ST PAUL’S PLAYERS PRESENTS
DICK WHITTINGTON
27TH DECEMBER 2008 - 3RD JANUARY 2009
THE PRODUCTION TEAM DIRECTOR- Graham Cohen PRODUCER- Judith Armstrong CHOREOGRAPHER- Julia M. Salvage
THE CAST DICK WHITTINGTON- Jane Catterall ALICE- Lily Blundell DOLLY DUMPLING- Graham Cohen IDLE JACK- Keiron Garlick ALDERMAN FITZWARREN- David Greenfield TOM (CAT)- Emily Heeks CAPTAIN CUTTLEFISH- Phil Armstrong SCUPPER- Leanne Romney FAIRY BOWBELLS- Kathleen Ashworth KING RAT- Rob Armstrong THE SULTAN OF MOROCCO- Stephen Huyton GUARD- Ryan Greenfield
DANCERS Bethany Alty, Amy Davis, Georgia Cohen, Harry Cohen, Beth Fletcher, Lily Fothergill, Tom Forthergill, Joe Harrison, Poppy Leyland, Gabi Locke, Georgia Locke, Rebecca McDonnell, Evie Nolan, Claire O’Donnell, Nicole Stevens & Katie Stewart
CHORUS Harriet Byron, Beth Fishwick, Daisy Fletcher, Leona Gasztowicz, Andrew Leyland, Abby Shovelton, Christopher Taylor & Emily Waldram
BOLTON EVENING POST REVIEW If you haven’t seen a traditional pantomime yet this Christmas then this very well performed production should fit the bill perfectly. It has all the right ingredients for family fun, including a touch of slapstick, innuendo that goes completely over the children’s heads, and a liberal smattering of cheesy jokes that had the audience in stitches. A great deal of the humour was delivered, in expert fashion, by Keiron Gralick, who played Idle Jack. Graham Cohen, the show’s director, also gave a fantastic performance as the panto’s dame, Dolly Dumpling, helping to move the production along at a swift pace. In true panto style, Dick Whittington is played by a girl dressed as a boy — Jane Catterall. And the obligatory boos and hisses were reserved for Rob Armstrong, who played a suitably sinister King Rat. A fun sing-along song, complete with actions, demanded full audience participation, enabling us to work off a few of those Christmas chocolates and have a giggle at the same time. St Pauls Players always put a great deal of effort into their productions and it was great to see their younger members treading the boards as dancers, chorus and, stealing the show, the baby rats. The costumes and sets were super and it was clear to see a lot of work had been done behind the scenes to ensure this panto was a winner. There was plenty of singing and dancing to enjoy and Lily Blundell’s voice — she was Dick’s love interest Alice — was a delight. It’s a fairly lengthy production, but the scenes are fast moving and fun so it was finale time before we knew it. You can always count on children to be honest and my nine-year-old nephew Liam’s verdict says it all: “I can’t tell you which was the best bit — it was all so good.”
NODA REVIEW This pantomime, like many these days, used taped music which takes something away from the show: musicians cost money but do add a great deal.The set was smashing and Howard Bates deserves congratulating again. He is one of the best scenic artists I know. Well done. When a director also takes a main role, be it pantomime, musical or play, something is always not 100 per cent, whether it is the acting, the direction, or just the pace and blocking – no one can be in two places at once. We had two very good principal boy and girl in Lily Blundell, who played Alice, and Jane Catterall, who was Dick. Unfortunately, Dick was quite a bit taller than Alice, and the pairing did not work, although they both acted and sang very well indeed.Little and Large was not a problem for the comedy duo of Phil Armstrong, who played the Captain and Scupper, played by Leanne Romney. If anything, the height difference helped in this case, and both gave good performances.Emily Heeks played Tom, the Cat, like a cat from the musical Cats, standing upright all the time. This does not get the children’s imagination going as much as when the cat is on all fours. The Dame, played by Graham Cohen, looked the part but his performance was on too much on the same level, much like Idle Jack, played by Keiron Garlick, who had a scene which was just stand-up comedy. This did not fit in and unfortunately there was a tendency to use the words “boys and girls” in every sentence to the extent that it became annoying.The star of the evening was Rob Armstrong whose King Rat was spot on: not the normal King Rat but a rat in a bowler hat – and I loved the tail.There were lovely costumes throughout, well done, to all concerned.
by Twitter Backgrounds