Sheffield Lyceum Theatre – until Sunday 5 January 2020
Reviewed by Charleigh
5*****
I haven’t seen a pantomime in years, so it was safe to say I was suitably excited to see one of the Lyceums legendary shows. The atmosphere was electric as soon as you walked in, with a great mix of children and adults alike in the audience and all were thrilled to be there.
The show started with Strictly star Joanne Clifton playing “Fairy Godmother”. Straight away she had the audience interacting and laughing along with her and managed to kick the show off with a bang. Following this we were introduced to a variety of classic Cinderella characters.
The show was filled to the brim with puns, jokes and gags and had me laughing out of my chair. Although following the traditional pantomime script for the most part, writer Paul Hendy did a fabulous job of making modern twists on a typical show, including a thoroughly independent 8 year old (played by various) who does a fantastic job of challenging panto’s more old fashioned views.
“Buttons” was played by Phil Gallagher and he had both adults and children alike enthralled with his emotive performance, having be both crying with laughter and my heart breaking for him. He carried the story forward with ease and is a highly talented actor.
The one who stole the show for me had to be the brilliant Damian Williams who was playing one of Cinderella’s ugly stepsisters “Donaldina”. He didn’t fail to make me laugh and had me shouting at the top of my lungs, I almost felt like a child again myself.
The rest of the cast an ensemble was brilliant and kept the audience engaged throughout, a hard feat when you remember half the audience were children.
The set was amazing, managing to fully transport us into the world of theatre. The showstopper was when the coach came out, there was an audible collective gasp from the audience as we admired the beauty of it.
Musical Director James Harrison was a face in the show too which was a nice touch for me as the music was brilliant, so it was nice to be able to see who had put such hard work into putting this together.
I was utterly entertained the entire performance and had a magical night. I would recommend this show to anyone who likes a laugh and a good night out, it’s not just for kids!