The Stage

The writer of this Cinderella describes it as a musical Christmas show with pantomime elements but with plenty of scope for audience singalongs and call and response, the traditional elements are well in place.

There are grotesque ugly sisters (Harry Peacock and Gerard Carey), who shake the stage with their thunderous dance steps and foghorn bellowing. There is a kindly but gullible Baron Hard-Up (Will Knightley) and a good egg Buttons (David Galloway), who accepts Cinderella’s rise to the top of the social ladder with a sad but thoroughly selfless smile.

Elsewhere, Rae Baker gives Dandini a dash of the Machiavellian fop, all twirling card-trick hands and harpsichord trills, while Karen Paullada’s Cinderella is just the right side of over-angelic.

But Bicat is right - it’s the music that really marks out this production. Nick Bicat’s Cole-Porterish rhymes are a treat, coupling fiance with Beyonce and honour with Madonna. As with many a panto, spoof and satire are not a million glass-slippered steps away.

Oxford Playhouse has come up with a classic panto production that has enough gentle innuendo and parody to set the parents and teachers giggling and more slapstick and silliness than the kids will ever need.

Reviewed by Andrew Blades for The Stage. 22nd December 2005.

Reviews Gate

An attractive, gentle piece of panto.

This is advertised for 4 year olds and over and probably is. It's a restrained pantomime (more knockabout from the ugly sisters wouldn't come amiss and everyone - except perhaps 4 year olds - will be upset the mentioned Broker's Men never materialise), yet utterly elegant. Its never-world of Charmingland has features recognisable to adults, yet hardly likely to make young children feel excluded; ditchwater-dull Lords who compare traffic routes, ugly sisters abusing dad's credit card, a racehorse-loving royal who resists abdication in favour of her son, can all be taken in young strides.

As for Karen Paullada's Cinderella: will we help her? Of course we will. Her sufferings aren't over-emphasised - all part of the gentle storytelling. But who could refuse such smiling requests for assistance? No wonder Buttons silently worships her - not enough, though, to suggest a breach in the happy ending; his joyous cry he'll be her friend gives a final high note.

The fickle Bicats have deserted Chipping Norton Theatre, where they wrote the last 2 pantomimes, for the big city. But the friendly, colourful, pastoral Chipping Norton approach has come with them. The script's rhymed sections speak well, the action never lingers too long and the whole piece is visually beautiful.

Designer Jess Curtis provides a starry surround, coloured by Tim Boyd's lighting, so that little's needed to establish different scenes. The ball is particularly attractive, through delicacy rather than magnificence (as should be the case, indeed). And it's here Nick Bicat's score is at its finest in its aural elegance and attractively apt melodies.

Rae Baker is a brisk villain, though more in manner than action, Dandini's hissable status being announced by her appearance - the confident stance, the defiantly sour expression - rather than anything much the character does. For this good-natured show mixes in only the smallest necessary spoonful of malicious intent. Lesley Nicol's vivacious Fairy Godmother carries the day in curly orange wig and unglamorous workday clothes when it comes to radicalism. Who, she points out, can say Fairy Godmother's shouldn't look like this? This is the most graceful of pantomimes, a joy to behold.

Reviewed by : Timothy Ramsden on Dec 27, 2005

THEATRWORLD INTERNET MAGAZINE REVIEW

Cinderella by Tony Bicat
Directed by Ian Talbot and Music by Nick Bicat
Playing at the Oxford Playhouse until 15 January 2006

" Our Uglies rise to greet your Scorn
Jeer them at your Pleasure
Enjoy the songs and give a Cheer
Sit back and applaud at your Leisure"

... writes Tish Francis, Producer at the Playhouse, and so we did! And more! Plenty of opportunities to boo, hiss, and aah as well. This musical Christmas Show filled with Pantomime elements, gives us a modern twist on the very traditional tale of Cinderella - the poor but beautiful and kind hearted girl, who wins the heart of her Prince and goes on to bring joy and happiness to their Kingdom

Set in the Kingdom of Charmingland (which I suspect lies somewhere between Oxfordshire and rural Gloucestershire?) judging by the very topical small talk, the fact that Prince Charming (Dominic Marsh) likes to talk to his organic sprouts and Cinders' (Karen Paullada) Ball Gown is described as 'very Oxfam and OK for St Giles' Fair but ...'

All the characters are beautifully developed, even the most comic of them - the Ugly Sisters - (men of course!) - Milly (Gerard Carey) and Dilly (Harry Peacock) who love to catalogue shop using their Stepfather - Baron Hard Up's (Will Knightley) credit parchment and believe passionately that because of their 'beauty and elegance' they can marry the Prince.

Dandini (Rae Baker) - female of course!!, but very much a dandy, effectively runs the Kingdom, with the 'help' of her 2 lackeys Lord Dull (Richard Stacey) and Lord Desperate (Royce Ullah) on behalf of the Queen (Lesley Nicol). Curious echoes of a land 'outside Charmingland' in that the Queen's favourite past times are her horses, the occasional flutter on the racing pigeons with her friend Baron Hard Up, and trying to find her Son a suitable (and for that read thoroughly traditional) bride!?! According to her, 'continental' is just the start of the slippery slope and marrying for love would simply be 'ghastly'.

Spectacular fireworks, loads of loud bangs, a glittering carriage, a fairytale Princess, an unconventional (to say the least!) Fairy Godmother (also played by Lesley Nicol), straight and verse dialogue, banter, audience interaction, jokes at several levels and original singalong songs, combine to deliver a truly family show.

(Natasha Lewis) Delia, led the delightful Children's Chorus, and we all felt sad for, and with, Buttons (David Galloway), when he lost Cinderella to the Prince (cue the aaahs) but cheered when he became Lord Buttons as a reward for his steadfast friendship.

Apparently there was a slight technical hitch on the evening we viewed, but we were enjoying ourselves so much we didn't even notice

Reviewed by Debby Taylor (and captivated preschool son) for Theatre World Internet Magazine on Saturday 3 December 2005