Cinderella Panto in Southport is a big success

WITH the current closure of the Theatre and Convention Centre on the Promenade, Southport’s panto this year finds a home in The Atkinson. The beautiful Lord Street venue offers a much cosier setting, and the show consequently has more of a family feel to it here.

A perfect fit, then, for LHK productions’ Cinderella, which is about as traditional a family panto as you could find. There is no hint of tinkering with the story to give it a twist – producer Lee Kelly and director Michael Chapman have clearly stood by the principle of ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’.

Of necessity in the Atkinson’s flyless space the production is simply staged, placing more emphasis on the performers and the storytelling, which all serves to add more seasonal charm to the show as a whole. It feels like a rep company with so many familiar faces in the cast. Mia Molloy is playing Cinderella for the first time here, and is a great choice for the role. Claire Sweeney is her Fairy Godmother and, whilst she undeniably provides the big name for the marquee, there is a genuine sense of her having been cast not just for star billing but because she’s perfect for the part, which she absolutely is.

Alex Patmore and Richard Young make an excellent pairing as Prince Charming and Dandini. Patmore really is charming and Young nicely judges the hint of camp in the comedy bromance.

The story provides for not one but two dames in the Ugly Sisters, and of course the perennial favourite comic turn of Buttons. Lewis Pryor has Buttons in his DNA by now, and he really knows how to work the audience. Michael Chapman and Tom Burroughs are a very clever match here for the Sisters. When they make their entrance you really do need to do a double take to check you’re not seeing things. Both have a masterful command of the medium they are playing with, and they pitch the jokes perfectly between innuendo and deadpan delivery.

In addition to its very well choreographed senior dance ensemble, this is one of the few local shows this season to boast a troupe of junior dancers too, not to mention a couple of equine surprises, so what the show might lack in lavish sets it more than makes up for in the spectacle of its cast, and the whole thing is graced with splendid musical accompaniment under Steven Lemmon’s direction.

Cinderella runs at The Atkinson until 2nd January and some tickets are still available here.

Star rating – 4 stars

Review by Nigel Smith