Skip to main content

THE STAGE REVIEW | CINDERELLA @THE RIVERFRONT


Cinderella

Published Monday 5 December 2011 at 12:39 by Susie Wild
Even in the year of a Royal Wedding, not every modern girl wants to grow up to be a princess. In Newport, however, Will and Kate fever appears to have taken hold and many women and girls in the audience are dressed up as exactly that, settling down to believe in fairytale dreams. Hiss & Boo’s production keeps the ancient story traditionally soft, sappy and relatively unchanged, and a more contemporary world is instead only hinted at with the Ugly Sisters’ Primark bags and occasional, catty LOLs.
The cast of Cinderella at the Riverfront, Newport
The cast of Cinderella at the Riverfront, Newport
The romantic leads Nichola Lagan (Cinderella) and Rob Wilshaw (Prince Charming) are suitably saccharine and prove strong on vocals, but the song choices are often weak. Still, it is a saving grace that the show hasn’t suffered too much under the influence of X Factor. Instead, it leans towards the stuff of real magic with a flying horse, fireworks, sparkle and indoor snow bound to bring out childhood delight and festive cheer in all people of all ages.
As an added bonus, Buttons provides a party trick, teaching the audience how to pronounce Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. Although you might not manage it after three glasses of sherry on Christmas Day.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cardiff Writer's Circle: Annual Short Story Competition

It was a joy to return to Cardiff Writers' Circle to judge their annual Short Story Competition ...  Congratulations all! Here's their round up of the night: Throwback to Monday 23rd June, when we were thrilled to have 12 attendees join us for the Adjudication Event of our annual Short Story C ompetition - the winner and runners-up were announced, received their prizes, and graciously allowed pics to be taken for posterity! A huge round of applause goes to our winner, Gordon Harrop, who is fresh to CWC competitions. Gordon's winning entry served up some diabolical black humour, with a dark twist. Congratulations Gordon, and thank you for submitting such an entertaining and well-written piece! Gordon was joined on the podium by two of our long-standing members, Steve Pritchard and Angela Edwards Rigby, who are no strangers to receiving CWC awards and prizes. It was wonderful to hear their competition entries - Steve's story a page-turning "will-they-won't-they...
Post a Comment
Read more

Gig Alert: Jemma L. King at Gwyl Lyfrau Abaraeron Book Festival 2025

There are l ots of great free events at Gwyl Lyfrau Abaraeron Book Festival 2025 this Sunday including Jemma L. King sharing poems from her new collection Moon Base One at 11.30am! Go along...
Post a Comment
Read more

BOOK REVIEW: 'It deserves to be read far more widely.'

In her engaging review essay 'Fantastical Doubles and Split Selves' in the latest issue of New Welsh Review , author of The Word, JL George, looks at responses to trauma in three recent novels including Fox Bites by Lloyd Markham . Here are three of our favourite snippets: ‘Lloyd Markham’s first full-length novel Fox Bites , set in early-2000s Zimbabwe, takes a similar tack, colliding social upheaval – as viewed through the sometimes-uncomprehending eyes of a young, neurodivergent boy – with smaller, more personal disruptions. The young protagonist, Taban, suffers bullying and isolation among his peers after his family splits apart: his aunt, uncle, and beloved cousin Caleb moving away to a farm which will later be seized during land reforms.’ ‘Taban must resist the temptation to become part of a cycle of abuse, thereby becoming a conduit for the destruction of his world. Although the stakes of the book eventually become world-threatening in the expected way of science fiction...
Post a Comment
Read more