Review: Cinderella at Yeadon Town Hall

THE Yeadon Charities Association Pantomime first started in 1939 with the performance of Cinderella. And this year for their 80th production they have chosen to return to this classic pantomime.

Many of those in the audience on the opening night when I attended have either seen or performed in some of these pantomimes in the last 80 years be it as principals, chorus or as one of the sunbeams who have been part of this production for many years.

The pantomime is very much a family affair with many of the cast being related to each other. Three of the principals fall into this category with father Frank Mottram taking on the role of the narrator whilst his daughter Kara plays Cinderella and his son Ian is Buttons.

The choreography and the music stood out for me in this production. Both the adult dancers and the Sunbeams were extremely well disciplined in their routines and they combined well, particularly in the number Hall Of The Mountain King in the second half of the panto. I must compliment Christine Braid on the choreography of the show which was outstanding. With regard to the music there were some excellent individual vocal performances which I will highlight shortly and the eight-piece orchestra under the direction of Danny Gamble were very sympathetic to the performers and never drowned them out.

Moving onto the principal performers I must highlight Ian Mottram as Buttons who was the perfect comic that is needed in this pantomime. Many of his jokes had the audience in stitches, several of which had local connotations. He worked well with both John Waite as Baron Hardup and also Richard Atkinson and Rick Hoddy as the two Ugly Sisters, Bella and Stella. Kara Mottrom has a charming voice which came over well in her rendition of First Time In Forever and I also thought that Olivia Gregson and Beth Roberts performed and sang well in their roles of Prince Charming and Dandini, particularly in their duet Dancing Fool. There was much interaction between all the performers and the audience which made the show come alive.

Caroline Darnbrook the show’s Director needs to be complimented on the excellent use of the Yeadon Town Hall stage which I know is not easy to work with but by putting the walkway round the orchestra to provide additional space this worked superbly by bringing the cast nearer to the audience at times.

The show runs on Thursday and Friday this week at 7.15pm and on Saturday at 1pm and 5.30 pm. There are still limited tickets available by ringing 0333 666 3366 or by going on line to www.yeadontownhall.co.uk

John Burland