A truly hair-larious take on the classic tale: Rapunzel has never been funnier!
Rapunzel is a classic fairy tale which I’ve seen become more popular as a pantomime throughout the more recent years. The story follows a young girl named Rapunzel, with magical golden hair who is imprisoned into a tall tower by Gothel so that her magical powers can be used for evil deeds.
This production in Spalding is a collaboration between Polka Dot Pantomimes and South Holland Centre. Polka Dot Pantomimes have been spreading Christmas pantomime cheer at the South Holland Centre for years now, bringing high quality pantomime content to many theatres across Lincolnshire and other counties. Similarly, the South Holland Centre produces strong, talented shows year round: with a very impressive programme of shows. With an exceptionally talented cast, the show was bound to be enjoyable!
The show makes use of clever lighting and props to tell its story: transport the audience into the world of the story. Alongside this, the costumes are striking and help to sell the whole show to the entire family. All the music choices were well chosen and worked well. Similarly, the puppetry of Rapunzel’s chameleon friend was enjoyable and added extra value to the entire show. The ensemble consists of Kinzi Stokes, Olivia Barron Clark, Douglas Filipe Silveria and Cameron Stroll who all have strong talents of their own: especially in their dancing. They showed how talented they were as dancers throughout and made great use of their skills.
Steve Low plays King Crumble, a king who is eagerly seeking his daughter and also ruling at the same time. He was great as the ruler of the land and was able to show both humour and being noble throughout the show. Low worked well as a more grounded character amongst overly funny characters which was great to see.
Alice Murray plays Fairy Rose who seeks to help protect the cast from the wicked, mean Gothel. Her rhymes were well received by the audience and the special effects each time she arrived work well. Murray’s voice alongside Baxter’s voice was beautiful and made for a great harmony.
Amanda Board-Salmon plays Gothel, the wicked witch who captures and keeps Rapunzel locked away. Board-Salmon understood what makes a great pantomime villain: making the audience constantly boo and root against her. She was also great in more comedic moments alongside Adams and Sedgwick which helped to give her more character.
AJ Adams plays Loopy Louis, the son of the infamous Betty Bouffant and the village clown. Adams had the audience laughing each time he appeared on stage. His dynamic with Sedgwick was brilliant and the chemistry between the two was spot on: making for a great comedy duo throughout the entire show.
Suryan Hadrick plays Flynn Rider, a young man who falls head over heels for the loveable Rapunzel. I thoroughly enjoyed how Flynn was a bit overly obsessed with Take That, allowing him to sing their songs multiple times. Hadrick’s voice was fantastic in Back for Good: really being a highlight of the first act overall!
Nick Sedgwick plays Betty Bouffant, the hair-larious pantomime dame who we all enjoy each and every year. Alongside Adams, Sedgwick worked really well to add lots of comedy moments. Sedgwick also understood the importance of audience participation, making us join in each time she appeared on stage.
Sophie Baxter plays Rapunzel, the loveable fun young girl at the centre of this exciting tale. Baxter was great at playing the innocence of Rapunzel whilst also adding a lot of character. Her voice was also mesmerising throughout the songs she got to sing: captivating the audience throughout the production. I especially liked Baxter’s rendition of ‘The Life I Never Led’ which I also heard earlier this year in Cambridge’s Sleeping Beauty: both versions being beautiful! You couldn’t ask for a better Rapunzel for this show!
Rapunzel continues to let her hair down until 30th December. Book your tickets now!
Max
Leave a Reply