| cinderella_programme_notes_word_2.docx |
PROGRAMME NOTES FOR THE PANTOMIME CINDERELLA
GRAND OPERA HOUSE - Saturday 17th December 1.30
The show lasts for just over 2 hours, including an interval. Please take your seats ten minutes before the show begins to hear these programme notes read out together with information on the opening scene. The au-dio description is given live and does not happen when the cast is speak-ing- only between dialogue. These programme notes were prepared by nisightlines. The audio describers today are Marie Abbott and Sara Dun-can.
Pantomime has its roots in 16th Century Commedia dell’ Arte in Italy, with performances of music, dance, outlandish costumes, broad comedy and audience participation. The pantomime story of Cinderella is now a classic Christmas family entertainment. It was first performed on stage at Covent Garden Theatre in London in 1820.
Some of the characters developed over time- with the Ugly Sisters intro-duced in 1860. The music in this show is played live, with the orchestra located in the area in front of the stage. Members of the the cast sing live on stage and have professional training in various aspects of musical theatre. The show is produced by touring company Crossroad Panto-mimes, although some of the cast are also local actors and singers.
The Set
The stage has white Grecian-style Columns on each side of the stage and a white beam high up across the stage which frames the action of the play. When we enter the theatre there is a purple gauzy screen on which hundreds of small white lights that gleam like stars.
The other sets are simpler and appear like illustrations from a children’s book. There are street scenes and costumes from a vaguely Regency pe-riod (1810-1820) with sets of large estate outside the Palace walls with gates showing trees, tall houses and fields beyond. There are also sets with interiors like a kitchen with wooden beams, and the interior of the castle, with a dance floor. Some of the images are projected on a gauzy
screen which later flies up into the area above the stage. Actors and dancers enter and leave from both sides of the stage.
The Cast and Costumes
Fairy May May McFettridge
Dandini Gyasi Sheppy
Baron Hardup Paddy Jenkins
Buttons Adam C Booth
Cinderella Kia-Paris Walcott
Vindicta Jo Donnelly (one of the ugly sisters )
Manipulata Jolene O’Hara ( one of the ugly sisters)
Prince Charming Conor Headley
Ensemble Arran Bell, Amy Cheung, Paul Dixon, Clare Gill, Angela
(8 members) Hopkinson, Luke Panchaud, Matthew Petty, Natalie
Andrea Smith.
Members of the ensemble are young actors, at an early stage in their ca-reers when they have completed their education and achieved their de-gree level qualifications. The ensemble members take roles as villagers and courtiers and sing and dance as the story unfolds. The costumes throughout the show are all very beautiful, with rich silky and satin fab-rics, lace cravats and with colourful and flamboyant designs.
May McFettridge
Belfast actor May McFettridge has been the beating heart of the Grand Opera House pantomime Dame for over 30 years, and this year she takes to the stage as the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella. She is renowned for her witticisms and hilarious banter with the audience. The Fairy God-mother is a large lady and first appears wearing a calf length pink and white flowery dress, with a full skirt and long white gloves. Her hair is fashioned with a large bun over each ear, and one on the top of her head, held in place with a glittering tiara. Her eyes are outlined with large areas of bright blue eyeshadow and she has rosy cheeks and wears bright red lipstick.
Dandini
Dandini is the servant/ companion of the Prince. This role is played by Gyasi Sheppy, a tall, slim and handsome young man with short dark wavy hair. He wears a patterned satin three-quarter length jacket over knee britches and stocking hose. Sheppy is originally from Lisburn, Co.Down and has been a presenter on CBeebies (BBC television).
Baron Hardup
Paddy Jenkins, who hails from Belfast, plays the role of Baron Hardup, fa-ther of Cinderella and the step- father of the two Ugly sisters. He has ex-tensive experience of television, theatre and film work, including shows at the Grand Opera House and the Lyric theatre . He is dressed in a long-sleeved white shirt with a ruffle cravat, a brightly coloured long waist-coat over knee breeches, stocking and silver shoes.
Buttons is played by the actor Adam C.Booth, a slim, tall young man, with short neat brown hair. In his mid thirties, Adam has extensive experi-ence in theatre, television and pantomimes. Buttons is a servant of Baron Hardup and first appears dressed in a patterned turquoise jacket and purple trousers.
Cinderella is played by young actor Kia-Paris Walcott. Kia is slim, of me-dium height with dark eyes, a wide smile and curly black hair which flows over her shoulders. She first appears wearing a calf-length bright red dress, with a laced up pink bodice worn over a white blouse.
Vindicta (one of the two Ugly sisters) is played by Jo Donnelly.
A graduate of RADA, Jo has extensive experience of performing in thea-tre, on television and on BBC radio. The two Ugly sisters always appear in matching- but not identical- costumes. They both wear huge, coloured curly wigs. When they first appear they have enormous bright blue wigs and wear yellow and green dresses. Vindicta’s outfits are always padded to make her look the larger of the sisters.
Manipulata (one of the two Ugly sisters) is played by Jolene O’Hara,
a young actor who was born and grew up in Belfast. She is tall and slim, and has not only worked in theatre, but has sung with Northern Ireland Opera and the Ulster Orchestra. Like her sister, Manipulata first appears wearing a large blue curly wig.
Prince Charming is played by Conor Headley, a young man from County Armagh. Conor is tall and fresh-faced, with short brown wavy hair. He first appears wearing a white shirt with full sleeves edged with lace. Over the shirt he wears a tunic made of rich, red patterned cloth, with gilt trims and a short cloak, worn with black leggings and boots.
Creatives
Director and choreographer Jonny Bowles
Writer Alan McHugh
Set Design Ian Westbrook
Lighting Design Ben Cracknell
Sound Design Nick Sagar
Special FX The Twins FX
Costume Design Mike Colman
Musical Supervisor Gary Hind
Musical Director Philip Shute
Associate Lighting Design Dale Driscoll
Chairman of Crossroads David Ian
Pantomimes
Chief Executive Michael Harrison
Finally, the show is only made possible by the numerous other techni-cians, construction workers, managers, wardrobe and other staff mem-bers from the company and those who work at the Grand Opera House. The list is too long to name individually.
GRAND OPERA HOUSE - Saturday 17th December 1.30
The show lasts for just over 2 hours, including an interval. Please take your seats ten minutes before the show begins to hear these programme notes read out together with information on the opening scene. The au-dio description is given live and does not happen when the cast is speak-ing- only between dialogue. These programme notes were prepared by nisightlines. The audio describers today are Marie Abbott and Sara Dun-can.
Pantomime has its roots in 16th Century Commedia dell’ Arte in Italy, with performances of music, dance, outlandish costumes, broad comedy and audience participation. The pantomime story of Cinderella is now a classic Christmas family entertainment. It was first performed on stage at Covent Garden Theatre in London in 1820.
Some of the characters developed over time- with the Ugly Sisters intro-duced in 1860. The music in this show is played live, with the orchestra located in the area in front of the stage. Members of the the cast sing live on stage and have professional training in various aspects of musical theatre. The show is produced by touring company Crossroad Panto-mimes, although some of the cast are also local actors and singers.
The Set
The stage has white Grecian-style Columns on each side of the stage and a white beam high up across the stage which frames the action of the play. When we enter the theatre there is a purple gauzy screen on which hundreds of small white lights that gleam like stars.
The other sets are simpler and appear like illustrations from a children’s book. There are street scenes and costumes from a vaguely Regency pe-riod (1810-1820) with sets of large estate outside the Palace walls with gates showing trees, tall houses and fields beyond. There are also sets with interiors like a kitchen with wooden beams, and the interior of the castle, with a dance floor. Some of the images are projected on a gauzy
screen which later flies up into the area above the stage. Actors and dancers enter and leave from both sides of the stage.
The Cast and Costumes
Fairy May May McFettridge
Dandini Gyasi Sheppy
Baron Hardup Paddy Jenkins
Buttons Adam C Booth
Cinderella Kia-Paris Walcott
Vindicta Jo Donnelly (one of the ugly sisters )
Manipulata Jolene O’Hara ( one of the ugly sisters)
Prince Charming Conor Headley
Ensemble Arran Bell, Amy Cheung, Paul Dixon, Clare Gill, Angela
(8 members) Hopkinson, Luke Panchaud, Matthew Petty, Natalie
Andrea Smith.
Members of the ensemble are young actors, at an early stage in their ca-reers when they have completed their education and achieved their de-gree level qualifications. The ensemble members take roles as villagers and courtiers and sing and dance as the story unfolds. The costumes throughout the show are all very beautiful, with rich silky and satin fab-rics, lace cravats and with colourful and flamboyant designs.
May McFettridge
Belfast actor May McFettridge has been the beating heart of the Grand Opera House pantomime Dame for over 30 years, and this year she takes to the stage as the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella. She is renowned for her witticisms and hilarious banter with the audience. The Fairy God-mother is a large lady and first appears wearing a calf length pink and white flowery dress, with a full skirt and long white gloves. Her hair is fashioned with a large bun over each ear, and one on the top of her head, held in place with a glittering tiara. Her eyes are outlined with large areas of bright blue eyeshadow and she has rosy cheeks and wears bright red lipstick.
Dandini
Dandini is the servant/ companion of the Prince. This role is played by Gyasi Sheppy, a tall, slim and handsome young man with short dark wavy hair. He wears a patterned satin three-quarter length jacket over knee britches and stocking hose. Sheppy is originally from Lisburn, Co.Down and has been a presenter on CBeebies (BBC television).
Baron Hardup
Paddy Jenkins, who hails from Belfast, plays the role of Baron Hardup, fa-ther of Cinderella and the step- father of the two Ugly sisters. He has ex-tensive experience of television, theatre and film work, including shows at the Grand Opera House and the Lyric theatre . He is dressed in a long-sleeved white shirt with a ruffle cravat, a brightly coloured long waist-coat over knee breeches, stocking and silver shoes.
Buttons is played by the actor Adam C.Booth, a slim, tall young man, with short neat brown hair. In his mid thirties, Adam has extensive experi-ence in theatre, television and pantomimes. Buttons is a servant of Baron Hardup and first appears dressed in a patterned turquoise jacket and purple trousers.
Cinderella is played by young actor Kia-Paris Walcott. Kia is slim, of me-dium height with dark eyes, a wide smile and curly black hair which flows over her shoulders. She first appears wearing a calf-length bright red dress, with a laced up pink bodice worn over a white blouse.
Vindicta (one of the two Ugly sisters) is played by Jo Donnelly.
A graduate of RADA, Jo has extensive experience of performing in thea-tre, on television and on BBC radio. The two Ugly sisters always appear in matching- but not identical- costumes. They both wear huge, coloured curly wigs. When they first appear they have enormous bright blue wigs and wear yellow and green dresses. Vindicta’s outfits are always padded to make her look the larger of the sisters.
Manipulata (one of the two Ugly sisters) is played by Jolene O’Hara,
a young actor who was born and grew up in Belfast. She is tall and slim, and has not only worked in theatre, but has sung with Northern Ireland Opera and the Ulster Orchestra. Like her sister, Manipulata first appears wearing a large blue curly wig.
Prince Charming is played by Conor Headley, a young man from County Armagh. Conor is tall and fresh-faced, with short brown wavy hair. He first appears wearing a white shirt with full sleeves edged with lace. Over the shirt he wears a tunic made of rich, red patterned cloth, with gilt trims and a short cloak, worn with black leggings and boots.
Creatives
Director and choreographer Jonny Bowles
Writer Alan McHugh
Set Design Ian Westbrook
Lighting Design Ben Cracknell
Sound Design Nick Sagar
Special FX The Twins FX
Costume Design Mike Colman
Musical Supervisor Gary Hind
Musical Director Philip Shute
Associate Lighting Design Dale Driscoll
Chairman of Crossroads David Ian
Pantomimes
Chief Executive Michael Harrison
Finally, the show is only made possible by the numerous other techni-cians, construction workers, managers, wardrobe and other staff mem-bers from the company and those who work at the Grand Opera House. The list is too long to name individually.
