"Cinderella" written by Morgan Brind.

Derby Arena.

Yet another classic pantomime, and this time we are all invited to the ball.

Cinderella has big dreams, but with her sisters digging their ugly heels in, it’s going to take help from her best friend Buttons and a little magic from her Fairy Godmother if she’s going to make it to the ball and her happy ever after before midnight. 

Written by Morgan and there are a lot of jokes that I'd not heard before, some that I had but they were in the minority. There was also a slight twist in the story line, which I won't divulge, all of which made for a fresh sheen for the storyline.

Mina Anwar, who everyone will know from "Happy Valley" and my favourite, "The Thin Blue Line", stars at the Fairy Godmother. looking gorgeous and talking in rhyme, as every Fairy Godmother does, from time to time. What we discover though is that Minar possesses a really strong set of vocal chords. The opening number ")ne Night Only" from the musical "Dreamgirls" is not a song that you can hold back on, and Minar certainly doesn't.

Our two Ugly Sisters are played beautifully by the legendary Morgan Brind and his equal, Roddy Peters. Last year Morgan was sailing solo, but this year we have twice as much fun with Morgan and Roddy. Both try and outdo each other, with the gags and costumes, but to tell the truth, they are well matched in every stake. They both bully and belittle Ella and boss around Buttons, suck up to their evil mother, and both work the audience wonderfully. This pair have some of the most outrageous costumes I've seen for these roles, only surpassed by the equally over the top wigs.

There's a section that I've not seen done on stage before where they bring on a camera and focus it on the audience to track down a suitable victim, sorry male to take the mickey out, and trust them to find one from the man cam, Andy who works for Siemens...... needless to say, the adult section of the audience made up their own jokes!

Buttons is played by Kristian Cunningham, another legend on the panto front. Charged with energy throughout he bounded around the stage like a Duracell bunny.  There is one scene that Kristian and the two sisters featured in which was another new section. Buttons was supposed to have arranged a pamper session for the sisters in a  posh spa with Joe Twix, the fitness guru. To cut a long story short, Buttons has to pretend to be Joe Twix, but it is Buttons who is put through his paces and ends up being dunked, several times on a contraption that looked as if it had been borrowed from a fairground.

Nicola Martinus-Smith returns as a modern and lusty Dandini. Nicola is fun to watch as she pursues the charming Prince Charming after blagging a job with the Prince by pretending that she is a man, which makes it slightly difficult to follow her animal instincts, but she does get to arrange the Prince's ball! Dandini may not bag her Prince, but there is a happy coupling for her in the end.

Ella is played by Lucy Munden. You can tell that lucy has a grounding in musical theatre by hearing her sing. What a voice! Yes the tingles started with Lucy from her first song, the duet with Mina in "One Night Only", and practically every time she sang. Lucy also shows off a skill for timing when her old dress magically was replaced by her ball gown. I've seen this done a few times but this was the smoothest transformation I have seen.

Helen Bacquagain (say it quickly) is the evil stepmother to Ella, and is played by Marisa Harris. With her first dominant stride onto the stage she showed everyone that she was ruling the roost. 

Prince Charming is played by Charles Ruhrmund. Charles is a new name to me but he fits this role perfectly, especially with his CV showing his list of musical credits on stage and in films, and he is a model, so there's no need for me to tell you that he can sing and he looks the part of the handsome Prince.

And last, but not least, Mozzarella the mouse who seems to have an endless line in cheesy jokes and puns.

With the talent listed above, they are going to need an ensemble who can match, and they have that. Sophie Lowe, who is also the Dance Captain, Ruby Harwood, Emily Rolfe, Stephen Lewis-Johnston, Samuel Reed and Dominic Stevenson. This collection dance, strut, pose and smile all the way through with enough electricity to illuminate the whole stage area.

There are three teams of young ensemble dancers, Team Cogs, Team Gears and Team Springs. The team that were on stage tonight were Team Springs and consisted of Alicia Osborne, Maya Gibbons, Millie Dalziel, Laila Cook, Lois Navarette, Summer Featherstone, Scarlett Hunt and Archie Hutchinson. Just watching this group, you can see the work that they put in in both the singing and dancing department, but you can also see just how much each and every one love being on stage with these seasoned stars of the stage.

Directed by Mark Chatterton, there's no hanging around with this show and is packed with non stop fun. There's the usual water guns, but this time the attack is not confined to the stage and even the audience near the back do not escape the rogue water gunners. A couple of large inflatables are also let loose for the audience to play about with during one section. There's a lot on stage, like the obligatory ghost scene and the quartet of younger audience members invited up to the stage for a chat with Feral, Beryl and Buttons, the singalong section and the "shout outs", as well as off to keep the audience involved.

Choreographed by Matthew Wesley, and one of the main things that I look for was here tonight with choreography; the look of enjoyment on the faces of the dancers. There was some real energy put into these routines and the dancers, especially the young dancers smiled through it all. there's that old adage of "eyes and teeth", and that was included with the choreography. the big number was a version of Sophie Ellis-Bextor's "Murder On The Dance Floor" which was a BIG number and opened the second act. You need big numbers to open both acts, and I've already mentioned that "One Night Only" opened the show.

A brilliant set design by Morgan Brind, and I'd believe it if in the news tomorrow it stated that there was a shortage of glitter in Derby, because I think that Morgan must have used it all on this show. The stage is possibly the biggest in the East Midlands so you need a big set design, but have you ever known Morgan to do anything on a small scale? Some of the best set designs that I have seen this year, especially the scene in the spa.

Musical Director for this year's spectacular is Livs Needing and the Musical Supervisor is Dave Culling. Derby Arena is a big space to fill but the sound from this small group of people, under Livs and Dave's musical eyes fill the place spectacularly. The disco numbers played sound very modern and the ballads sound lush, and I must mention John Clark's percussion skills and Corrina Etherington and Natalie Light's woodwind section that created that full sound.

The selection of music is very modern and very poppy, and also very camp. Selections of songs from Abba, Cher, Chappel Roan - which seems to be the popular song for a couple of pantos this year, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, a snatch of Lord Rockingham's XI - yes there is even a moose in the panto, and other recognisable modern songs from the last year or so keeps a production like this modern, appealing to the younger audience.

Lighting is by David Phillips, who was also the Technical manager and the Production Manager. Great lighting that left nothing in the shade.

Sound is by David Cooper. Apart from the odd miscues on the mics, the sound was almost perfect. I keep saying what a big space this is to fill and sound wise it's not easy to fill every corner of the space and for every corner to sound the same as anywhere else in the Arena. Well, David has filled the Arena with a crystal clear sound which is well mixed with the actors' voices on stage. A really good and comfortable sound mix.

The Head of Costumes is Emma Waugh, and there are a lot of costumes to be in charge of. from the regal looks for the Prince and Ella's gorgeous wedding dress and ball gown to the outrageousness of  Beryl and Feral, aka the Ugly Sisters' costumes.

Last year was my first experience of a Little Wolf pantomime production and loved it. This year I think that Morgan and Little Wolf, combined with this incredible cast and Morgan's brilliantly funny and fresh script have surpassed my enjoyment from last year.

If only the audience were as energy fuelled and enthusiastic as the people on stage, which is something that I have noticed with a few of the panto audiences this year. the lack lustre responses did not match the size of the audience, but hey, I'm not here to review the audience now, am I?

Don't be late to this show or you will miss out on having a ball!

"Cinderella" is at Derby Arena until Tuesday 31 December.