The cast of Hansel and Gretel, at the IW Community Club, Cowes. Picture by Robin Crossley.
STAGE REVIEWMADNESS and mayhem are essential panto ingredients and the Panto Players’ production of Hansel and Gretel, at the IW Community Club, Cowes, had plenty of both.
This is a true community group, with more enthusiasm and energy than polish or professionalism, providing an evening of good, old-fashioned fun and frolics. The jokes were sometimes feeble and the songs sometimes tuneless but a good time was had by audience and cast alike.
The cast came in all shapes and sizes — impossibly tall skinny ones, short and not-so-skinny ones, young ones, old ones. They all seemed to be having a cracking good time.
Happily, Thomas Spicer was back after last year’s triumph as Wishy Washee in Aladdin. This year he played Scott, opposite Chloe Whillier as Gretel. He is the sort of natural comic who only has to raise an eyebrow to get the audience screeching with laughter.
Chloe is another young star, with a heavenly singing voice and great stage presence. At just 15, she has already appeared in six Panto Players’ productions.
Richard John as Madame Melba made a terrific dame and her beau, Garry Baldi (Robert Redhead) managed to keep a straight face during a side-splitting duet, one of the highlights of the show.
Beverley Vaughan was delightful as Melba’s winsome daughter, Cherry. She also deserved congratulations for her work as wardrobe mistress, producing fabulously outlandish outfits for most of the cast.
Eileen Flux and Sue Waters hammed it up as a pair of hopelessly incompetent PCs, while Julie Jeffers and Ray Munt shone as brainless mafia-style villains.
The Conway family deserve a special mention, with dad Mike making his stage debut as mobster boss Frank Gipani and mum Sharon and daughter Charlotte in the chorus.
Another brave debut was from Paul Rolfe as Hansel. On the opening night, he seemed a little stagestruck but he got full marks for pluck.
Congratulations are also due to director Dominic Myers, for pulling off another riotous show.