Cinderella At The Grove Theatre, Dunstable Review

Reviewed by Dorothy White

It might have been cold and frosty outside, but we had a great evening at The Grove Theatre, Dunstable watching Cinderella.  I was there with my daughter and teenage granddaughter, we really enjoyed our evening!  We shouted for ‘Buttons’ and ‘It’s behind you’ for all we were worth along with the rest of the audience. From the sound of it I think everyone joined in the fun!  My teenage granddaughter certainly did, along with all the young children there!

Joanne Clifton of the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing fame was the Fairy Godmother, she set the scene whilst dancing various ballroom type steps.  She explained she wasn’t yet a fully qualified Fairy Godmother as she didn’t have a wand, she still had to earn it!  I was quite impressed as I wasn’t sure how a ballroom dancer could become a Fairy Godmother in a Panto.

Buttons played by Phil Gallagher is most well known for his role as Mr Maker from the CBeebies TV programme, he was so funny with lots of ad lib jokes. Jaymi Hensley who played Prince Charming is of Union J fame from the X Factor in 2012. Dandini was played by Oliver Scott.

Will Kenning of course is a Grove Theatre favourite and together with Matt Daines played the Ugly Sisters Aldianna and Lidleena, no prizes for guessing what their names were shortened to!!  They were looking for a possible husband, a poor man sitting on the front row was targeted and referred to several times throughout the show.  He was a great sport and took it all in good part.

I loved the interaction between the Ugly Sisters, Buttons and Dandini.  At times Prince Charming didn’t know where to look, it seemed their mission tonight was to see how often they could make him laugh, he couldn’t keep a straight face and had to turn away from the audience a few times, they were so funny and bounced their humour off each other.  I am sure they didn’t stick to the script, there was certainly a lot of humour between them.  Even the three musicians providing the live music were targeted, but they got their own back!

We all know the story of Cinderella who meets Prince Charming who is pretending to be Dandini. Unfortunately, Cinderella’s stepsisters want the Prince for themselves so they try to prevent Cinderella from going to Prince Charming’s ball. Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother steps in and suddenly Cinderella’s rags were transformed into a beautiful ball gown on stage, but the magic would stop at midnight!  The Coach and white horse created by the Fairy Godmother from a white mouse and a pumpkin to take Cinderella to the Ball was really impressive.  Whilst Cinderella was dancing with Prince Charming the clock began to strike 12, Cinderella, prompted by her Fairy Godmother, ran away leaving her glass slipper behind!!

My favourite part of any production is always the dancing, I just love it and am pleased to say the three couples didn’t disappoint! Prince Charming impressed my granddaughter, she was convinced he had trained as a dancer, she was right!!

All the costumes were colourful and looked fabulous on stage, from Cinderella’s dress to the outrageous outfits worn by the Dames. Their many outfits, including hats and shoes were really outrageous.  Of course there had to be an ‘It’s behind you’ scene, it wouldn’t have been a Panto without it.

The proscenium arch had made an impression as we made our way to our seats.  That along with the scenery, lighting and music all added greatly to this Panto.  Don’t just take my word for it, go see it for yourselves!

This production of Cinderella was written by Paul Hendy and produced by Evolution Productions.

Cinderella at The Grove Theatre, Dunstable runs until the 2^nd January 2023.  Tickets are various prices ranging between £16 and £29.50, some performances have a discount for Concessions and there are also Family Tickets available.

For more information or to book tickets please visit Cinderella 2022 | Grove Theatre or phone the box office on 01582 602080

Rating: 5/5