On Thursday evening, 23rd October 2025, me, my boyfriend Aaron, and close friends Matty, Robyn, Emma and Emma’s teenage son Lucas, attended Doncaster Cast theatre to see the eagerly awaited Phoenix Theatre Company’s next generation “School of Rock” musical production 🎶 🎵 It was epic!
The show is based on the 2003 paramount film of the same name, starring rock icon Jack Black. A commercial and critical success, with a worldwide gross of 130 million dollars. Featuring rock classics from legends such as; Led Zeppelin, ACDC, David Bowie, The Clash, Deep Purple, The Who, Stevie Nicks, Cream, T-Rex, The Ramones, etc.
The film inspired and was in fact adapted into a dynamic stage musical, premiering in 2015 on Broadway, New York and later showcased in the West End, London. Andrew Lloyd Webber, a talented and highly distinguished creater, composed the production’s music, collaborating with lyricist Glenn Slater, and Jullian Fellows being the original author creative. The production features recognisable songs such as; “I’m too hot for you”, “When I climb to the top of mount rock”, “You’re in the band”, “If only you would listen”, and “Stick it to the man”
The story: Dewey Finn is the epitome of a “struggling musician”. Lazy, unstable, with no regular income or means to contribute towards his rent in his best friend Ned Shneebly/ Shneebly’s partner Patty Di Marco’s apartment. Deceivingly, he impersonates Ned, adopting the role as Mr Shneebly, a substitute teacher at Horace Green, a prestigious school. Although, at first, Dewey only endeavours to receive a wallop of cash for his pretend teachings, engaging no particular effort to teach anything, and encouraging the children to “chill” and take recess, on discovering their musical talents, overhearing a music class, Dewey devises a plan to secretly turn his students into ultimate rock stars; igniting a passion for music in them, encouraging them to embrace their individuality, creative flair, and adopt a rebellious rock star attitude, sticking it to the man! The end mission? Win the aclaimed “Battle of the Bands”, so Dewey can finally pay his overdue rent, yippee!
The stand out actor for me in the Phoenix Theatre Company production was Jack Hodgson himself as protagonist Dewey Finn. It was a huge honour for Hodgson to play Dewey, as he grew up idolising Jack Black and his fantastic band “Tenacious D”. He put in great effort, even having to learn how to play guitar 🎸 for the role. He was an absolute genius on stage, performing perfectly all Jack Black’s quirks, idiosyncrasies and mannerisms.
The adult cast were remarkably impressive. Emma Oates, who played principle Rosalie Mullins, has an outstanding voice. However, to be fair, all the actors were incredible, and the children especially were just phenomenal, some of the Horace Green prep school actually playing instruments live on stage! Hugh Ryan, aged 14, playing guitar as Zack, Jared Farmer, aged 12, playing the drums as Freddy, Finley Christian, aged 12, playing the keyboard as Lawrence and Kate Gibson, aged 12, playing the bass guitar 🎸 as Katie. Issabelle Small also did amazing in her role as bossy Summer, and Dusty Wheeler absolutely astonished with her vocals depicting the shy to sassy Tomika, her rendition of “Amazing Grace” simply gorgeous. Her dad was actually sat behind us in the theatre, and he was so incredibly proud as we engaged in conversation with him and he kept shouting “That’s my girl!”. One very poignant moment, towards the end of the production, where the children’s actor parents stand in the audience, to observe the culminatory spectacular “Battle of the Bands” song, Dusty Wheeler’s dad radiated real natural pride and raw emotion
Very impressively, last year, the Phoenix Theatre Company’s “Elf: The Musical” won the Salver for NODA’s North East Region best-all round production, 2024. So “School of Rock” had a lot to work up to!
From the official programme: “This prestigious accolade recognises not only the quality of the show itself, but the passion, dedication, and teamwork behind the scenes…This achievement is a true team effort, and we are deeply grateful to our cast, crew, creative team, and loyal audiences who continue to support and inspire us”
The very same could be said of “School of Rock “. It marks the director, Ian Walker’s fifth production with Doncaster Phoenix, and he has already began preparations for next year’s highly anticipated “Priscilla: Queen of the Desert”…
I am confident it will be, like “Elf: The Musical” and “School of Rock: The Musical”, a roaring success! ROCK ON!
All information obtained from the Phoenix Theatre Company’s School of Rock: The Musical official programme
On Thursday 3rd July at 7pm, me, my boyfriend Aaron, my friends Robyn Matty and Joanne, and also Shez and Lou who were seated separately, attended the Little Theatre in Doncaster to see their adaptation of Peter Pan.
It was quite funny because for some reason we had it in our heads this production was going to be a pantomime, so then obviously we questioned: “Why would there be a pantomime in July? Not Christmas or Easter?” Haha 🤣
This adaptation marked the theatre’s 30th anniversary, and 54 years of Simon Carr, the director, being involved in the arts
I was pleasantly surprised as the production surpassed my expectations. Being a “little” theatre, you assume it might lack professionalism, both in acting and stage technicality. Yet, I thoroughly enjoyed it 😁😁
Peter Pan, the play, was first produced by JM Barrie, a Scottish playwright in 1904, in 1928 the definitive version was published in 5 acts. Peter Pan, the protagonist, depicted as selfish and somewhat anarchical, entering the mythological sphere as the “eternal boy” figure
In 1953, Walt Disney introduced the continually popular animated film in which the cartoon Peter is less villainous and more so charming and impish
The story is embedded in our popular culture. Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, the tiny fairy, visits the Darling’s household nursery in London, Peter is trying to retrieve his lost shadow. Offering Wendy and her two brothers the chance to fly away to Neverland, to be young forever. Wendy becoming the mothering storyteller for the Lost Boys, in which Peter is the captain. An island populated by evil pirates and the sworn enemy of Peter, Captain Hook. The tick-tocking crocodile who has engulfed Hook’s hand. The leader of the “redskins braves” Tiger Lily, one of many girls desperate for Peter’s affections, though I don’t think he’s really that bothered! … Fun, quests and adventures… The play was born from fantasy games and tales JM Barrie played and told children
As we congregated to our seats, before the play began, Gran (Jo Chorlton) swinged gently on a rocking chair knitting, opening with her grandson Ralph sitting patiently, waiting for a bedtime story, the tale of Peter Pan and Neverland, a place where children never grow up.
Some notable performances:
Lily-May Barker-Jones did an astonishing job of playing Wendy, demure and conservative. John was played greatly by Leon Dejk, and Michael by a highly impressive young girl Faith Armitage, who, for a very small child, projected and expressed herself fabulously.
Adam Parkin was fantastic and convincing as a spirited Peter Pan. He is actually good friends with my mate Shez, who decided to come with us to offer support. I recognised Kayleigh Harding (Tootles, Lost Boy) from her previously playing Cinderella, she is friends with my pal Matty. Phil Towe I remembered also from the Aladdin pantomime. He performed both Mr Darling and the pirate Cookson.
Robert Stevens as Captain Cook was epic. Great demanding stage presence, slightly camp, a delightfully devilish delivery. Smee (Cole Blakely) was likewise idiosyncratic in his expression
My favourite character by far was Tinkerbell played by the very talented Rachel Cunningham. Although she had no dialogue (and I even joked to Aaron, “I bet it took her ages to learn her lines!”) her exaggerated mannerisms and body language were on point and highly comical
The props were minimalist and simple, yet the performance completely seamless. I particularly enjoyed the visual representation of the jaw snapping green crocodile🐊
Yes, perhaps a stripped back adaptation of the classic tale, but artistic, with original catchy songs, diverse casting of talented performers, imaginative and an absolute pleasure to watch…
We wanted it to NEVER end!
For my next UnicornPostbox blog post, I am still on with nightly crescent 🌙 moon diamond art, 💎 🎨 I intend to start a celebrity portrait of Keane Reeves soon, also there is a Wonky Donkey pub painting in August 🥰🥰
Thank you as ever for taking the time to read/view 💕 Much love, Lauren xx
[Information obtained from the official Doncaster Little Theatre official program]
On Thursday 10th April, 2025, me, my boyfriend Aaron and friends Robyn, Joanne, Sophia, Lou, Emma and her teenage son Lucas attended Cast in Doncaster to see the spectacular Easter pantomime, ‘Pinocchio’
The storyline to this production is centred on a naughty puppet, Pinocchio (Ryan Greaves), who appears to have no morals, and partakes in frowned upon endeavours such as truanting from school. He will only become a ‘real boy’, if he proves himself brave, selfless and true
Greaves is a regular to Cast theatre, appearing in every Anton Benson Productions (ABP) Easter pantomime; ‘Beauty and the Beast’, ‘Wizard of Oz’, ‘Rapunzel’ and ‘Robin Hood’. He co-wrote and directed ‘Pinocchio’! He has a first class degree in acting from Manchester Met School of Theatre and is absolutely hilarious! 😂
Phylip Harries is also extremely funny, the pantomime Dame, who has performed in countless pantomimes throughout the years, and even nominated in 2023 and 2024 for the prestigious Best Dame award at the Pantomime Awards
The malicious baddie this Easter was the well known versatile celebrity Bobby Davro as the sinister Italian Stromboli! This was Bobby’s 48th pantomime, however it is only the first time he has played a villain.
SPOILER ALERT: Stromboli forces Princess Tik-Tok (Kate Salmon), a doll wound by a key, to pretend to be in love with Pinocchio as to convince Pinocchio to be a part of Stromboli’s devious, greedy, money ridden schemes of stardom.
Kate studied at the Royal Central School of Speech Drama, graduating with a distinction Masters, and is an Associate Director for Anton Benson Productions (ABP). She is immensely talented
The Blue Fairy was played by Amanda Henderson in the panto we saw (a fan favourite, playing the lovely staff nurse Robyn Miller on BBC’s Casualty, for a decade). However, in the official programme it includes British media personality Katie Price in the credentials.. which may explain why there were a lot of Katie Price jokes 🤣
There was also special guest appearances from Zippy and George, characters from the popular children’s television programme Rainbow 🌈 Zippy is a five year old orange/brown puppet, with a zip for a mouth and George an eight year old pink anthropomorphic hippo [www.fandom.com]
The band consisted of Jamie Todd, a musical director and keyboard player and Jake Greville, a drummer and sound effects technician. The musical supervisor was Olivia Zacharia, the choreographer Beth Portman and the dancers were from the Allegro Theatre Dance Academy, situated in Doncaster
There were plentiful comical interludes and cheeky ‘dad jokes’, many of which teased Doncaster residents (i.e jokes about living in Doncaster). The Dame, Mama Geppetto flirted throughout with one of the poor adult male audience members! 😜
At one point, huge inflatable balls were bouncing all around the auditorium, water pistols squirting the unfortunate few at the front. There was a really funny scene assembling a table, to which it collapsed but then pretend nails were knocked with an inflatable hammer on poor Mama Geppetto’s head!
There was also an array of comical tongue twisters and rhymes, and so many innuendos which went completely over the heads of the younger audience members… words which rhymed with a ‘wonky’ donkey 🫏 🤪 and words rhyming with women names, for example, Pat and hat, Cath and bath, Pearl and swirl, Ruth and tooth, Jane and plain, Sue and blue, Annie and… 🤣🤣
With regards to musical numbers, quite a few songs came from Disney’s ‘Pinocchio’ such as ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’, ‘Hi-diddle-dee-dee’, and ‘I’ve Got No Strings’, but also others such as ‘Popular’ (Wicked) and ‘The Greatest Show’ (The Greatest Showman). Bobby Davro did an amazing job memorising and reciting hundreds of countries in his ‘Circus Medley’ (Act two)
As aforementioned, Anton Benson is the managing director and producer. The production team were astounding in relation to stage and technical management and production. The lighting, sound, scene, props etc were brilliant, the backstage crew playing a crucial role in ensuring a smooth operation, bringing organisation and dedication, coordinating well.
One very memorable scene, and a great example of clever staging, is where Pinocchio is supposedly drowning in the ocean, with an inflatable shark 🦈 predator pursuing him. The water is theatrically expressed by a blue horizontal cloth, spread out across the stage, to which Pinocchio and dancers stick out various bodily limbs and perform funny ‘drowning’ poses behind the cloth 💙💙
Tik-Tok turned out good in the end, Pinocchio saves the baddie, proving his worth and therefore becoming a ‘real boy’ and well, you could say, all is perfect in panto land..
One element I was somewhat disappointed with however was the matter of Pinocchio’s nose. The norm being, everytime Pinocchio tells a lie, the nose is supposed to grow 🤔 The extending nose prop was only used in one scene, maybe two which I recall, yet (and as I am sure many would agree) it is integral and an important aspect of the original story…
Despite this, I thought the production was exemplary, our bellies hurt from laughing so much, and I cannot wait for the next panto! 😁😁
All information obtained from the official Anton Benson Productions (ABP) ‘Pinocchio’ programme
Thank you ever so much for reading / viewing, I appreciate the support 🥰🥰
My next blog post will possibly be a Leeds travel blog, as I am visiting Leeds over the Easter weekend to support my lovely sister who is doing a charity run for Alzheimer’s Society, in memory of our beautiful mum. I am so proud of her! 😁😁
I am also still on with my ‘Alice in Wonderland’ diamond art 💎 🎨
On the Saturday 22nd March, 2025, my boyfriend Aaron treated me to an early birthday present, a ticket to Steve Steinman’s ‘Vampires Rock: Eternal Love’, at Cast Theatre, Doncaster. There was me, Aaron and our friend Lou. It was absolutely amazing!
Steve Steinman is an extremely successful writer, director and producer, a number one recording artist. In ‘Eternal Love’, 20 original songs are taken from Steinman’s epic ‘Heaven’s Gate’ and ‘Take a Leap of Faith’ number one albums. It is the third in his ‘Vampires Rock’ trilogy and has proved immensely popular. A rock musical like no other, with a mix of musical theatre, vampire seduction, electrifying rock anthems performed by extremely talented musicians, sexy dancing and Steinman’s aka Vampire Baron’s tongue in cheek hilarity 🤣🤣
Alongside his co-star, John Evans as Bosley, Reg Enderby, for the Nottingham show and gig guide reportedly said:
“Steve and John’s comedy timing brought back memories of watching the great Morecambe and Wise” (Eternal Love official programme)
The band was absolutely mint and I was not surprised to read that the dancer playing Ursula, Victoria Farley, was also the choreographer as she really stood out as being sensational. All the dancers put in great effort nonetheless
SPOILER ALERT: The storyline of the production in a sense was unrequited love. Medusa (one of the dancers played by Tanyth Roberts), is madly in love with Baron Von Rockula (Steinman), an old flame. However, he has just wed his new vampire bride, Xena Rock-Heart (Claire Zamore)… yet, all is not what it seems…
Me and some friends have already seen Steinman’s ‘Anything For Love: The Meatloaf Story’ a few months back, showcasing all Meatloaf’s iconic songs. You can definitely tell Meatloaf was a huge inspiration for Steinman’s music and style. It was actually how his career began back in 1994 when he appeared as Meatloaf on the very popular at the time, ‘Stars in Their Eyes’
We haven’t got our tickets yet, however, we are very much looking forward to his upcoming ‘Love Hurts: Power Ballads and Anthems’, featuring songs from the likes of rock legends Whitesnake, Aerosmith, Heart, Fleetwood Mac, Tina Turner, Foreigner, Van Halen, etc. It is going to be wicked!
‘Eternal Love’ was such a joyous feel good production. The vocals were absolutely incredible (especially Tanyth Roberts as Medusa), she is a superstar in the making!
The whole atmosphere, the ace songs, the impressive choreography, the props, scenes, comedy element…fantastic! It was very funny and ever so sexy 😜😜
Vampires Rock!
On Wednesday 2nd April, 2025, myself, Aaron and our two friends Joe and Lou went to see an adapted stage play of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ at Cast, Doncaster.
This production of ‘Dracula’ marks for the Blackeyed Theatre 20 years as a producing company. Their mission, to tell stories both theatrically and simply, fueling imagination; stripped back and bare. The style is adapted somewhat as the company receives little funding, yet they embrace this situation as an opportunity to push creativity.
True to the novel, the production converses journal entries, letters, telegrams etc
Nick Lane, the director and adapter of this show explains some of his artistic choices in the official programme. Accepting that the character Dracula has been rewritten many times, it is apparent there are many unavoidable associative tropes, yet he wanted to explore the complex side of Dracula as not purely a villain.
The character Mina is liberated as a self-aware, intelligent young woman, far from the norms of Victorian literature. Furthermore, Dr Hennessey and Renfield are played by female actresses instead of male as in the novel. This decision was made to highlight social norms of the time and to add dramatic tension. Nick researched widely “Asylums for Lunatic Women”. In Victorian society women were treated completely atrociously
‘Dracula’, as aforementioned, as an epistolary novel is respected and replicated in this adaptation. There were two key roles for each actor (only six actors in the entire production), and Dracula is played by three male cast members, his de-aging process dramatised by younger actors as the play persists
David Chafer had contrasting roles as both Dracula and Van Helsing, two immensely opposing figures. Richard Keightley, from mega confident Dracula to a timid, anxiety ridden steward. Harry Rundle, a young, physically strong and virile Dracula, dominant and commanding, versus the quieter role of Arthur
With this play, Nick wanted to portray both the familiar and the unexpected.
In cinematic history, Christopher Lee in the 1958 technicolour Hammer Head production of ‘Dracula’, was the first cinematic Dracula to have actual canine ‘fangs’, blood streaming, which became heavily associated until the more recent tendency to highlight the human within the vampire 🧛♂️ The metaphysical soul searching tale, such as with ‘Interview with the Vampire’ Anne Rice (1976)
In Bram Stoker’s novel, 1897, Dracula has a disgusting vile breath, he has fluffy palms, elongated ugly nails, a bulky nose… the overarching theme being the exotic and foreign threat to domesticated England. Invasion. We must remember, Jonathan Harker is a solicitor, travelling to Transylvania to facilitate a move to London. The xenophobic threat, the ‘foreign-ness’ of the count, entwined with the sexual, drinking female English blood (and, gasp, maybe male blood too 😲), penetrative and passionate. Written to horrify, but also to excite thrill and tittilate!
Most Dracula adaptations are inspired by the source, but most deviate from the storyline to fit with issues of their times, i.e. to today’s audience
This production by the marvellous Nick Lane explores the idea of ‘bloodline memory’ in a post pandemic world. The concept is that we all have ‘past lives’, we are reincarnated; our memories are transferred, our souls incarnated multiple times. That, under hypnosis, we can access our ancestor’s memories, feelings, skills, anxieties, phobias etc. This theory is cleverly linked to the vampire myth in the adaptation in the sense that when a vampire penetrates their fangs into an innocent victim, blood is not only drained, but the bloodline virus infects the victim. The vampire’s bloodline, their hundreds and thousands of years of memory dominating the host; supplanting them with centuries of violence; killing, feeding, hunting, until the fever completely overrides the victim’s own personal thoughts, feelings, personality…Eradicating their entire human being to become darkness, seductors of the night, monstrous, abhorrent and Undead.
My personal opinion? It was somewhat sombre, a sophisticated but very serious performance, in complete difference to Steve Steinman’s ‘Eternal Love’! Entirely opposing styles.. and in all honesty, though the Transylvanian accent was most applaudable, I would have appreciated more fangs and drizzling down the neck blood!
(All information obtained from the ‘Steve Steinman’s Vampires Rock: Eternal Love’ and the Blackeyed Theatre’s ‘Dracula’ official programmes)
🧛♂️🧛♂️🧛♂️🧛♂️
For my next blog post, I shall be writing a theatre review of Cast, Doncaster’s Easter pantomime ‘Pinocchio’… so watch this space! 😜😜
Thank you as ever for reading/viewing, much love, Lauren xx
On 10th January 2025, me and my new boyfriend Aaron travelled to London on a much needed few days city break. While there we went to see an amazing West End show ‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’, we visited one of my favourite places, Camden Town, had fantastic fun at the Paradox Museum, and we also journeyed to the highly anticipated Warner Bros Studio Tour: The Making of Harry Potter, on the outskirts of London. It was an incredible weekend away, mine and Aaron’s first together.
In this blog post, I shall be writing a theatre review of ‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’, accompanied by a description/ travel blog of our outings! I hope you enjoy!
We left Doncaster late Friday morning, commuting to London on a NLER train, and arrived early afternoon. As we approached King’s Cross station I was feeling quite nervous, which is understandable I suppose.
On arrival into London, we went for a cheeky nandos round the corner from King’s Cross. It was an absolute nightmare carrying our large holdall luggage bags on the underground. They were so heavy and bulky, hurting our shoulders. Me and Aaron have come to the understanding that for our next getaway we are definitely going to purchase some wheeled suitcases, ha 😄
We eventually made it to our hotel, the Holiday Inn, in Kensington High Street. Although the room was quite small, it was sufficient. The hotel was clean, the staff friendly and it was situated in a great location, very central. No complaints whatsoever, and at a rather reasonable price we reserved on Booking.com. We unpacked and chilled a few hours, before embarking to Phoenix Theatre.
I love the underground. I managed to navigate us around quite smoothly, except for a few tiny hiccups. We got off a stop too early for the theatre, so we jumped into a black cab just to make sure we weren’t rushing about.
Stranger Things (SPOILERS ALERT):
‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ was absolutely incredible! 😲 A prequel to the highly rated and much adored Netflix sci-fi phenomenon.
Developed from the imaginations of the Duffer Brothers, Matt and Ross Duffer, the Stranger Things stage play is the origin story of Henry Creel, later to be known as the villain Vecna, the overarching antagonist of the Upside Down dominion (Season 4)
Three time Tony award winning director Stephen Daldry collaborated with Sonia Friedman, a well established theatre producer – and writer, Jack Thorne, multi award winning – plus the shows long time writer, Kate Trefry, together they devised a brilliant plot for the play, a direction which excited them all, which was, as aforementioned, the origin story of Henry Creel.
The television series is rich in mythology and character. The little ordinary town of Hawkins, Indiana, where extraordinary mind-blowing events emerge. Top secret experiments, gateways to another dimension (the Upside Down) telepathic and telekinetic superpowers, sinister entities – demogorgons, the Mind Flayer, and of course Vecna, who transpires to be an evolution of Henry Creel, the Hawkins Laboratory original test subject.
Stranger Things has roots very much from the Gothic genre. Of course, many of us have always been fascinated and interested in ‘monsters’, we may have supernatural favourites, werewolves, vampires, etc. We are just so intent on terrifying ourselves! Why is the horror genre as prevalent as as ever today? Films, TV shows.. Because we have a thirst so insatiable for these hellish creatures, our imaginations are haunted 😱😱
The scientific spin on Stranger Things is it’s parallel universe, the Upside Down – a world recognisable to our own, yet so completely twisted, deformed and horrific.
The Duffer Brothers succeed in forging attributes that are widely identifiable in the Gothic tradition, to new audiences, in new, fresh exciting ways, season by season.
Coming back to The First Shadow, set in 1959, the stage production highlights the ‘legacy of trauma in post-war America’, with Henry Creel’s father Victor evidently suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. Tragically, an alcoholic, prone to bizarre outbursts and obviously entirely shell-shocked.
The actor I was most impressed with in the show was Louis Healy who played Henry Creel himself. He portrays a boy very much disturbed, who practises killing small innocent animals and rodents. So desperate to be ‘normal’ by his peers, yet he is more so depicted socially awkward, and some would say a ‘weirdo’, ‘creep’ or ‘freak’. Healy was sensational in his delivery
It was intriguing to see Dr Brenner (Joshua James) influencing the young Creel, inducting him into his scientific experiments. A scared teenager with ‘special abilities’.
An aspect of the performance I really enjoyed was the actors making full use of the space, Creel in distress running down the audience aisles, men in white laboratory suits surrounding us. It made it more atmospheric. Of course, the set and props were absolutely outstanding, as with all West End productions.
I kept glancing at Aaron to see his reaction during the performance and he was beaming with joy, very much impressed as he has never seen a professional production
As a souvenir I bought the programme, a flask and a fridge magnet. Overall, a fantastic experience
After the performance we went and had a lovely Italian and a couple of Strongbow dark fruit ciders in a nearby Irish bar
Me and Aaron decided not to have breakfast included with our hotel as we are both vegetarians, so it seemed a little pointless. £17 a head when you don’t eat an English fry up is a bit of a waste of money! Instead, we found a lovely little ‘Muffin Man’ cafe where we had pancakes with Nutella spread and bananas 🍌 They were delicious. I wore a bib, ha 🤣 A joke present Aaron got me for Christmas 🎄 because I’m such a messy eater!
Paradox Museum:
Our first port of call of the day on Saturday was the ‘Paradox Museum’, a fully interactive optical illusion Museum situated in Knightsbridge, central London, opposite from the famous Harrod’s department store. It was absolutely brilliant!
There was a ‘Paradox Sofa’ which gave the impression the top half of your body had been swallowed up by the sofa. The ‘Camouflage Room’ where you literally blend into the wallpaper wearing an orange/black checked cloak, the ‘Reversed Room’ defying gravity, upside down in the underground (you use your smartphone to rotate the image, lol), the ‘Paradox Tunnel’ affecting your gravitational direction perception, walking straight but the room spinning, the ‘Infinity Well’ (again posing to then rotate on your smartphone). There was allsorts! My favourite was Aaron’s head on a platter and me hovering over him deviously with enormous cutlery! There were rooms with ‘Charlie and the Chocolates Factory’ esque distortions where the room felt like it was shrinking, or something like from ‘Alice in Wonderland’ where one person looked tiny and the other a huge giant!
It was hilarious because we got stuck in the wall of mirrors, and there’s me trying to navigate through going ‘Oh, it’s only a wall’, ‘Oh no, it’s just a wall’, ‘Aaron, I can’t get out’ 🤣🤣 I purchased a little colouful cube as a souvenir..Such a fab experience
Camden Town:
In the afternoon, we went to one of my favourite places ever, Camden Town. We strolled leisurely around the alternative market, taking photos of all the cool shops, tattoo studios, hippie havens, etc. Aaron bought a customised Harry Styles poster for his sister.
We crossed the beautiful Iron Footbridge over the Regent’s canal. There was a ‘poem busker’ asking for small donations for an original poem, written on their typewriter. The street market was great. I had a Greek halloumi gyro (as I say, I’m vegetarian). We went to a few eccentric shops, including one selling circus equipment, and best of all, CyberDog!
CyberDog sells festival clubwear and rave outfits. It’s immense! Selling futuristic fashion, neon glow in the dark clothing, reflective jackets, body paints, alternative accessories. I bought a punk style spiked collar, ha 🤣 There are live DJ’s playing electronic music, and podium dancers, it’s mint! Absolutely love it 🥰
Late afternoon, we ventured back to the underground station. Luckily, I asked a member of staff directions as we nearly got on the wrong tube! But, as it were, we got to the Visitors Centre in Baker Street well within time to embark on our last London adventure..
Warner Bros Studio Tour: The Making of Harry Potter:
I was so very excited to go to the Warner Bros Tour as I am a huge fan of Harry Potter, having read all the books and watched the films countless times.
We were really lucky to witness ‘Hogwart’s in the Snow’, Christmas 🎄 time in the wizarding world, with various snow features. The huge Christmas tree, even before we entered the main tour was ace… Upon arrival, we had veggie burgers before embarking on the tour.
We were given an ‘activity passport’, in which we were to collect 7 stamps as strolling through the different areas: 1. Gryffindor’s Crest 2. Quidditch 3. Divination 4. Hogwart’s Express 5. Gringott’s Bank 6. Diagon Alley and 7. Hogwart’s Crest
The Great Hall was magnificent and breathtaking, with all it’s suspended candles. We saw the Gryffindor boys dormitory, the enchanted pensieve from Dumbledore’s office, we saw peculiar bottles and jars in the potions section, Hagrid’s hut, the Weasley home, the Divination classroom, artifacts from the Ministry of Magic. We entered the forbidden forest, crept through Gringotts wizarding bank, walked the cobbles of my favourite, Diagon Alley
The Creature Effect Department did amazingly well creating the Basilisk, Buckbeak, Fawkes, etc..
We learnt all about the crucial visual effects throughout all the films – enhancements and created environments, computer generated characters the camera cannot capture – the Chamber of Secrets, Gringotts vault door, the Griffin stairwell to Dumbledore’s office
My favourite of all the Harry Potter films is ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ in which three wizarding schools participate in the tri-wizard tournament, so I was overjoyed to see the Yule Ball costumes
I adored seeing the Hogwart’s Express, and taking photographs as though wheeling through Platform 9 and 3/4. I especially liked the exterior sets. The Burrow, and vehicles such as sitting in Hagrid’s bike, and the Ford Anglia (from Chamber of Secrets).
It was brill in Professor Sprout’s herbology greenhouse, pulling up mandrakes, posing at the back of the Knight Bus, wandering through number 4 Privet Drive, discovering the famous cupboard under the stairs. The house displayed two iconic scenes, the mountain of envelopes fluttering in the living room (Philosopher’s Stone) and the scene from Prizoner of Azkaban where Aunt Marge swells up like a balloon!
It was delightful to learn about the makeup and prosthetics. It was very impressive, prosthetic pieces made from foam or silicone, such as for Gringotts goblins. A life size version of Dobby was created. Such models by the Creative designers were known as masquettes, which were then scanned to apply computer generated movements, facial expressions, etc
We were told how the Prop department has accumulated thousands of items, in five giant warehouses, items including: The Time Turner, the Philosopher’s stone, the Golden Snitch, the Deluminator, the Golden Egg etc and of course wands, brooms, and horcruxes. The art, prop, costume and graphic designers all collaborated to develop the wizarding sport of Quidditch. Skull-like death eater masks were constructed from casts of the actors faces. Defence against the dark arts furniture constructed too, such as the Boggart Wardrobe..The treasure in Lestrange’s vault, three months a machine ran just to produce the Hufflepuff cup replication…
It was absolutely outstanding viewing the dragon fire-breathing simulation!
I adored Diagon Alley the most, with Ollivander’s wand shop, Flourish and Blotts, the Leaky Cauldron, Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes and so on. It was truly magical, as was the astonishing and intricately detailed Hogwart’s Castle Model. Every turret, tower and courtyard enhanced digitally, used in all the films
The only thing I was completely disappointed in was the Butterbeer.. it was absolutely disgusting!
I purchased an ‘Official Guide’, a Hedwig Owl teddy which is adorable and a Gryffindor Mascot Wand which was on offer. In hindsight, it might have been worth waiting for the next gift shop at the end of the tour, which had a much larger selection of different wands
We just about made it back to the coach in time. The entire experience was 7 hours long. We embarked from Baker Street at 4pm, and was back there around 11pm. The studio is situated on the outskirts of London you see, Watford area. An unbelievable experience I will never forget, truly magical! 😁😁 A quiet underground journey back to Kensington High Street
The following morning, rather than having to cart our heavy luggage on the underground, we took an uber to King’s Cross station. We had time to enjoy another lovely Italian near King’s Cross before travelling back to Doncaster
I had such a wonderful time. This last year has been so tough losing mum to early onset alzheimers disease 😢 It was lovely to get away for a few days, just what I needed, a fantastic little getaway 😊
Sources:
Stranger Things: The First Shadow official programme
Warner Bros Studio Tour London: The Making of Harry Potter official guide
Websites:
paradoxmuseumlondon.com [Accessed 26th January 2025]
This year, I have had the privilege to see five different Christmas pantomimes. Jack and the Beanstalk twice at Cast Doncaster, two amateur productions of Cinderella, and Alice in Wonderland.
The magic of pantomime – charming princes, a bit of banter, slap-stick comedy, running jokes, musical singalongs, wonderful costumes, bright and cheerful encounters, happy endings and living happily ever afters, what is not to love?
Jack and the Beanstalk:
I went on Tuesday 3rd December to see Jack and the Beanstalk with my grandma, and again with my close friend Robyn on Saturday 21st December. It was fantastic! Written by Neil Hurst and directed by Tess Seddon.
The ‘baddie’ this year was the sensational Robyn McIntyre as Countess Freshcreep. Such a sinister character with a very high pitched wail of a voice and a cruel cackle. My other favourite character was Silly Billy, played by Harry Gascoigne. I can remember him from last year’s panto. He was so energetic and had such an uplifting stage presence, encouraging the kids in the audience to shout ‘Don’t be silly, Billy’.
Ben Eagle as the Dame was brilliant too. He admitted in an interview that “the joy of playing a dame is that you get to flirt with the men!” Because his demeanor is so typically butch and blokey, it was very comical seeing him frolic around the stage in drag. It just works. He had plentiful ridiculous costume changes such as becoming a burger, a baked bean, a jelly bean and a runner bean!
Daisy the cow was so cute and “udderly over the moon” to be in this year’s production.
Joe Parker played a great Jack Trott, very expressive on stage, however I felt that his singing voice was not as professional as some of the others in my opinion, he kind of shouted a bit, which was a shame
Born and bred Sheffield lass Becca Lee-Isaacs was amazing as Jill, as was Misha Malcolm as Mother Nature, both had a very soothing, kind presence… I would say, actually, that all the other ensemble were marvellous too, the dancers and tap dancers in the junior ensemble
Something which really struck me this year was how wonderful the stage/props were. The way the Beanstalk grew from the well, towering upwards and spiralling sideways, was a truly magical sight. And the giant! WOW! I have never seen anything like it. He was ginormous, completely dominating the stage. I don’t know how they did it, making him animated.
It was funny how the goose laid a golden egg, water being sprayed into the audience with water pistols, cream pies in faces. It was hilarious hearing Silly Billy and Dame Trott attempting, and succeeding, an elaborate tongue twister, and Countess Fleshcreep’s cockroaches (esemble) creeping around behind the cast “They’re behind you!” Audience participation and children getting up on stage at the end of the show, personalising their own version of E.I.E.I.O. “Which side can sing the loudest?”
Very festive, and very fabulous 👌
Cinderella (Little Theatre):
Although Cinderella at Doncaster Little Theatre was only an amateur production, it was still rather pleasant. I went on Thursday 12th December with my friends Matty, Lynne, Joanne, Robyn, Chris and my boyfriend Aaron.
Cinderella, played by Kayleigh Harding was very elegant and demure, Buttons (Josh Dunphy) convincingly madly in love with her. The two young lads Benjamin Harding and Cole Blakely playing the Prince and Dandini were refreshing and vibrant and interchanged their roles perfectly.
Fairy G aka fairy godmother (Rhiannon Clark) played her part quite well, as did Baron Hardup (Malcolm Coy), and the Baroness (Chris Bolus), all contributing to an enjoyable pantomime experience.
The true stars of the show were however, in my opinion, Grizelda and Gertrude (Phil Towe and Alan Clark), the ugly sisters! They were highly amusing picking on a poor man in the audience, and kept teasing him! I think it’s fun for us in the audience when the cast members improvise – it adds another element to the performance, makes it more personable. Always good, a bit of banter.
As I say, a much smaller production but still good festive fun, with all the usual pantomime shenanigans…
“Oh, yes it was!”
“Oh, no it wasn’t!”
“Oh, yes it was!”
Alice in Wonderland:
My favourite pantomime to see this year was the Hatfield Woodhouse Phoenix Theatre Group production of Alice in Wonderland. I went on Thursday 2nd January with my best friend Robyn and her mum and dad, and my other best friend, Lou. I was anticipating this would be a good one, as I immensely enjoyed their Wizard of Oz last year.
They did rather well converting a classic children’s story into a pantomime for all ages (although it must be said, Carrol’s creation has been interpreted by many as adult themed).
The director of this year’s pantomime (Tina Bradbury) insisted to find a script, however challenging as it may be, not so traditional, but rather a funny, interesting and unusual one – surpassing expectations while keeping the panto magic alive. She made a few tweaks, to up the entertainment and keep everyone laughing, however, all of Carrol’s characters we know and love made appearances. Such as, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the White Rabbit, the Queen of Hearts, the Cheshire Cat, Mad Hatter and the March Hare, Caterpillar etc
In this production, Wonderland is in grave danger. A wicked man, the Knave of Spades (Neil Scanlon) is hell bent on taking control of all Wonderland, and all the world! The Wizard of Muddleup Wood (Ian Weeks) can save this awful fate by means of a magical golden heart
In a world where the White Rabbit’s (Andy Green) large pocket watch can interrupt and alter time, Tweedledum and Tweedledee (Kev Bluck and Chris Bradbury) are hypnotised, the Queen of Hearts (Sue Lane) summons her strict Sargent (Ann Littlefield) to “off with their heads”, her subdued husband (Steve Mullen – King of Hearts) silently obeying her every command, where a lazy Caterpillar (Helen Bluck) smokes pipes and a bunch of high hippies wander in the woods trying to find Glastonbury, a Cheshire Cat (Kate Green) saunters mischievously, and Mad Hatter (Helen Green) and March Hare (Becky Bluck) host very very very very happy unbirthdays!
Helen Green was absolutely marvellous as the Mad Hatter, with all the quirks and idiosyncrasies. The White Rabbit made me really laugh as well, he was so much in character trembling about “I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date!”. The Prince of Diamonds (Grace Stevenson) and Princess Ruby of Hearts (Chloe Allen) did a great job. Alice (Jess Turner) although she admittedly did not shrink or grow in size (which would be pretty much impossible) her performance was most impressive and she had a lovely singing voice.
Her mother in the production was Dame Milly (Matt Allen), who, as all dames do, had an ongoing joke and flirt with the male audience members. Wally the Joker (Ernie Tonge) was a return cast member from last year, playing the joker then too I believe. Every time on stage he would say: “I say, I say, I say” followed by a corny joke. But it’s a pantomime, what’s not to love?! Cheer the goodies, boo the baddies!
All the cast, and all the chorus, did magnificently well. I particularly liked the Green Haggis, i.e. a little girl dressed as a cheeky haggis monster, scaring those on stage! “It’s behind you!”
The props and staging were again top-notch. My most favourite part was when they turned the lights off and beautiful fluorescent butterflies fluttered around the stage. It was truly visually and aesthetically stunning
Cinderella (Armthorpe Community Centre):
The final pantomine I had the pleasure of seeing this year was Cinderella at Armthorpe Community Centre, on Saturday 4th January for Robyn’s birthday! It was a great privilege as our friend Sandy played the fairy godmother. She was sensational!
This pantomime was pretty traditional, with a few surprises.
The ugly sisters, Gertrude (Emily O’Shea) and Grizelda (Lynne Piper) were uncharacteristically played by two women, not men in drag. They were hilarious. Emily (Gertrude) reminded me very much of Rebel Wilson, both in her looks and mannerisms (I bet she’s heard that one before!). The male victim in this panto was poor Ryan, who was the blunt of all Grizelda’s jokes.
I felt sorry for Rubella Hardup (Kirsty Stewart) as she forgot one of her lines, but picked it back up perfectly. Her husband Baron Hardup (Graham Newton) played another submissive role to a matriarchal domineering wife.
Buttons (Colm O’Conner) was very confident and charismatic, slick and smooth. Whenever anyone went near his childhood teddy, Bob the Bear, the audience members were encouraged to shout “Buttons! Bob the bear is being bothered!” Cinderella (Gemma Christina) played a lovely part, as did Dandini (Courtney Holdridge), but I was absolutely blown away by Chloe White who played Prince Charming. Her voice was outstanding and angelic and she definitely belongs in the West End.
Two characters adapted in were Bodget (Colin Head) and Leggett (Andy Barrington) as two comical demolition workers, knocking plastic hammers on heads instead of nails. Most hilarious however was the pantomime horse, which as we know, is two actors partnered in a single costume to theatrically represent a real horse, front and back! It was so funny seeing them try to get on and off the stage!
I know we are biased, but Sandy was a delight as Fairy G, sophisticated, graceful, so very pretty and sparkly
Something I loved about this pantomime was all the children were invited onto the stage at the end to sing and dance to Music Man “I am the music man, I come from far away, and I can play…” etc. A lovely gesture.
Helen Evans (the director/producer) did a terrific job!
Overall, I have had a wonderful festive time at this year’s pantomimes. The Easter panto at Cast is Pinocchio in April, to which I have already obtained tickets and Peter Pan is on at Doncaster Little Theatre in July…so watch this space!
Thank you as ever for reading/viewing. I much appreciate your support.
On Saturday 16th November, me and my lovely Auntie Cath went to Cast in Doncaster to see the incredible Crown Ballet production of The Nutcracker..
I have always wanted to see a ballet. During a conversation about Billy Elliot being one of my auntie’s favourite films, and her having seen Swan Lake in Bradford, which she said was outstanding 👏 , we decided to book up at Cast for what would be a fantastic Christmas ballet show 🥰
Marius Petipa (1818-1910) was a very talented ballet master, influencing, developing and pioneering a high mastery of ballet classical dance – The Nutcracker is considered a model of classical choreography; Petipa the founder of Russian ballet. In all of his ballets there is a specific subject.
In collaboration with Petipa, and working closely together, The Nutcracker was formed by Tchaikovsky, an extremely famous Russian composer. It was first performed 18th December 1892 in St Petersburg, at the Mariinsky Theatre.
Over 120 years past it’s infancy, the ballet remains an integral part of Christmas celebration. Petipa introduced the scenario, based on the Hoffman French adapted tale ‘The Nutcracker and the Mouse King’.
Although outwardly the pair, Petipa and Tchaikovsky worked together in perfect harmony, Petipa’s music was deemed too complicated for stage. Petipa actually drew out of production with ill health, and for several years his assistant Lev Ivanov took over the choreography, although Petipa continued to give strict guidelines!
Tchaikovsky was not actually initially impressed, however the story grew on him, and surpassed previous expectations, eventually loving it beyond all other projects. He had a ‘secret instrument’ from Paris, a tinkling celesta, forever associated with the sugar plum fairy 🧚♂️
The ballet was not an instant success, however it gained popularity, arriving in the West 1934, and now a universal Christmas favourite 🎄🎄
The synopsis of The Nutcracker is as follows (spoiler alert):
Act one, scene one: Christmas eve, and presents are gathered around a beautiful enormous Christmas tree; ballerinas, mouse dolls and a nutcracker, placed there by Marie’s father. A Christmas eve gathering commences, guests arrive and start dancing. A magician 🎩 suddenly appears, and moving toys start dancing too. This awes and fascinates all the children. A house keeper comes with a gigantic cake 🎂 It is revealed the magician is Marie’s dad, he offers out the delicious cake. Marie is too preoccupied however with her favourite nutcracker doll. As the night darkens, the guests say their farewells and the children go to sleep. Marie falls asleep with the nutcracker cosy in her arms.
Act one, scene two: Marie has such an awful dream! The king of mice, horrible and ruthless, tries to capture her beloved nutcracker. Huge ugly grey mice lurk around the room and bombard. Marie is very afraid. Thankfully the nutcracker bravely triumphs and imprisons the king of mice in a mousetrap. The nutcracker has injuries, but miraculously transforms into a handsome prince. Dancing under star-filled skies, the nutcracker invited Marie to a fairy tale realm
Act two: Everyone is joyous of the king of mice’s demise and are full of victorious celebration. The hosts of the magical world ball, the prince of pertussis and the renowned sugar plum fairy, welcome the transformed dolls. The dolls perform various dances from a wide array of countries; Chinese, Arabic, French, Russian, Spanish, etc – culminating together in an epic final dance… Unfortunately, it was all but a dream! Marie awakens on Christmas day morning, gently holding her toy nutcracker. What a shame!
The ballet was completely breathtaking, I was so impressed! So elegant, so classy, it swept you away into another world entirely. Poise, skillful mastery and sophistication. Iconic arabesques, powerful Jetes, graceful pirouettes, grand plies, the dolls dancing pas de deux duets. I was most impressed by the Arabian dolls 😍 They were simply superb, with their eastern exotic moves, all kinds of unbelievable poses, so talented!
Overall, I am delighted we decided to go see my first ballet, the Nutcracker. A perfect beginning to the festive period 🥰🥰
(All information obtained by the Crown Ballet souvenir programme)
I have a few things lined up for my next blog posts.. I am on with a small turtle 🐢 diamond art, and another one of two colourful zebras which will take me weeks! 8000 crystals! I also have a ‘winter fox’ Christmas themed pub painting in December, and I shall also do a theatre review in the new year of three festive pantomines: Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland! 💕💕 So watch this space!
As always, thank you so much for supporting me and reading my blog posts. All the best, Lauren xx
Hi everyone! Sorry it has taken me so long to write this review, I realise Halloween 🎃 was a good few weeks back, hope you enjoy the review in any case!
On Thursday 24th October 2024, me and my good friends Lou and Aaron went to the highly popular, multi-award winning, and greatly anticipated ‘Fear Factory’ for Halloween celebrations at Thornhurst Manor, Doncaster. 5 year running! It was incredible!
As soon as we arrived, even in the queue, there was a petrifying clown 🤡 chasing people with a chainsaw! And also a creepy woman who looked like the scary woman from ‘The Ring’, with dark hair falling eerily in front of her face.
We had our photo taken with props before entering the manor. In total, there were 5 different scary mazes to experience;
Diabolus: Witches of Salem
The Pogo Club
Crackle Hill: The Summoning
The Chasm
Friargate Foundry (the brand new maze for 2024)
Diabolus: Witches of Salem – The theme of this maze was salem witchcraft. The story; Thomas Parker, the town’s new priest (1962) investigates black magic, his daughter Martha suspected to have the mark of the devil! 😈 The torturous church awaits those brave enough to enter, and come face to face with the malevolent witches 🧙♂️ of Salem! Ready to pounce and terrify!
The Pogo Club – The Pogo Club is an epic nightclub, refurbished last year and under ‘new management’. It’s mint! All around the walls, everywhere, there is fluorescent colourful bright and bold glow paint, it really is immense. Such fun, loads of twists, turns, wrong ways and surprises!
Crackle Hill: The Summoning – The theme of this maze is paranormal investigation. Scientists hold a seance in hopes of summoning Agatha Stone, leader of an occult, and involved with worshipping the devil! 😈 She even sacrifices her own children, their young bodies buried under floorboards! Can you hear their screaming souls? 😱 Is Agatha’s spirit still lurking, waiting for new sacrifices? Beware!
The Chasm – The Chasm is a mine. Workers were sent underground but unfortunately the Chasm started collapsing. All escaped, except one miner. Rescuers were feared trapped and buried, as they did not return. Has something more sinister happened? It is our mission to explore the darkest, deepest crevices, avoid falling debris, beware sharp turns, and apprehensively crawl through confined spaces, in the dreaded darkness, to rescue the missing miner!
Friargate Foundry – Apparently, the scare park, with all it’s rooms, every year for Halloween 🎃 at fear factory, were all meticulously designed by the twisted and sick mind of ‘The Operator’. Thinking of ways to unlock new fears, manufacturing and amplifying your worst nightmarish visions, so hellish, so deranged, so petrifying! He has always been there, in the background, unseen, unheard, conjuring new methods of terror to unleash this Halloween. Past, present, future, there is no escape! Mwah-ha-ha!
I have always wanted to go to a proper official Halloween scarefest. And I was not disappointed!
In every maze there were elements of flashing strobe lights, pools of smoke, pitch black darkness, very disorientating! The actors were fantastic 👏 dressed up in Halloween costumes; jumping out, screaming in your face, pulling your hair, taunting, etc. The whole experience was both terrifying and terrific!
At the venue, there were burger vans and also sweet treats, such as chocolate marshmallows and Belgium waffles. They also had entertainment in the form of contemporary sci-fi inspired dance, and Waltzers. Classic. I observed while Lou and Aaron went on the Waltzers, I was feeling a little queasy by that point, ha! 😆
Overall, a fantastic event. I would definitely go again next year, except I have heard rumours it may close 😢 What would be brilliant next year is to go Halloween at Alton Towers, that’d be amazing!
Yesterday I went with one of my best friends Lou and her family to see Steve Steinman’s ‘Anything for Love’ meatloaf tribute show at Cast theatre, Doncaster, it was amazing! 😁
Steinman is a very successful director, producer, actor and singer, with a vast fan base. He has performed all around the world. Notably, ‘Vampires Rock’ is in it’s 20th anniversary tour, a huge success for Steinman, proving massively popular, a blend of classic rock, and tounge-in-cheek hilarity, with incredible musicians. Also, his debut number one album ‘Take a Leap of Faith’, released August 2021, dominated charts. The songwriter John Parr (no I’m not related to him!) listened to Steinman’s album, and felt like it was destined for Steinman to sing one of Meatloaf’s ‘lost’ songs (never released) ‘Eveything They Said was True’. Furthermore, Steinman’s new musical masterpiece ‘Eternal Love’ hits the theatres next year! I am so excited to go as a birthday celebration in March! My cousin told me how amazing ‘Vampires Rock’ is, so I can’t wait to stick my teeth into ‘Eternal Love’ ❤️❤️
I was most familiar with songs 🎵 from the legendary ‘Bat out of Hell’ album, but there were a couple I was unfamiliar with. To add a bit of variety, the girl backing singers sang ‘Holding out for a Hero’ by Bonnie Tyler, and ‘All Coming Back to Me’ by Celine Dion, for example, Trixabelle Bold and Ashley Cavell, they were outstanding singers! Greg Morton however on the piano absolutely blew me away! He was exceptionally talented, along with the other musicians, Johnny Sax on the saxophone, Dan Stevens, James Marsh and Joe Brierley on the guitars/bass guitar 🎸 And not to forget John Evans, a terrific backing vocalist.. The staging was epic, with all the instruments and balls of fire gushing up 🔥
Some of my favourite songs were ‘I Would do Anything for Love (But I Won’t do That’, ‘Two out of Three Ain’t Bad’, ‘Dead Ringer for Love’ ‘Heaven Can Wait’, ‘Paradise by the Dashboard Light’, ‘You Took the Words Right out of My Mouth’ and of course the magnificent ‘Bat out of Hell’ 🦇🦇 I was swaying and happily singing along 😁😁 It reminded me of when me and my late mum went to see ‘Bat out of Hell’ the musical in London, 2018, before she got too poorly. She was bobbing along merrily too to all the songs then too! 🎵 Me and my sister grew up with Meatloaf, he was one of mum’s favourites 😍 Rather than feeling sad, I actually felt comforted and connected to mum, hoping she was at peace and looking down on me 🥰🥰
So, yes, a fantastic performance 👏 and I will definitely get booked up for ‘Eternal Love’ at Cast next spring. I am also going to the pantomime at Christmas time ,which I believe this year is ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and I will support the little theatre too at their festive ‘Cinderella’ production..
Thank you as ever for taking the time to view/read.. all the best, Lauren xx
A few weeks back on the 9th April, me and my best friend Robyn and a couple other friends went to see Robin Hood – the Easter pantomime at Cast, Doncaster 😄😄
The heroic outlaw legend, Robin Hood, who famously steals from the rich, and gives to the poor, is certainly prominent in our psyches; depicted heavily in cinema, theatre and literature. Countless films (including Disney’s cartoon version) have portrayed the dashing swordsman and archer. One of my dad’s favourite films is actually ‘The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), with swashbuckler golden age of Hollywood – the hedonistic romancer, Errol Flynn
It was unfortunate that in Cast’s Easter pantomime, Louie Spence, who was supposed to be playing the bad ‘Sheriff of Notingham’, took ill and was unable to perform 😢 Instead Divino Decampo, a professional drag queen, actor and singer, understudied almost perfectly. As she only had a few days to learn her lines, she unsurprisingly made one or two mistakes/ long pauses (i.e. not remembering lines). But, on the whole, a dastardly delight, with a wicked, bold deliverance 😜
There were quite a few ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ former auditionees in the pantomime, such as Ashleigh and Sully playing ‘Maid Marian and Sully’, Jamie and Chuck’ as ‘Little John and Friar Chuck’ and George Sampson as a dashing Robin Hood. Sully the dog was exceptionally talented! Jamie and Chuck were very funny too, but I thought Ryan Greaves, who played ‘Wally Scarlett’ was a comic genius! He graduated 🎓 from the Manchester Met School of Theatre with a first class honours degree in Acting. Kate Salmon as ‘Fairy Cher’ and Wayne Morgan-Williams as ‘Dame Dolly’ were both fantastic on stage too, and complimented the other characters’ comedy very nicely
The production was so impressive. The song choices or ‘musical numbers’ were great. It was so much fun! Giant beach balls were flung out into the audience, sweets being tennis racketed, water guns etc.. 😁 (We stupidly thought the water guns wouldn’t get us at the back!) ..There were chicken costumes, and all kinds of objects, inflatable bananas 🍌/ hula hoops, all sorts, tossed around the stage! The cast impersonated a well known Chuckle brothers scene: ‘If I weren’t a so and so, I would be…’ with repetitive movements/ and bumping into each other! Dame Dolly and Wally Scarlett did the classic cake in your face, and a hilarious magic show involving chopping a cucumber 🥒 🤣
Overall, a brilliant Easter pantomime!
Thank you for taking the time to read/view 💕
My next few posts will be a ‘Stitch’ Disney diamond art 💎 🎨, a ‘giraffe’ 🦒 pub painting and a travel blog: Alton Towers with friends in May! So watch this space 😜
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