Room On The Broom at the Grand Opera House York Review
Room On The Broom
Grand Opera House, York
26-27 January 2015
Reviewed by Pamela Wright
I was really excited when I found out I had been chosen to review Room on the Broom at the Grand Opera House in York. This is my favourite theatre to visit as it’s a straightforward road from Leeds plus there is the bonus of a car-park perfectly located just around the corner.
This is the 3rd Julia Donaldson story that we have seen live on stage so I was interested to find out how it would compare to “What the Ladybird Heard” that I saw with my girls last year at York Grand Opera House.
We collected our tickets and headed towards our seats which were located on Row C of the dress circle, when we got there we could hear a few loud voices over the speakers which sounded like somebody had forgotten to turn off their microphones, we then realised when we found our seats that they were actually playing hide and seek and one of the cast members was hiding in our seats. Once she had left our seats to return to the stage we made ourselves comfortable.
The show started on time and the girls got excited as the lights dimmed. One of them was a bit scared at the beginning as the cast started to scream and shout just before the witch appeared, she said “she was scared that the witch would be scary” but as soon as she did appear and was all lovely and kind she settled down.
They sat mesmerised as each puppet animal took to the stage. The frog was their favourite character and they had a huge grin on their faces as he sang his catchy song and danced excitedly across the stage.
There were a few bits through the show that had them both sitting on my knee a little bit scared but then they realised in their own words “they were tricking us” then they relaxed again.
The whole production lasts just 55 minutes and doesn’t have an interval so is ideal for young children.
The only negative was that our seats were close to one of the speakers and the volume seemed a lot louder than it had been at other productions there, around 10 minutes into the show one of my girls was nearly crying saying it hurt her ears so we ended up moving to seats which were a few rows further back.
I would have given it a 5/5 but I personally felt that judging by my girl’s reactions and questionings that the witches hat, bow and wand didn’t seem overly emphasised enough for the little ones.
Rating: 4/5
Tickets cost £14.90 (plus £4 transaction fee).
Room on a Broom is at the Grand Opera House in York until 27 January 2015. For more information or to book tickets click here or call the box office on 0844 8713024.
Grand Opera House York, Clifford and Cumberland Street, York, YO1 9SW | 0844 8713024
