Bernie Clifton superb at Windsor Panto

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thamesweb	Bernie Clifton superb at Windsor Panto	Lead	[-]
Posts: 1635 (10/06/06 02:09:46) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	'Maria' finalist to appear at Windsor Panto Leanne Dobinson, one of the last six finalists in the snappily titled BBC TV programme 'How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?', is to appear as Snow White at the Theatre Royal this Christmas. Leanne, nicknamed 'Baby Maria' by presenter Graham Norton, was considered too young at just 20 to be Maria in the Andrew Lloyd Webber production in the west end of London, but I bet she will make a great Snow White! The local Windsor Observer newspaper is carrying a color picture and half page story in their October 6th edition, page 32. Best get booking! It will be a sell-out!!
Mr Whippy	Maria' finalist to appear at Windsor Panto	#1	[-]
Posts: 25 (12/06/06 12:52:43) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	We went to the Preview today, its a strange sort of story but the kids enjoyed themselves, so thats all that matters. It should be ok when they iron out the wrinkles .
thamesweb	Health and Safety threat to Panto traditions	#2	[-]
Posts: 1635 (01/03/07 05:36:35) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Has 'Health and Safety' got their doubly scrubbed and rubber gloved hands on our Panto? Has the Oracle of Conkers changed his job to become the Wicked Witch of Panto? What happened to throwing sweets out to the boys and girls in the audience? I have a sneaking suspicion that someone somewhere said "Oi, throwing sweets is dangerous. You must hand them out to the front row... CAREFULLY!" And not only did H&S rule over sweet distribution, but insisted that the house lights come up while selected children clamber up onto the stage (for some clever ad libbing by Bernie Clifton) and later return to their seats, presumably to avoid tumbles down a couple of steps! I hope I am wrong. Anyone know? Despite that, the Panto this year was lots of fun and quite the funniest was Bernie Clifton. On more than one occasion his ad libs brought the house down, and the other members of the cast creased up too. He is of course an 'old pro', having been in show biz for many years and his performance as 'Muddles', son of panto dame (Michael Sharvell-Martin) 'A Dora Bull' was very entertaining throughout. Full marks to Bernie for pulling off that very clever trick of entertaining royally both the six year olds and the sixty year olds especially during his several interludes with Muffin the Mule. Blimey. How did Muffin get in on the act? My eleven year old didn't know who Muffin was! One panto rule was broken and that seemed a shame. Marti Webb's Wicked Queen was hardly wicked at all, her character joking early on and spoiling the image. She wasn't particularly ugly either! In my youth the arrival of the baddy was always accompanied by great flashes, lurid lighting, thunderous and threatening drum rolls and cymbal clashes. Last night Miss Webb sometimes made her entrance with not even a flash. Call me old fashioned but I want a genuinely frightening baddy! An element that was close to being frightening, but for all the wrong reasons, was the order to murder Snow White by The Wicked Queen. It was the Queen's sidekick, Herman the Henchman (Christopher Beeney), who was given a dagger and casket and ordered to perform this task, bringing Snow White's heart back to the queen in the casket. He does not of course perform this gruesome task, but pretends that he has done so by miming what he did in front of the queen. This was the point at which I felt most uncomfortable, the mime of murder and subsequent cutting out of the heart seemingly being just too graphic. OK, OK, I know it's panto! But it wasn't scary, it was chilling!! Michael Parkinson makes a guest appearance - on film - as the Voice of the Mirror. Well OK, but the running gag 'My next guest...' upon each 'entrance' wore thin after the its first appearance. I am being unnecessarily picky about one or two minor aspects of the show which actually was hugely enjoyable with Bernie Clifton especially being really funny and, at one point, over the sleeping form of Snow White, demonstrating an excellent singing voice too. This takes away nothing from Michael Sharvell-Martin's Dame (apparently his 34th season as dame!!) which is almost wholly traditional and enjoyable. The Seven Drawfs seemed somehow rather dull. I am sorry to say this but they were not brilliantly funny, there was the odd moment with a threatened sneeze, another odd moment falling asleep on a broom, but apart from that I cannot think of anything that was funny about them. And another thing. Although we were given several renditions of 'Hi, Ho...' the dwarfs names were replaced with rather weaker equivalents. Copyright from Disney interfering? The last word must go to Leanne Dobinson as Snow White. Just one brief reference to Maria (by the Wicked Witch "How can I solve a problem like Snow White") but we all knew how well she had done in the TV programme, and showed her great singing talent on stage last night with a clear, strong voice and the very spit of the real Snow White! That said, Connie Fisher is a stunningly brilliant discovery... Well done the Theatre Royal, but don't let H&S grind you down!