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The Great Gidding Village
Hall resonated to bangs and pyrotechnical poofs at the end of
February as Aladdin went West in the Gidding
Players' annual Pantomime.
For the last 2 years your pundit has
managed (arranged?) to be away at this time of the year, so
it was with some trepidation
that he buckled to see this offering. Despite some flatness redolent
of the plains out west, your scribe was not to be disappointed.
He found more improvements than just a better glass of wine and
the arrival of well-timed sound-effects technology. The Gidding
Gang (aka the GGs) were in the pink (as was Steve Smith, director
turned camp actor, as the Lone Ranger) with an updated 1984 script
(does anyone recollect that?) and a show that was often larger
than the stage.
Flash was the star GG gee gee; not only was the
funny business very well dressaged, but one could only admire
the talent of
someone who could produce such fun whilst looking like the
back end of
a horse! We never saw the front-end unhorsed, as far as we
know, even in the finale - maybe because Sue Marshall wanted to
leave
the law enforcement limelight to John Deval as the excellent
rough, tough and gruff Sheriff who kept the show and the bad
Pete trio
in order. John's efforts, though, did not prevent the downed
(thrown) duck from scoring a hit on Tony Scott the gambler
and his [cue?]
cards. Even the skill of fielding a cast of 28 (including
an eyeful of sparkling bargirls) was insufficient to cover all
the roles
in
the show. The eagle-eyed amongst us spotted the duplicity of
one of the team ably switching from an awful aussie (accent)
role to
a similarly awful American one (both recognisable under-the-wood,
but far from wooden, as the man himself). To offset the lip-smacking
American drawls and twangs, eagle feathers crowned a fleet-of-dancing-foot
and northern-accented Tonto, whilst the Brum Aladdin brought
a shine to us as well as the lamp.
It would have been unrealistic,
perhaps, to have wanted to have seen more of 'Annie Oakley's
my name, shooting's my game'
- the
stage roof would have had to be raised if Mary Read had been
any taller or had had any more 'wow' factor. The youth of
the cast
were all great, from the fey Nigel (Himesh Patel) to the
skull-capped bartender (Sam Read) who wielded a fine screwdriver
- and to
whom I am eternally grateful for polishing my collection
of tankards both during rehearsals and on the first night, during
matinee
and
on the last night!
In this litany of too many to mention,
I must nevertheless mention Bad Pete (Martyn King) who was V
good, Ian as the
naughty dame
Widow Twanky (although I am still thinking about the brief
flash of his/her briefs), and Maggi Stewart as Doc Holliday,
not least
for her opening monologue delivered with panache without
any nervous checking if her moustache was in place. Keep
it up
GGs and we look
forward to when Flash rides again.
John Pye - February 05 Top
Well, it was a damn good night's entertainment
and that's official because I heard two other women as well as
myself asking "have I got all black under my eyes?"
These pantos really do just get better and better.
There wasn't a single dud bit of acting - there was just star upon
star unfolding with a flash, bang and poof! I mean, we know that
all the usual suspects are just fab but what a sensational new
star Martyn King as Bad
Pete has turned out to be - those spittin'
eyes had me mesmerised - and what a sexy stunner Mary
Read as Annie
Oakley was – endless talent, endless legs (came dangerously close
to not hiding her light under a bushel at one point).
Himesh's Nigel was just wicked – as was all the young talent – and just
when you thought the panto couldn't possibly surprise us with further
outstanding talent, the Lone Ranger exploded onto the stage. There
were absolutely loads of best bits all the way through but this
trio (Steve Smith – Lone
Ranger, Lyn
Jones – Tonto and Lyn Smith – Aladdin) sang and performed so professionally it was like sitting
in a West End show. The nice thing too was that everyone got a
part - even the prompt got shot at during the evening.
Now... have
we forgotten anyone? FLASH (aha). I said to Deni after the show
that if I hadn't known she was the back end of the horse (being
polite now) I would have guessed because she acted the 'bottom'
off it. And it's a great compliment – to animate a piece
of brown cloth and manage to fill the audience with such delight
is true
talent (and not to be missed were the four strappy little high
heels that Flash changed into for curtain down).
Everything gelled
– great acting, witty lines, fantastic costumes, great sounds,
and (ahem) wonderful scenery made it one of the best
ever. Shep, Deni & John, you must all be feeling very proud.
Krystyna Wojcik - February
05 Top
View previous Great Gidding
Panto photos:
Peter
Pan -
March 2004
Wizard
of Oz Panto - March 2003
Cinderella -
March 2002
February
05 Top |
