Cinderella At Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage Review

Reviewed by Hilz

Magical!
A dream come true!

It was our first time visiting this theatre and we were very impressed.
In the bar area there are two places where people could have photographs taken with Cinderella scenes in the background.
One was even her coach where the kids could sit in it and have their photograph taken.
This would make a lovely memory of the evening.
They had Rat Pack Christmas music playing just to get you in the Christmas mood.
We had brilliant seats on row L which were very central. It was near’ish the back but we still had a great view
We also impressed by the amount of leg room in front of the seats – people didn’t have to stand up when you went past them.

The story began with a fairy godmother setting the scene.
We have to say that she was one of the absolute standout performances of the show.
She had‘ one night only‘ to make the magic happen for Cinderella and when she sang this song I got goosebumps
The other completely standout performance was Buttons –
Wow! – What acting singing dancing and humour! What a charismatic character! – I’ve never known a performer get the audience going as fast and skilfully as he did! – The children were in heaven shouting and cheering and joining in like never before. Lots of children too – even though it was a Thursday night.
He picked on a guy called **** (editor’s note – name removed) on the front row (poor guy!) and was very funny with him.
One special moment for us was when some of the cast were running around the seats in the theatre, and we had Buttons and Co running right past us throwing out biscuits.
There were lots of of local jokes about Luton, Stevenage and Hitchin – very funny.
Other highlights included the song ‘I’m sexy and I know it’ by the two ugly sisters – hilarious!
Songs from Westside story like ‘tonight tonight’.
The duet between Prince charming and Cinderella – Ed Sheeran’s ‘Perfect ‘ – absolutely lovely!
When Buttons became Elvis and sang ‘ I can’t help falling in love with you ‘ and more..
Also the lighting was beautifully done – especially when it panned round all the walls of the theatre, and you felt encased by it.
The scenery was also quite amazing from the beginning when the the round icon lit up and started sparkling just before each half began, to the scenes of Hard-Up Hall and the palace and the woods all really well done.
The orchestra was brilliant– perfect with every note and bang on time with the sound effects.

The ugly sisters interacted really well with a guy on the front row – *** (editor’s note – name removed) – and we were quite amazed that they remembered his name right the way through the performance, even when things were spontaneous, and not previously planned.
We loved all the slapstick comedy, which was really fun.
When somebody forgot their lines, and they just all made a joke of it and made the audience laugh instead of being critical.
One child, in the audience was particularly rowdy, and at one point, told the ugly sisters to ‘calm down!‘ – again, they responded spontaneously and did really well.
Birthdays were read out and people were cheered.
And they had a really fun bit near the end where children came up on stage – we won’t spoil it for you though.
This is a great pantomime and definitely worth a visit.
We had a magical time and would go again in a heartbeat.
Bring your kids – the kids couldn’t be happier.

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Cinderella is on at the Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage from 25 November 2022 to 22 January 2023

Tickets can be bought here.
Or call the Box office on 01438 363200

Stevenage Arts and Leisure Centre Lytton way, Stevenage, SG1 1LZ