View from the Green Room: Forty years of Panto magic…oh yes it is!

REVIEW: 40th Anniversary Panto 'Cinderella' at Theatre Royal

Waterford Panto Society celebrates its fortieth anniversary production at tonight’s gala performance with a glitzy, glamorous production of Cinderella that is a classic. 

There are more costume changes tonight than you’d see at a Lady Gaga concert and the live band has the theatre hopping. 

Everything about this production roars classic and the audience just loves it. Several sustained standing ovations at curtain marks this as probably the best show Waterford Panto has produced over the last 40 Christmases.

The society has achieved wonders over the last four decades. I’ve always said that the greatest achievement with amateur theatre societies is simply keeping the society and the show on the road when adversity punches you in the face. Rising costs and a catastrophic economic crash, losing huge panto stars and committee members as time moves on, Covid, theatre closure, illnesses and, sadly, bereavements take their toll. 

99 reasons will argue in favour of folding the tent but there is one overwhelming reason why societies keep going – because it’s worth doing. Imagine Christmas for Waterford families without a Waterford panto?

Nostalgia is everywhere tonight. Video footage of past shows with enough pictures to fill four Festive Stars. Former stars like Scol Grant, Davy Sutton, Liam Murphy, Francie White, and Nicky Cummins are here. So are committee members who revived the society back in 1985, like Pádraig Ó Gríofa and Jimmy Kelly, and there are two seats reserved for panto greats – directors/performers Denny Corcoran and Bryan Flynn, who are no longer with us. 

Costumier Bláthnaid McCann, who dressed more Waterford theatre performers than Dunnes Stores, is also here and the man with the biggest smile in the audience is Mayor of Waterford Séamus Ryan who has supported Waterford theatre and the arts over a lifetime.

The society may be celebrating 40 years of Panto in Waterford but it’s also looking forward in this production to new productions and new stars. 

Tonight’s cast list would be the envy of any musical society. Aoife O’Connor sparkles as Cinderella, who delights in old world charm and modern feisty girly power. Joe Shanahan is the perfect Prince – young, tall and handsome with a commanding presence and a smashing baritone. 

Brian Tuohy’s Buttons is a comic delight, who ties all the plotlines together as well as fronting the excellent chorus lines in the musical ensembles. 

Well…of course, he’s in love with Cinderella and I just can’t help feeling that Cinderella is making a seriously bad career move in choosing her knight in shining Armani over the all-singing, all-dancing, magician that is our Buttons.

Jane Kennedy is a splendid addition and perfect foil for Tony Corcoran’s Grizelda as the second Ugly Sister, Seabriella. The hapless pair of sisters with attitude, in wonderfully repulsive costumes that are a kaleidoscope of colour and bad taste, are a big hit with the audience as they rain down insults on all and sundry, all the while knocking lumps out of poor old Buttons. 

Kieran Walsh’s Danny is the chief scene-stealer with a string of off-the-cuff-clever-one-liners that are a delight, and Adam O’Neill’s Dinny is his perfect straight-man foil. When the slipper doesn’t fit and the Sisters line the pair up as replacement for the Prince, Danny and Dinny’s costumes are reduced to shreds in the offstage, romantic no-holds-barred interlude. 

There was still time for Panto legend Nicky Cummins to exit Cinderella’s closet and slag off Tony Corcoran for taking his parts! Fred Kennedy and Luke Brown complete the comedy team as a pair of guards who are a sandwich short of a picnic.

Paula Weldon does the biz as the Fairy Godmother and is a huge hit with the young audience who roar their approval with her catch-phrase ‘Bippity-Boppitty-Boo’ to work the magic.

Waterford Panto pulls out all the stops for their fortieth production with their best panto ever. Costumes by Patrice Power, Anne Corcoran-Browne and Jackie Finn bring an extra layer of imagination and elegance to the production, while Jane Kennedy’s hairs and wigs are invention itself. Patrice is also the inspiration behind props and make-up for this blockbuster show. 

Spraoi’s fairytale design is just right and Craig Cunningham’s lighting plot and Seán O’Sullivan’s sound design are spot on.

The live band and Wayne Browne’s musical direction pumps the theatre and energises this production. 

Ali Reville’s choreography constantly changes our picture with high-kickin’-fist-pumpin’ chorus lines entering and exiting all night and a big shout out to the Junior Chorus team who never missed a cue or a step. Tomorrow’s talent today.

Director Tony Corcoran never misses a trick and throws in some tricks of his own along the way. Tony brings energy, imagination, and showbiz pzazz to Cinderella and the tempo of the show just pounds along.

Waterford Panto is not just looking back but also facing the future with new young stars. Brenda Giles announces her retirement from the panto after forty years of shows and becomes part of the living legend that is Waterford Theatre. Brenda the Baddy has been laying it on factor-fifty thick through this four-decade theatrical journey and the standing ovation this trooper receives at curtain is moving and well-deserved.

Here’s to the next forty!