Michelle Yu as Cinderella with her woodland friends. Photo by Stoo Metz.
Neptune Theatre’s hit British-style holiday pantomime Cinderella, written by Jeremy Webb and directed and choreographed by Stephanie Graham, is back with some new cast members and a few updates. It plays on Neptune’s Fountain Hall stage until January 7, 2024.
The British Pantomime has a long history dating back to the Mummers Play of the Middle Ages, which was also usually performed at Christmastime. Here, a well-known legend was adapted to include stage fighting, risqué humour, gender role reversals, imaginary or magical characters, and a plot that included the good triumphing over evil. The characters in pantomimes were also influenced by the archetypical characters in Italian Commedia Dell’Arte, especially Harlequin, who became the male romantic lead, but also the Clown character who uses broad slapstick humour. Tavern Bilkers by John Weaver is credited with being the first British pantomime. It opened at Drury Lane in 1702. Common elements still found in pantomimes today are: women being cast to play young men, the pantomime dame (often played by a person in drag), risqué double entendre that goes over the heads of the children in attendance, audience participation (not onstage, but the audience is encouraged to yell out en masse, both when prompted and unprompted), the inclusion of popular and contemporary music (often with rewritten topical lyrics), the use of slapstick, a good fairy character, and the incorporation of animal characters.
Neptune’s production of Cinderella incorporates many of these elements. In Webb’s version Cinderella, a typical Millennial, is qualified to work six different jobs, but still lives below the poverty line at home with her father, Big Jim, and her two self absorbed and materialistic stepsisters, Citronella and Deetah. It’s winter during the housing crisis and the family seems to have a mice infestation. Cinderella’s friend Boutons, who works at the palace, delivers an invitation for all the eligible young ladies of the household to attend Prince Charmin’s 30th Birthday Bash. Unfortunately, Cinderella doesn’t have anything appropriate to wear, so her father gently suggests that he accompany Citronella and Deetah to the party while she remains home. After all, Big Jim is much more anxious to see the stepsisters off on their own and married, rather than his sweet Cinders, whose company he really enjoys. Can Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother (Third Class) figure out how to grant her wish and get her to the ball in time to meet the Prince?
Ann Doyle and Becca Guilderson reprise their roles as Citronella and Deetah, the two “Grand Dames” of the pantomime. They are made up in garish exaggeration of the extremes of fairytale ugliness meeting the extremes of hubris and selfishness to hilarious effect. They also sing many of the most contemporary pop songs in the show, including Carly Rae Jepsen’s 2012 ear worm hit “Call Me Maybe,” and the juxtaposition between these two bulls in the china shop channeling all the glamour and elegance of a pop star is terrifically funny.
Speaking of Dames, Martha Irving is back as the Fairy Godmother, who is sort of an adult six year old. What struck me the most this year was that Irving somehow walks this line with both capturing the innocent exuberance and wholehearted focused determination of a preschooler, while still being able to convincingly pull off having her own adult romantic subplot. I find this similar dynamic doesn’t work for me in the film version of Elf. At the very end I completely reject the idea of Buddy being a father, as he is emotionally six years old and that’s very weird, but here I thought the subplot was absolutely adorable. In fact, perhaps they deserve their own spin off?
Ryan Brown also returns as Prince Charmin, who reminds me a bit of Hans in Frozen, before the plot twist, if Hans were even more awkward and useless with women, but still just as oddly delightful. Brown spends a lot of the show being an absolute goofball, which he excels at, but then also gets to blow the roof off the theatre with his legit Disney Prince dreamy voice singing Ed Sheeran’s 2017 hit “Perfect.”
Chris Vergara, who was at Neptune last year in Elf: The Musical, takes over playing Boutons from Andrew Prashad (who is playing Pilate in Talk Is Free Theatre‘s production of Jesus Christ Superstar at Five Points Theatre in Barrie, Ontario). They are big tap shoes to fill (Prashad won a Merritt Award for playing Boutons in 2019), but Vergara does a beautiful job of making the character his own. He creates a hilarious tension between trying to keep the Prince away from Cinderella (his crush), while also needing to do whatever it takes to make sure the Prince gets married immediately, so that he doesn’t lose his job. As in the original production, Boutons is so endearing, the audience may be torn over which one of Cinderella’s suitors to root for.
I really loved Ryan Rogerson’s portrayal of Cinderella’s dad, Big Jim, which he inherited from both Michael-Lamont Lytle and Troy Adams. Rogerson really exudes both the physical and the fun emotional characteristics of being a fairytale character come to life. There was something inherently magical about him, which makes his storyline arc so satisfying.
The other new magical element in the show is the addition of the adorable mice and rabbit puppets, a play on the cliché about Disney Princesses and their animal posses. The puppets are beautifully constructed, just cartoony enough to be adorable, but realistic enough to also be a little bit absurd. They are delightfully performed by the show’s ensemble, who are uniformly fantastic. Patrick Clark’s set, and Helena Marriott’s costume design bring all the elements together to create a storybook fairytale feel rooted in nostalgia. The Fairy Godmother and Big Jim’s costumes are especially both unique and also rooted firmly in the world of childhood.
Michelle Yu is making her Neptune debut as Cinderella (Neptune’s original Cinderella, Samantha Walkes, now has a recurring role on Murdoch Mysteries). Yu captures Cinderella’s pure heart so nicely, without ever becoming saccharine or trite. Despite all of Prince Charmin’s silly shenanigans, I believed that Cinderella saw something in him, beyond his nobility and fortune, that made her want to take the time to get to know him better.
Cinderella is a fresh (and actually less cynical) adaption of the beloved fairytale, featuring a fun and eclectic mix of popular music, strong performances, and the fun opportunity for the audience to literally escape all the perils of reality and to spend a couple hours in a fairyland helping a young girl with a glass slipper meet her destiny and live happily ever after.
Cinderella plays at the Neptune Theatre Fountain Hall (1593 Argyle Street, Halifax) until January 7, 2024. Shows run Tuesday to Friday at 7:30pm and Saturday and Sunday at both 2:00pm and 7:30pm. Tickets range in price from $38.00 to $90.00 (based on seating).
Important Dates:
TALK BACK NIGHT
Thursday, December 14 – 7:30 pm
RELAXED PERFORMANCE
Thursday, December 7 – 7:30 pm
MASKED PERFORMANCES
Sunday, December 3 – 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm
AUDIO DESCRIBED PERFORMANCE
Sunday, December 17 – 2:00 pm
For tickets please visit this website, or call the Box Office at 902.429.7070 or visit in person at 1593 Argyle Street. Cinderella is approximately 2.5 hours long, including an intermission. Babes in arms & children under four years old are not permitted in the theatre. Please Note: this show contains haze, smoke, strobe, fog.
Neptune Theatre is fully accessible for wheelchair users. For more Accessibility Information Click Here.
