Hull New Theatre – until 7th January 2024
Reviewed by Dawn Bennett
5*****
Crossroads Pantomimes presents Cinderella The Fairy Godmother of all Pantos, written by Alan McHugh with additional material by Neil Hurst and Matt Slack.
Last night, at Hull New Theatre we were treated to an absolutely brilliant night of theatre. This is probably the best panto I have seen, it had everything you could possibly want, it was hilariously funny, it had the baddies, risqué jokes that went over the children’s heads for the adults, gorgeous sets and costumes and a fabulous cast … we even had ponies!!
Cinderella (Rebekah Lowings) lives with the truly awful Hernia (Peter Peverley) and Verruca (Jack Land Noble) in Hardup Hall who treat Cinderella really badly, making her do all the work. Buttons (Neil Hurst) is Cinderellas best friend he tries to cheer her up and but really, he is just a bit in love with her. One day Cinderella is in the forest and meets Prince Charming (Lee Mead) and he’s assisted by his Royal liege Dandini (Spin), who decide to pretend to be each so Cinderella meets who she thinks is Dandini and falls in love with him. The Prince then decides to hold a ball so he can find a princess and true happiness. What follows is the ball at the Prince’s palace but will Cinderella go? Will Verruca and Hernia try and stop her … you bet they will! With the help of Cinderellas Fairy Godmother (Olivia Mitchell) and Buttons Cinderella does go to the ball, but does she live happily ever after…?
Everything about this production deserves the 5 stars I’ve given it. All the cast in this production are amazing from the leads to the very talented ensemble. The sets and costumes are stunning. The band (Lisa Featherston, Mark Knight and led by musical director Jon Chamberlain) were so good.
I would really recommend you try and go and see Cinderella, it would make a brilliant after Christmas treat. It is everything a panto should be and more!