"Cinderella"
Nottingham Playhouse

We can all rest at ease. Christmas has now officially begun because Nottingham theatres have started panto.

Written and Directed by Kenneth Alan Taylor, he has once more created another fun show, his 34th in a row. He succeeds in pitching the humour at just the right level to the kids and the adults, making sure that everyone who sees this panto leaves on a high.

Panto is a special recipe and, like any good cook knows, you've got to get everything just right, and Kenneth Alan Taylor is the Mrs Beeton of the panto world.

John Elkington returns as Bella, one of the ugly sisters alongside Darren Southworth as Donna, the other sister. This is Darren's third panto at the

Playhouse and between the pair of them they bully the lovely Cinderella, played by Playhouse panto newbie, Kelly Agredo.

You may not at first recognise Kelly from the publicity on the Nottingham City Transport buses and other publicity shots as her blonde hair has turned to brunette; something that naughty Bella pointed out. Must be the magic of panto! That's by the by as Kelly is a worthy addition to the panto family.

Making his professional debut as Prince Charming is James Nicholson, and I know that he stepped in to the role later than expected, but this certainly didn't show. He has a great voice for musical theatre which is good for panto because of the clarity and power,and was a hit with the audience as out charming Prince.

Dandini, the Prince's right hand man, is played by Adam Pettigrew. Another one with a fine voice, and when James and Adam duetted, they sounded good; a lot of vocal power between the two of them. Another new addition to the Nottingham Playhouse panto fold as well.

Making a welcome return to Nottingham pantos is Tim Frater as Buttons. Always great fun and knows how to work an audience. So much energy with Tim, he could run the lights on on the energy he gets through in a show.

Also back in the fold, but on the other side of the tracks (she's a baddie) is the lovely Rebecca Little, this time as Dowager Duchess Devilla.

Countering the baddie, and looking after the lovely Cinderella is her Fairy Godmother, played by Claire Storey, who is no stranger to working at the Nottingham Playhouse.

Trev Neo and Kinden Singh Uppal played the palace guards.

The sets are of the usual high quality, designed by Tim Meacock and the sound is,again, immaculate. That is because the Musical Director is John Morton who has been responsible for the music of 28 of the last pantomimes at the Playhouse.

The choreography is by Adele Parry, who has worked on the last 16 pantos at the Playhouse, again someone who knows their stuff in this field.

Adam McCready is the Sound Designer for the panto, making sure everything was heard with crystal clarity and Jason Taylor designed the lighting, making this show a colourful and bright affair.

The costumes are, as usual, over the top, but wonderfully fun, especially for Bella and Donna.

There's snow, dancing woodland animals, not forgetting the dancing rabbits of course, toy soldiers, and everything you could want from a panto. A nice mix of songs for all ages, with the usual repetition of one particular one which the cast had the audience up to do the dance to (no spoilers music wise except to say that Ed Sheeran seems to be the favoured one this year, apart from that I'm staying silento), and all the regular jokes and gags that come back year after year, which we all look forward to joining in with... you know the ones!

My favourite section, well just one of many, is when the kids are brought up on stage, and this year's selection of kids were great, but the little star for me was a young man called Arthur, in fact the only boy among the girls. He is a star in the making. Kenneth, get that young man signed up! Bella also surprised the new Artistic Director of the Playhouse, Adam Penford, by getting him on stage to sing with the kids a chorus of "Let's All Sing Like The Birdies Sing".

Damn! I promised not to give away any of the songs featured. Never mind, to discover the rest of the songs wrapped around the massive fun bundle of Playhouse panto, you need to get your tickets and see the panto which is on now until Saturday 20 January 2018.

Just to prove that panto is for everyone there are also captioned, BSL, Audio described, relaxed and dementia friendly performances. To see the dates just visit the Nottingham Playhouse website atwww.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk/wha…/family/cinderella-2017-18.