Christmas entertainment

I went along to the Regent with my husband and two grandsons to see Snow White. We were all really looking forward to it and weren't disappointed. The scene was set for us by Fairy Kindheart who told of Snow White living in the castle with her wicked stepmother the Queen. The Queen believed she was the most beautiful person in the land and regularly turned to her magic mirror to confirm this.

The well-known story was then enacted for us by an excellent dancers, singers, children and assorted characters. Dame Donut and her son Muddles (played by Malcolm Lord and Richard Cadell) both kept up an excellent rapport with the audience. They bounced off each other beautifully keeping the audience in stitches.

Dame Donut had a vast array of outlandish, eccentric and wonderful costumes, some of which displayed a fabulous pair of legs etc. Muddles was multi-talented, bringing the audience to life with his clowning around and clever magic session with the ever popular Sooty.

Snow White (Simone Craddock) and Prince Danilo of Darah (Sean Smith) made a truly handsome pair and both have excellent singing voices.

The Seven Dwarfs called Growler (the leader), Smiler, Goody, Dozy, Shabby, Lazy and Sneezer all portrayed their characters brilliantly. Of course everyone has a favourite and ours was Dozy, the one who always gets it wrong and makes the audience hoot with laughter.

Sooty popped up in various situations adding amusement and enjoyment for children of all ages. Sweep made a very brief appearance towards the end which was well received.

The star of the show is Queen Esmeralda - the wicked stepmother played by the talented actress Anita Dobson who brought drama to the production. Her performance was gorgeously wicked and wickedly gorgeous. This truly outstanding performance portraying jealousy and envy enticed the audience to boo and hiss as she gyrated around the stage bringing fear and dread to all.

Anita Dobson with Richard from 2.

Add to this an excellent ensemble of singers and dancers and a chorus of Babes who enthuse energy and talent, very imaginative lighting and sound and you have the perfect recipe for a great evenings entertainment.

From the child’s perspective here are comments from my grandsons.

Daniel (aged 12) "My favourite part was when the dwarfs came on the stage and I liked it when they did acrobatics. I also liked the part when the wicked queen looked into the mirror and it shattered. Sooty's magic show had me guessing and I still can't work out how it was done. Dame Donut and Muddles in their bedrooms with the beds going in and out of the wall and the spider coming down was really funny. I think the whole show was cool."

Brad (aged 9) "I think the funniest part was when Dame Donut did a striptease and all her clothes as she took them off were on a washing line. The cleverest part was when the wicked queen was changed into the old woman. I don't know how it was done, I think they used a different person. I also like the sparkly fountains after the queen sang her rap song, which was wicked! Dame Donut was funny when she threw doughnuts from the stage and Muddles tried to wet the people at the front with his water pistols. I was disappointed that we were too far away to catch a doughnut or get wet. I enjoyed the panto very much."

Snow White runs until the 7th of January 2007 - for full details visit The Regent's website using the weblink on the right>>