Review: CINDERELLA, Derby Arena
Photo credit: Robert Day
Once again, Morgan Brind and the Little Wolf Entertainment team return to the centre of Derby’s cycling velodrome to present a magical family pantomime. This year, Cinderella is the story that is the vehicle for all of the comedy, song, dance and chaos expected from a visit to Pantoland.
Brind’s script gives us everything we expect, whilst finding moments to add original twists and elements to the proceedings. At times, you do question whether everything that is done differently really needs to be done differently though. Brind’s set design is glittery and colourful as you’d expect – it’s impressive how many different locations we get transported to, even without any flies in this venue. His costume design is also fabulous, with a beautiful Fairy dress, wonderfully over the top Sister costumes, and a beautiful ballgown for our titular Cinderella.
Star of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Mina Anwar, headlines this year’s production as the Fairy Godmother. Whilst it does often feel like the rhyming couplets aren’t coming to her as naturally as they might, she has a lovely warmth and proves herself a talented vocalist. She delivers powerful renditions of ‘One Night Only’ and ‘A Moment Like This’.
Morgan Brind, Derby’s regular panto dame, and Roddy Peters, returning from last year’s Mother Goose, join forces as the Ugly Sisters. They are a fantastic double act with a strong rapport. They do an excellent job balancing the villainy of the characters with the comedy of them. The Dame to Sister transition can sometimes miss, but here it definitely hits. Despite the rapport he has with the audience from previous years, he still manages to get the boos where deserved.
Marisa Harris is new to the line up this year, playing the wicked Baroness. She brings the role to life wonderfully and the audience love to boo her. Whilst there doesn’t quite seem to be enough evil deeds to spread between the evil trio, Harris delivers some outstanding vocals with rendition of ‘I Am Your Mother.’
Regulars Nicola Martinus-Smith and Kristian Cunningham are back. Martinus-Smith is great fun as Dandini but never quite has the rapport with Charles Ruhrmund’s Prince that you might expect. The way that her storyline is wrapped up is a fun twist to the story, building on her great chemistry with Cunningham. Cunningham always delivers a fantastic performance and the audience love him. He plays both the comedic side and the unrequited love side of the character to perfection, with strong vocals throughout. Giving him an emotional reprise of the Prince and Cinderella’s Act One love duet during the ball is a stroke of genius.
Lucy Munden plays Cinderella, alongside Ruhrmund as Prince Charming. They both give fine enough performances but neither particularly impress and neither ever particularly take command of the stage. Munden does deliver some gorgeous vocals, particularly during The Prom’s ‘I Just Wanna Dance With You’.
The music, under the supervision of Dave Culling and direction of Livs Needham, sounds phenomenal. The small band sound great and the cast are all strong vocally, with harmonies delivered with great precision. They are aided by a strong sound design from David Cooper, ensuring almost every last word is heard crystal clear.
Cinderella at Derby Arena is a lovely afternoon or evening out for all ages. It’s not necessarily the strongest pantomime we’ve seen at Derby Arena in recent years but it is still very much worth the watch.
*** Three stars
Reviewed by: Jacob Bush
Cinderella plays at Derby Arena until 31 December, with further info here.