overall there is a stilted, staccato air to the evening. This minimal staging means the performers have to fill the stage with their performances and this they all do with consistency of voice throughout. There is perhaps a lack of interaction between them though, as they so often face front.
The excellent David Soar as the commander Ferrando enlightens us in the powerful opening scene of the complicated plot as he tells his soldiers the story of the gypsy Azucena who brought about the death of Count di Luna’s brother in infancy.



Di Luna, David Kempster, produces a subtle performance in that, though clearly ‘the baddie’ he displays, along with the colder, more menacing moments, a gentle tenderness in his declaration of love for Leonora.



Katia Pellegrino (Leonora) gives an impassioned performance and was compelling in her depiction of the vulnerable young woman in love with the troubadour, Manrico. She has a powerfully rich, intense, and beautifully toned voice and her soaring arias were exceptional.



Gwyn Hughes Jones (Manrico) partnered Pellegrino perfectly in their pieces together. Jones has a very big voice indeed – the power of this tenor permeates out to fill the entire theatre but this is not forced at all. Indeed his voice flows with ease and this tenor is tremendous. The tragic ‘In Quella Pira’ was painful in its beauty and demostrates his great theatricality; his portrayal of the loving son when her tucks Azucena (Joanne Thomas) up to sleep is so deeply moving.



Thomas plays the gypsy not as a mad woman but as a deeply anguished being and therefore reduces the amount of melodrama embedded in this character (thankfully). She worked beautifully in partnership with the male voices but was occasionally overshadowed by the strength of the always excellent WNO orchestra under the guidance of Simon Phillippo.

These central four are well supported by the WNO chorus who are outstanding in the opening scene and in the anvil chorus and the famous 'Squilli e cheggi'.
Overall a powerful evening and very warmly received by the audience who were particularly enraptured by Pellegrino and Hughes.

at Milton Keynes 16 April
0844 871 7652 (bkg fee) 
www.ambassadortickets.com/miltonkeynes (bkg fee)
 

Reviewed 22 March



The ‘Trocks’, as they are know to their followers, are back with a sensational production for this international tour. You will have to rush to catch them as this is a limited tour in the UK. You can guarantee though that it won’t be too long before they are back due to popular demand!

This long-standing company, set up in New York in 1974, have never fallen out of favour with their audiences and this is in part due to the fact that although they have an irreverent attitude to the ballet world, they are not irreverent about the dancing. The skill displayed here is equal to that of the top ballet companies and indeed many of these dancers are from those very companies. They have won numerous dance awards including the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards (UK) 2007 so make no mistake this is a company to be reckoned with by any standards.

Humour is prevalent throughout and laugh out loud moments are abundant from the beginning with the announcement in faux Russian that various dancers are either not appearing or are performing different parts, Natalia Notgudinov, Maya Thickenthighya, and Mikhail Mypansarov among many others!
The infamous Act 2 of Swan Lake is first for the very particular treatment of the Trocks and is lampooned brilliantly. It is one of their staples and loved by their fans. Prince Siegfreid’s vanity gets in the way of his dancing, spending time attending to his wig and posing for photographs by the sycophantically adoring Benno. The usually delicate and ethereal Odette is played by a rather more solid Olga Supphozova (Robert Carter). The swans, basically following the original choreography of Ivanov, are often on 'pointe' after hours and hours of painstaking work and practice.

In Go for Barocco the music of Bach is interpreted by the company, dressed gracefully in little black ballet dresses, complete with tutu’s and flowers. The grace is intermittent though and the choreography constantly contrasts the ‘femininity’ of traditional ballet moves with least graceful ‘male’ movements of everyday behaviour. This is where the comedy lies.

The point of the Trocks though, is to celebrate ballet not demean it. Fun is poked at the ‘old style’ Russian ballet stars and not at the pursuit itself. Throughout the show, the combination of moments when you are marvelling at the skill is effortlessly balanced by moments when you are laughing at the ‘fun-poking’. It is very affectionately done.

Raymonda’s wedding shows off the whole company together and illustrates just what superb dancers they all are, and what superb comedians.

In the Q&A session after this performance with Tony Dobrin, Artistic Director, we learnt that the most important element to have as a Trock is to be a team player. This is evident on stage, although the dancers may be acting the part of diva, there are in fact none in the company. Another vital element according to Dobrin is to ‘be funny’. He says you can tell very quickly in auditions which dancers fit the bill of being both a team player and have the ability to be comedic. In this troupe of 17 dancers, some of whom have been with the company since the mid 90’s, you can see this combination clearly. Dobrin says the comedic moments are very carefully choreographed into the pieces and there is no improvisation. The company also build on each dancer’s personality so inevitably characters change according to who is playing them.

This is an uplifting evening, full of genuinely talented performers and accomplished dancing, expert comic acting and superb comic timing. The success of this group is that they illustrate clearly that in order to be able to play with great ballet choreography and musical interpretation you need, first, to be to dance great ballet.

March 22/23             Milton Keynes Theatre 0844 871 7652. www.ambassadortickets.com/miltonkeynes (bkg fee)

March 25/26             Wycombe Swan, High Wycombe 01494 512 000.

www.wycombeswan.co.uk

March 29- April 2             Hippodrome, Birmingham 0844 338 5000

www.birminghamhippodrome.com

April 5/6                      Lyceum, Sheffield 0114 249 6000

www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk

April 8/9                      Alhambra, Bradford 01274 432 000

www.bradford-theatres.co.uk

April 12/13                 Festival Theatre, Edinburgh 0131 529 6000

www.festivaltheatre.org.uk

April 15/16                 Lowry, Salford 0843 208 6010

www.thelowry.com

Then international. Go to www.danceconsortium.com for Les Trocks information.

The Imperial Ice Stars - Swan Lake on Ice
Reviewed 8 March 2011

This is a quite magical evening and a chance to escape from the real world for a couple of hours. Whilst Swan Lake is a staple of companies around the world this is a slightly different version to the original storyline in featuring an uplifting and joyous finale.
This is an exciting, skilful, engaging, and exquisite production performed by world class international champions and a triumph for all involved. 
The audience were clearly enthralled from the very beginning and there were gasps and spontaneous applause throughout. The prolonged standing ovation at the end showed there is no doubt that The Imperial Ice Stars are truly mesmerising.

Tony Mercer’s choreography is beautiful and graceful balanced with dynamic, gymnastic episodes. It’s gripping throughout and there is never a moment that is not engaging. Eamon D’Arcy’s staging and Gavan Swift’s lighting are dramatic both visually and aurally; a ring of fire on the ice, tumbling mist, falling snow, thunder and lightning, all perfectly matched with Tchaikovsky’s marvellous score. A live orchestra would have been the icing on the cake. However, this is not a criticism but rather, I believe, an impossibility. The installation of the ice rink, and the technology and expense involved in that process, coupled with the proximity of the performers to the audience and the speed at which they travel - often resulting ice showers being projected into the first rows would mean that installing anyone in the orchestra pit is not viable.

And so, to the performers which are exemplary throughout. The skill of these international, multi-medal winning world champions is a marvel from beginning to end. And it is not just that they have the obvious superlative skating skills; it is that they can act, interpret and portray the emotions of the story so effectively. It is impressive work from each and every performer.

This is a relatively small cast with all but the main characters having four or five parts meaning they were almost always on stage throughout the evening, changing from palace guests to white swans, from guests to princesses, from hunters to black swans, and so on making the convinving characterisation of all these diverse parts all the more outstanding.

Prince Siegfried (Andrei Penkin) and Benno (Ruslan Novoseltsev) bring a warmth and compassion to their friendship and supply some gentle comedic moments. Count Von Rothbart (Vadim Yarkov) is superbly sinister and has great stage presence. The outstanding lead females Olga Sharutenko (Odette) is grace and elegance personified whilst the marvellous Olena Pyatash (Odile) is perfect.

The ensemble pieces are superbly put together by Mercer – the dancing cygnets, the ball, the black swans among them and all performed against enchating and fantastical backdrops of the forest and lake, the palace and it’s gardens.

This is a must see production and highly enjoyable for any age. Regardless of whether you have seen The Imperial Ice Stars before or not, the thrill of world-class skating  and this brilliant new interpretation will thrill and delight everyone.

Swan Lake on Ice is at Milton Keynes until 12 March
box office 0844 871 7652 (bkg fee)
www.ambassadoortickets.com/miltonkeynes

then on UK tour until 14 May 2011. Visit http://www.imperialicestars.com/coi_calendar.shtm for details.

Reviewed at MK Theatre 22nd February

Set in the 1940’s during the London blitz, Bourne’s adaptation of the traditional tale is a wartime romance delivering some of the elements of the original tale combined with his usual quirkiness. Bourne fell in love with Prokofiev’s score during Frederick Ashton's ballet version which brought together the traditional and the pantomime. It is this combination that Bourne was interested in and the strong elements of pantomime are paramount in this production. This, coupled with the mournfulness of Prokofiev’s score which influenced Bourne’s decision to set his version during WWII, gives a rather unusual feel to the production. 
Cinderella, elegantly played by (Kerry Biggin) is one of Bourne’s usual downtrodden characters. Her character is overshadowed by her boisterous stepfamily, which now includes three stepbrothers, and a further extension in the form of a wheelchair-bound father (Paul Smethurst), and even boyfriends and girlfriends for the step-siblings. Perhaps all these extras are because Bourne likes his ensemble dance pieces. By necessity then, he must increase his players to enable these to happen. However, much of the time it seemed that these characters were surplus, superfluous even, and present as padding and to occasionally provide a comic turn. Most notable for laughs was the favourite, goofy youngest son Elliot (Gavin Persand), the alcoholic, man-eating Cartoon Cruella stepmother (Michaela Meazza), and the vulgar shoe-sniffing fetishist brother (Daniel Wright) styled as a David Walliams look-a-like. This resemblance to one of Walliams’ overly camp characters in a Little Britain sketch was, judging by numerous audience comments, the main focus for them when he was on stage. The ugly stepsisters, not so ugly or unpleasant here, (Sophie Hurdley, Katy Lowenhoff) were swallowed up by the numerous family members so the interplay between Cinderella and them was missing. Removing this means that Cinderella's forgiveness of her family and the element of redemption evident at the end of the story is lacking.

In this adaptation, Cinderella, enthralled by movie star magazines, falls for an injured pilot (Sam Archer) and dreams of going to the ball; here, bash at the Café de Paris. It transpires that a dream is exactly what it is as the realisation that we are watching her hallucination, the result of suffering a head injury in a bombing raid, dawns on us. As a consequence we get hospital scenes, a visit from the awful stepfamily and attempted murder by the stepmother. The fairy godmother, here an angel (Christopher Marney) in designer 1980's suit, flits in and out an awful lot throughout the production and at times his purpose is not clear; he is often used as a filler to illustrate Prokofiev's score.

As always Lez Brotherston has designed a series of fabulous sets which constantly delight, from the monochrome, minimalist family home, to the Café de Paris, and most effectively the bombed out buildings, explosions and smoky red fires of blitzed London. The imaginative staging of the bombing of the Café de Paris played out in reverse, where the shattered ballroom, smouldering dance floor is returned to its glorious, glittering height, is fantastic. Brotherston’s set is the true star of this show.

There is no live orchestra, which is a shame, but more of a problem is that Prokofiev’s score is too big for the story that Bourne tries to fit to the music. He seems to run out of ideas so introduces tenuous subplots, places and people and we are treated to rent boys, prostitutes, the London Underground, thugs, and gas mask dogs among others.

Whilst Act 1 fits well with the music, from the second half of Act 2 onwards the production is at times confused and confusing with the interweaving of dream sequences with the ‘real’ story and the numerous extra characters. So, structurally the piece is unbalanced and by the time we get to the end and the lovers have been reunited there is still music left over and we are left with an homage to Brief Encounter in the overlong final sequences.

So, overall the characters are one-dimensional with heavy reliance on the characterisation (or lack of) of British pantomime; the stepmother sneering at the audience and being booed at the curtain-call for example. By relying so heavily on this tradition little empathy with the characters is possible. They are devices to serve Bourne’s particular take on the tale.
Strange, when we are involved in such a sensory feast with Prokofiev’s music, Brotherston’s set and costumes, Pathé news footage, sound effects of sirens and bombs. This is all going on around us but we don’t connect to the characters except in the most superficial way.

Bourne states, “we have a friendly audience who like what we do already, so they will go with you on a journey”. Maybe so, but it seems perhaps he is in danger of producing the same characterisations, themes, and choreography over and over again, knowing his faithful audience will pay to see his mix of sentimental and quirky. 

Cinderella plays MK theatre until 26 Feb 
www.ambassadorstheatre.com/milton-keynes-theatre

0844 871 7627 (bkg fee)
then

Woking - New VIctoria Theatre
1 March - 5 March 2011
Box Office: 0844 871 7645

Bradford - Alhambra
8 March - 12 March
Box Office: 01274 432 000

Norwich - Theatre Royal
22 March - 26 March
Box Office: 01603 63 00 00

Liverpool - Empire
26 April - 30 April 2011
Box Office: 0844 847 2525

London - New Wimbledon Theatre
3 May - 7 May 2011
Box Office: 0844 871 7646

Oxford - New Theatre
10 May - 14 May 2011
Box Office: 0844 847 1585

Bristol - Hippodrome
17 May -  21 May 2011
Box Office: 0844 847 232

Sheffield - Lyceum
24 May  - 28 May 2011
Box Office: 0114 249 6000