Reviews 2003
Reviews 2003
✭✭✩✩✩
by Malcolm Heenman, directed by Jim Warren
Ross Petty Productions, Elgin Theatre, Toronto
December 2-30, 2003
After last year's Robin Hood, one of Ross Petty's best ever panto productions, this year's Cinderella is a disappointment. It's certainly not the fault of the starry cast Petty has assembled--Jennifer Gould, the delightful Gigi at Stratford this year; Adam Brazier and Mary Ellen Mahoney, the original Sky and Tanya of Toronto's Mamma Mia; Cliff Saunders, La Fou of Beauty and the Beast, and Jonathan Wilson, Timon of The Lion King, not to mention former radio queen Erin Davis. With so much talent on tap, what could go wrong?
Well, for one thing, the writing; for another, the music. The hour-long first act limps along with a plot detailing the decline of diseased pumpkin crops in Pumpkinville as if the show were a parable about the virtues of genetically modified food. Far from downtrodden, Cinders is so plucky and environmentally aware, there's little to cheer or boo about. Twelve-year-old Ryan accompanying this reviewer is right that this panto "just wasn't as funny as the others". The lame jokes aren't bad enough to groan at and political comment for the adults, in a year with so much potential, is strangely lacking. Except for "Ladies' Night" and "I Feel Pretty" for Cinders' step-relatives, the songs chosen are unmemorable. Only with the truly exciting transformation scene concluding Act 1 does the show finally get going. But by then it’s half over.
Ross Petty has vamped it up more as Captain Hook than as the Evil Stepmother. Don Harron playing Charlie Farquharson playing Cinders' father never quite fits in. On the other hand, Saunders (Buttons) when he's revved up is like a live-action Looney Tune. Davis (the Fairy Godmother) is a benign presence, smart ad-libber and she can sing. Brazier and Gould rise above the mediocre material with that magical power called charisma.
©Christopher Hoile
Note: A version of this review appeared in Eye Weekly 2003-12-11.
Photo: Ross Petty, Don Harron, Adam Brazier and Jennifer Gould. ©2003 Ross Petty Productions.
2003-12-11
Cinderella: The Sparkling Family Musical