{"id":604021,"date":"2025-11-30T20:53:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T20:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/604021\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T20:53:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T20:53:12","slug":"cinderella-the-old-rep-birmingham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/604021\/","title":{"rendered":"Cinderella – The Old Rep, Birmingham"},"content":{"rendered":"

Writer: Alex Jackson<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director: Lorna Laidlaw<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is a case for contemporary pantomimes to engage from the Prologue with their toddler audience and handlers being initiated into the arcane conventions and protocols of Panto world. Well brought up and mannered they may, be but the \u2018fourth wall\u2019 (they don\u2019t need to know) is up there for being dashed down by a massive MOT failure bulldozer of \u2018Oh No She\/He isn\u2019t! \u2013 He\/She is Behind You!\u2019 to introduce who are the goodys and the baddys and other such associated call and response anarchy. To see their elders misbehave is a memorable occasion no child should be denied.<\/p>\n

Kids at Pantomime is a behaviour barometer binary \u2013 they either soon get restless, much to parents\u2019 dismay and embarrassment or they ask insistent questions as to what the heck is going on with those odd people on stage behaving oddly \u2013 they\u2019re supposed to be grown-up? Monsters, fairies, goblins and ghosts are nighttime close encounters they deal with by default. It\u2019s the humans to worry about. The cast certainly rise to the odd toddler heckle with improv witticisms.<\/p>\n

The BOA Group consists of: Creative & performing Arts\/BOA Stage and Screen Production\/BOA Digital Technologies. Judging, not the least for the demanding programme of Cinderella performances, 45 in total, including matinees, running through November\/December, the collective work ethic alone is mightily impressive. Evidently, that Shavian witticism that youth is wasted on the young is more honoured in the breach than the observance as far as BOA are concerned. The ethos, spirit and infectious derring-do of BOA\u2019s brand is firmly evident from the pre-show welcoming buzz in the bar\/reception snug and continues to riff and ripple throughout this entire afternoon\u2019s matinee. It\u2019s Showtime! Therese Collins\u2019 Fairy Godmother\u2019s Prologue lends emphasis to the homespun, loud and proud Brummie and Black Country accents, dialects and patois to be celebrated this afternoon, delivered in rhyming couplets previously unknown to mankind.<\/p>\n

Buttons, in his beanpole Quality Street tin-splendid red uniform, sets up a shared secret silver box at stage-right with the plea that the kids must shout out his name if anyone dares open it \u2013 later, we discover it holds Cinders\u2019 mother\u2019s precious ballet shoes \u2013 DOH! There\u2019s song and dance aplenty, and the ensemble cast gives it all with gusto.<\/p>\n

The staple suspension of belief in that a pumpkin magics into a stagecoach this afternoon becomes a dazzling reality and then some. An enchanting teaser back-projection of the eponymous veg from the fertile visual design and sound creatives team to the actual golden coach itself utterly bamboozles kids and parents alike and closes Act One.<\/p>\n

Act Two explodes with an instantaneous, snappier, vibrant, delightfully kitsch and OTT gauche roller-coaster delightful Prince Charming\u2019s Ball.<\/p>\n

\u2018Oh, so that\u2019s what one of his looks like!\u2019 declaims one of the Kardashian-themed \u2018Selfie Sisters\u2019, Chloe and Kim (Sam Yetundi\/Victoria Tew), in costume designer Leanne Fitchett\u2019s worst nightmare apparition-inspired, \u2018juicy couture tracksuit, reimagined regency outfits.\u2019 They are the Botoxed, lypo-suctioned, shop-to-you cash-till-drop apotheosis of retail excess and beyond. There might have been opportunities to juxtapose their dreadful vacuity against the downtrodden plight of Cinderella. Nonetheless, the wraith-like stepmother from Hades, Baroness Hardup (Julie Ann Baker), takes every opportunity to do just that. Mention there must be for the eponymous Belle of the Ball, Jaiden Tsang, who keeps a shrewd rein on her character ever becoming a tad too cutesy. As for Stefan Davis as Prince and Jordan Laidley\u2019s Dandini? Where to begin. They\u2019re having the time of their lives sending each other up and riffing off each other seamlessly and shamelessly, particularly with their street-cool hand slapping, high-five routines.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0all-join-in\u00a0chorus riff of the Ghostbusters theme sees floating projections of the iconic film rascal zipping about the theatre walls and ceiling to the ecstatic call and response, \u2018Who You Gonna Call? GHOSTBUSTERS!\u2019 It\u2019s silly, giddy fun for all and thoroughly recommended. Be prepared for dreadful puns some landing with a resounding leaden thud but all may be forgiven when Brum, being the butt of national ridicule, sees both Fairy Godmother and Buttons having to sort out the disposal of a plethora of uncollected bin-bags. And no smutty innuendo or product placement that often blights contemporary pantos either. A gluttonous feast of festive fun for all.<\/p>\n

Runs until 31 December 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

\t\t\tThe Reviews Hub Star Rating<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t70%<\/p>\n

\t\t\tA gluttonous feast of festive fun for all<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Writer: Alex Jackson Director: Lorna Laidlaw There is a case for contemporary pantomimes to engage from the Prologue…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":604022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[189316,855,748,153961,393,4884,189317,189318,189319,189320,189321,189322,189323,189324,189325,16,15,189326],"class_list":{"0":"post-604021","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-alex-jackson","9":"tag-birmingham","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-cinderella","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-jaiden-tsang","15":"tag-jordan-laidley","16":"tag-julie-ann-baker","17":"tag-leanne-fitchett","18":"tag-lorna-laidlaw","19":"tag-sam-yetundi","20":"tag-stefan-davis","21":"tag-the-old-rep","22":"tag-therese-collins","23":"tag-uk","24":"tag-united-kingdom","25":"tag-victoria-tew"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115640638175322495","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}