Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – Floral Pavilion, New Brighton

Book/Original Songs: David Lee

Director: Aiden Bell

Reviewer: John Roberts

Everybody knows the story of Snow White, a young princess who after her mother dies, her evil stepmother sends her out into the forest with a henchman to be killed, unbeknown to the Evil Queen, the henchman can’t bring it upon himself to kill her but instead sets her free. Here Snow falls upon the hospitality of seven dwarfs. Hearing through her magic mirror the queen realises Snow White is not dead and sets about a plot to kill her through poisoning an apple and tricking her into taking a bite. After the bite she lies in a state of stillness until her one true love kisses her and awakens her from the spell.

Pantoni productions have stepped up a gear from last year’s horrendous production of Sleeping Beauty and have given the folk of the Wirral the pantomime version of the classic tale…but like last year’s production it just doesn’t shine out, with many of the productions elements falling miserably short of the mark.

The first thing that struck me which for a theatre of this size, is the issue with sightlines, where we were sat, so much of stage right was out of view completely meaning the whole rope routine through the pantomime was lost from the go, the second element was the set, it felt and looked knocked together, the Queens Parlour being possibly the worst of a bad bunch.

Where this production really falls down is in its lacklustre direction and badly written script, the cast do an admirable job and try to push through with decent performances but even an Oscar winner can only go so far when the material they are given is not up to par. David Lee’s (Owner of Pantoni) script is bitty and doesn’t really flow, the scenes of the script seem disjointed and the flow of the text bitty and this is due to the vast majority of the character’s text coming from recorded dialogue for the costume characters, this really puts a barrier up for the audience in trying to connect emotionally with the characters, a very bad decision as the kids across the water in Peter Pan really shine when given the opportunity to perform. Bell’s direction is messy and lacks any real energy and the ‘Messy’ scene which should be one of the shows biggest highlights is just plain awful!

The cast is the strongest suit in this production, Pauline Daniels is glamorously evil as the Wicked Queen relishing her every line, it is a pity that her big number at the top of Act 2 is ruined by a bad sound mix (which is constantly bad from the off) meaning you couldn’t hear her over the over powerful two piece band. Pete Price although not an actor by any stretch of the imagination actually manages to gain a good rapport with the audience as court jester Muddles and there is a great Dame in Roy Brandon as Nurse Glucose.

They may not have wowed in Eurovision but out of the shows ‘Stars’ is Russ Spencer and Caroline Barnes from Scooch. Russ is what every Prince should be charming, lots of boyish energy and a good voice to match. Caroline as Fairy Snowflake packs in lots of enthusiasm in her role as guide and narrator of the production and with a smile as dazzling as her twinkling costume she never fails to light the stage.

Making her pantomime debut in the lead role is Kate Mellors who is a warm and caring Snow who has a beautiful and lyrical voice to match her on stage persona. Adam Curtis as The Royal Tax Collector is also very strong in his likeable baddie role which he carries off with real panache. Big congratulations must also be given to The Rita Proctor Dancers and The Children from The Liverpool Theatre School who constantly give outstanding and faultless performances and give the stars a real run for their money!

It is a pity that yet again this production fails to hit the mark, the Pavilion really is one of the nicest theatres in the North West and with some of the friendliest staff to boot. It is a shame that the Pantoni don’t seem to realise it and this shows by the second rate production values which they have given again to the people of the Wirral – lets hope bigger and better things are in the pipeline for the future!