The delight at being inside a theatre again was palpable. Even the initial dimming of the lights got a round of applause.
This may have something to do with the eager expectancy of the young, not to mention those among us in the youthfully-challenged category — it’s panto time!
And we were not to be disappointed as the Thomson-Leng Musical Society’s version of Sleeping Beauty burst into action with a rousing Rhythm of the Night.
This set the tone with a cornucopia of hits (well, it is a musical society after all) punctuated with a bit of a story.
Witches, fairies, cats – even rats
It is panto with a capital T for traditional — Queen Dotty is played by a man, Prince Orlando is a woman.
There are fairies, the good witch, the bad witch, a couple of cats (one with a good command of the English language) and a few rats thrown in for good measure.
This was a remarkable first-night performance (first night for two years, in fact) with a high standard of movement and song.
The kids loved it
With an ensemble of over 40, it’s not an easy task to keep in step, but the routines were error-free without a recalcitrant hand or foot — plaudits must go to choreographer Donna Reilly and musical director Billy Muir, with the whole shebang under director Donna Bell.
Success, of course, is measured by the reaction of the kids, and, boy, did they love it, if the decibel level is any indication.
Karla Geekie, as palace dogsbody Billie, sets the ball rolling with superb handling of the audience, aided and abetted by Tom Richmond as everyone’s favourite “dame”.
Tom is completely at ease as the OTT Queen Dotty with just enough innuendo to have the not-so-young sniggering into their masks.
But it is the appearance of “she who must not be named” (it’s Carabosse, by the way) that sets the youngsters into frenzied “boo” mode.
All the traditional panto ingredients
Louise Middleton as the evil witch and Connie Uribe as her henchcat Spindleshanks, the magical talking puss, exude electricity at every appearance.
But, of course, Fairy Peaceful, a subtle tongue-in-cheek performance from Kirsty Beaumont, sees the baddies off in traditional panto style.
Terri Milne is delightful as Princes Aurora, whose unfortunate encounter with a cursed spinning wheel needle sets her off on a deep sleep for 100 years.
There’s even some Bill Haley
But, of course, in this fast forward age, we get to witness the inevitable happy ending with her intended’s ancestor, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the original Prince Orlando.
Emily Easton, as the prince, shows her versatility in both lullaby and rock which epitomises the musical contributions from the entire cast.
The young group members set the joint shakin’, rattlin’ and rollin’ with a fab routine to the Bill Haley hit that was in the charts before they were born — correction, before their parents were born!
A vivid finale
And the routines come thick and fast, before one of the most colourful finales ever seen on the Gardyne stage.
Accompanied by a Fab Four in the pit, the cast take their bow to Shut Up and Dance dressed in a glittering array of matching costumes that would outdo many a professional production.
Sleeping Beauty is a bit of a misnomer for sleeping is not an option — it is loud, colourful, vibrant and totally entertaining.
Sleeping Beauty continues until this weekend with two shows on Saturday and Sunday.
