The Regent Theatres 2021 pantomime Cinderella had it all, laughter, tears, audience participation and, to top it off – a sense of community.
It’s been two years since we last were able to attend an in-person panto, so it was fantastic to be invited along to The Regent Theatre for the opening night of their 2021 pantomime – Cinderella!
The panto at the Regent Theatre has been a double act of Jonathan Wilkes and Christian Patterson for many years. Other towns bring in different actors each year; however, this tried and tested combo seems to hit the spot every year. This long-running relationship gives a real sense of familiarity. If you’ve been before, you’ll know the “in-jokes” to look out for, and there’s no shortage of them in 2021!
Jonathan Wilkes and Christian Patterson reprised the roles they’d played in 2016, Wilkes as the love-struck Buttons and Patterson as the panto dame Baroness Heifer Hardup.
Wilkes and Patterson have worked on pantos for 14 years, and once again, the chemistry between the two was clear to see. The looks, the quips and hand slaps show what a perfect panto partnership they have.
Naomi Slights took the title role of Cinderella, giving a sweet and beautifully whimsical portrayal of the downtrodden sister who rises to become a princess. Aided on her journey by a magical performance from Olympia Curry as the Fairy Godmother as Cinderella overcomes her mean sisters Stacey (Viven Parry) and Nessa (Annie Wensak).
Panto regular Kai Owens returns in 2021 as Dandini, Prince Charming’s (Ryan Jupp) manservant. Both gave solid performances with strong vocals and excellent comedic line delivery.
Watching Kai, Jonny and Christian lead us in the 12 days of Christmas was an absolute roof lifter; the audience lapped it up, sang along and dodged the arsenal unleashed on them!
For 2021 there are some Covid changes, face coverings needing to be worn for instance, and this sadly removed some of the core elements of a Wilkes and Patterson panto. However, the guys did a great job of acknowledging the restrictions and still ensured that everyone had lots of fun!
The pre-interval closing scene is once again a spectacle to behold; we won’t spoil any surprises here but if you’re going with kids, get ready to watch their faces as Cinderella heads off to the ball!
Cinderella had precisely what you’d expect from a panto, innuendo, topical jokes, jibes at the other nearby towns, Stoke / Port Vale banter and lots of singing, dancing and laughs!
It was only sitting at the pantomime that we realised how much we’d missed it. Live theatre, live music, family and friends – despite the facemasks being used, you could see that families young and old had come along to be entertained and they didn’t leave disappointed!
As the curtain came down, Jonny and Christian addressed THEIR audience. It’s clear from both sides of the theatre that the audience needs the cast just as much as the cast needs the audience. Emotional closing speeches, tears, rapturous standing ovations and a jolly good sing-along closed off what was an amazing, memory-making family event.
If you want to do something this Christmas with your family, then we wholeheartedly recommend going along for yourselves.
Tickets for Cinderella are on sale at www.atgtickets.com/stoke* or when you call 0844 871 7615*. Exclusive offers are also available to TheatreCard holders.
1 comment
Christine N
Great show again and the combination of the much loved members of the show always make it a really great family event. So much hard work and energy and it seems clear that ‘the team’ enjoy it as much as we, the audience do. Thanks to everyone involved particularly Jonathan and Christian and yes Cinderella’s departure to the ball was fantastic!