Cinderella goes to the Blackpool Pleasure Beach ball — Pantomime review

Cinderella goes to the ball via Uber at the Blackpool Pleasure Beach pantomime this year.

For a month, the Globe theatre is home to a fantastic ensemble of West End stars, dancers, and sparkles galore.

You shall go to the Blackpool Ball (Image by Natasha Judge)

The performance is fronted by Blackpool’s own Sarah Ward as Cinders, accompanied by Emmerdale star — Kelsey-Beth Crossley, as Drusilla, the evil stepmother.

Returning for a second year, West End and the Wicked films star, Ian Oswald, took to the role of Abriel — an alternative fairy godmother with scouse sass and comedy.

The show was a great mix of humour for all ages, with references to Soda pop, Roblox and the growing internet slang — 67.

A particular highlight was seeing the children throughout the audience instantly absorb the callback “minger” every time an ugly sister entered stage. A noun I’m sure will now make the rounds on the school playgrounds!

The sisters — Scarlett and Celeste, were played by James Colebrook and Chris O’Mara, who collectively had great comedic timing and many jokes designed for the adults in the audience.

No panto production of Cinderella will succeed without a strong Buttons, and Dave Cross certainly kept the audience engaged, and incorporated within the storytelling, and taught everyone the correct callouts — oh yes he did!

Lights, Camera, Action, Curtain call at the pantomime (Image by Natasha Judge)

Notably, the dancers were exceptional throughout the performance, dancing to songs including ‘Candy man’ and ‘Singin’ in the Rain’, and a special mention to the clever mirror scene which gave a splendid acrobatic performance mid-show.

A Pleasure Beach show would not be complete without a guest appearance from Blackpool icon — Alexei Kofanov, who also featured in the resort’s **Hot Ice XS** earlier this year. LINK His core strength and skills on the silks is one that the audience watches in awe.

The staging within the Globe theatre was excellent, and told the fairytale through multilevel staging, and included indoor rain surrounding the stage — mirroring the Blackpool weather on the day!

A key element of Panto season is a roundup of snippets from the year, and Blackpool did not disappoint with a musical number to Alex Warren’s ‘Ordinary’, and a finale of the Jet 2 holiday Jess Glynne hit ‘Hold my Hand’, as the closing number

The Globe theatre, home to Cinderella The Pantomime (Image by Natasha Judge)

The Cinderella production definitely puts you in a festive spirit, and it is wonderful to see the spirit of pantomime has been kept strong and evoked excitement in audiences faces both young and old.

The Cinderella pantomime runs till December 24, with a mixture of different performances including matinees, evenings, and relaxed performances. Further information and tickets can be **found here**.