For a Thursday matinee, the Festival Theatre was packed - so much so that, by the time I arrived at 12.30 looking for a bite to eat, the bar had run out of food! A packet of crisps and a glass of wine sustained me throughout the afternoon. The audience mainly consisted of the grey-haired brigade, but also a very large party of young schoolchildren who whooped and hollered as soon as the curtain rose on “that shoe”, but who remained spellbound throughout the whole performance. One baby, who dared a tiny whimper right at the end of the show, was swiftly carried out by Mum.

Expecting the second cast for a matinee, I was surprised to find main roles performed by long-standing and fairly senior SB Dancers. Casting was as follows:

Cinderella - Patricia Hinds
Prince - Oliver Ridout
Mother/Fairy Godmother - Eva Mutso
Father - Jarkko Lehmus
Stepmother - Diana Loosmore
Ugly Sisters - Kara McLaughlin and Louisa Hassell
Dancing Master - Adam Blyde

I was slightly disappointed to miss Paul Liburd as the Dancing Master, but the role was excellently performed by Adam Blyde with great humour, especially in his relationship with his rather ‘gay‘ sidekick.

All the performers were given much bigger roles than in the Macmillan version - Father and Mother in particular. Much more dancing and interplay between the various characters. The storyline is much as expected but there were a few different twists, dark moments and also humorous ones.

Anthony Ward’s sets and costume were colourful and inventive - including the famous balloon as Cinders arrives at the ball.

Page’s exacting demands on his dancers is really showing now. No virtuoso performances, no really big names, just great dancing by a team which really pulls together and whose performers are comfortable with one another. This company is now a truly International one and one would hope that it will eventually be able to cross the border south and tour to other venues in the UK, besides the Wells.

Special mention must go to Eva Mutso as the Mother/Fairy Godmother - absolutely enchanting! Also to Jarkko Lehmus. Jarkko may appear to be totally mad when writing up his Ballet.co weblog diary but, on stage believe me, he’s a true professional and his Father/Daughter relationship with Cinders is both tender and touching.

(Well of course, I can’t write a review without mentioning the “bee-in-my-bonnet“. The most striking thing was the utter quietness. No clumping pointes, no heavy male landings. Throughout the whole performance you could have heard a pin drop. BRB and NBT dancers are much the same for soft landings. So, if they can do it, why can’t the RB? From Principals to Corps, they’re all the same - just listen to the Corps thundering down the ramp in the Shades. It strikes me as a ‘take-it-leave-it’ sort of arrogance but perhaps ROH audiences have got used it. But I haven’t and every time I attend a performance there, I find myself wincing. So if anybody can explain, please do so. Erm...end of rant).

So, all in all a great show. I enjoyed last year’s Nut, but this one was a huge step forward. If Page can keep this up, SB can’t fail. See it if you can!

Does anybody remember if this started before they took the house carpets up in the ROH refurbishment? But I do agree with you, Ann: resonating floorboards, shoes, whatever it is, we usually go elsewhere for tap-dancing.

>So, all in all a great show. I enjoyed last year’s Nut, but
>this one was a huge step forward. If Page can keep this up,
>SB can’t fail. See it if you can!

I certainly hope to see them at SW. I suppose we cannot reasonably hope to see them tour much otherwise into England, although Hull is a long-standing date of theirs.