Skip to main content

Review of Cinderella at Milton Keynes Theatre

For Milton Keynes Theatre's 2023 pantomime, production company Crossroads has come up with its take on the classic story of Cinderella. Often told, and a panto staple of many a theatre this year, it is required to come up with a spin or two to make it stand out from the pack. However, does it have enough fresh ideas and lavishness to be the big MK Theatre show of 2023?

Fortunately, the answer is yes, but perhaps only for one reason, heading the cast, and the only big name in the cast, is vintage treat Brian Conley, and what a treat he is. To say that the success and failure of Cinderella rests on Conley's shoulders is no understatement, as other than his presence, and the admittedly lavish looks of the set and show in general, this production is nowhere near of the quality for such a big theatre.

The personalities of the rest of the cast are by the numbers sadly, with just a couple of exceptions. The Fairy Godmother played by Lucy Conley (daughter of Brian) is excellent. Her character, in a neat This Wonderful Life twist, is known as Fairy 312 and much like Clarence in that film, is looking to gain her wings. Lucy Conley gives an excellent performance, is strong in personality, has a delightful singing voice and is captivating on stage, for a performer so young, her talent is strong. Cinderella is played with a lot of charm by Sarah Vaughn as well, and it gives one of the strongest performances in the show, especially in several lovely duets.

Elsewhere though, the performances and characters are a disappointment. James Darch's Prince Charming is rather one-dimensional, boring in fact, offering little personality to his performance. Owen Stringer's Dandina has little of the fun and enthusiasm you would expect from the role, and if anything, is played more like the prince than his manservant.

Cinderella's step-sisters, Tess and Claudia (yes, there is a loose Strictly Come Dancing theme going on in the script) are sadly disappointing. Nowhere near as bold, brash and evil as you want, and while they have a mixture of the usual outlandish costumes, many of them are a disappointment as well. Sadly also, their repetitive "ain't we gorgeous", and "suit yourself" every time they arrive on stage is delivered in a boring monotone that quickly begins to grate. Finally, and very surprisingly, the cast of characters has dispersed on Baron Hardup altogether for seemingly no reason whatsoever, other than to maybe cut the cast numbers.

All of this negativity you could be mistaken for thinking this show is not going to come recommended. However, you would be wrong, as it is time to return to the star of the show, a certain Brian Conley. He is exceptionally good, back to his heydays that many of the older members, myself included, remember. Thankfully though, we only get four, rather incongruous exclamations of "it's a puppet", the rest of the material is golden and Conley delivers it superbly. When he looks out proudly at the audience's reaction to his advert jingles, he delivers to perfection a comment about his main fanbase statistically being dead in five years. It makes us feel old, but, we are relishing every moment before our impending demise.

Beyond the superb Brian Conley, the show itself looks gorgeous, with brilliant sets, costumes, some excellent set pieces and tricks and an amazing end to act one, made better for being, in my case, seated in the third row. The script has plenty of fun with the local area, including a superb Alexa joke. Some of the selections of tunes are good, some less so, and the opening Milton Keynes one is perhaps great simply because of how bizarre it is.

Cinderella is recommended despite much of the show being slightly disappointing. simply because Conley is on fire in this. Never have I seen someone dominate a panto in such a way, and he is, without any question at all, simply brilliant. Try to grab a ticket to the Milton Keynes ball if you can.

A lavish-looking panto with a tremendous, show-stealing performance by Brian Conley.

Performance reviewed: Tuesday 13th December 2022 at the Milton Keynes Theatre, Milton Keynes.

Cinderella
 runs at Milton Keynes Theatre until Sunday 14th January 2023.

For further details about Milton Keynes see their website at http://www.atgtickets.com/venues/milton-keynes-theatre/



Popular posts from this blog

Review of a A Taste of Honey at Stantonbury Theatre, Milton Keynes

Written by Shelagh Delaney in 1958 at just nineteen, A Taste of Honey was a ground-breaking depiction of modern society, falling very much into the "kitchen-sink" genre, fast developing with writers within the world of British theatre during the fifties. Dealing with a multitude of themes including class, race, age of sexual consent, gender, sexual orientation and illegitimacy, it has rightfully become a legend of theatre. However, almost seventy years later, does this play still resonate with audiences and have a place in modern theatres? The play, set in 1950s Salford, tells of teenager Jo and her mother Helen moving from one rough lodge to another as either rent becomes due or Helen needs to escape another failing relationship. With Jo approaching school leaving age, Helen sees the time is right to abandon her to the world and move on with her own life. When watching A Taste of Honey , you can imagine the controversy surrounding its original release. The content is provoc...

Review of War Horse at Milton Keynes Theatre

Michael Morpurgo's novel War Horse was published in 1982. While it was highly regarded and thought to be his best work, perhaps it eventually came to most people's attention when this striking play stormed the stage, thanks to the National Theatre, back in 2007. Now, War Horse arrives at Milton Keynes Theatre as part of another vast UK tour. Adapted by Nick Stafford in association with the award-winning Handspring Puppet Company, War Horse tells the story of the First World War through the eyes of one horse, Joey, sold for a record price from a family battle but eventually shipped off to war-torn France much to the distress of his original owner, 16-year old Albert. The sprawling and epic story should take some staging, but the vast cast, beautiful structure, stunning folk music and, of course, what this play has become known for, magnificent puppetry, all bring the story to life. This production, directed by Tom Morris and revival director Katie Henry, is a magnificent thin...

Review of Murder She Didn't Write at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Murder She Didn't Write , stopping off for a four-day run at Royal & Derngate on a lengthy UK tour, treads the now well-worn path of an improvisational evening of theatre entertainment. Unsurprisingly, from the title, this show from Degrees of Error's takes a murder mystery as its inspiration, with the story influenced by ideas from the audience each evening. Due to this, Murder She Didn't Write and a review are very much an individual affair. What I saw in my evening at the theatre will differ significantly from what the audience will see the following evening; however, the fine performers will remain. The touring cast, in no particular order, is Lizzy Skrzypiec, Rachael Procter-Lane, Peter Baker, Caitlin Campbell, Stephen Clements, Douglas Walker, Harry Allmark, Rosalind Beeson, Sylvia Bishop, Emily Brady, Alice Lamb, Sara Garrard, Peta Maurice and Matthew Whittle. For my performance, Skrzypiec, Procter-Lane, Baker, Walker, Bishop, and Clements were on stage alongsid...