Producer Doreen Cockshott, of Ambleside Road, Flixton, has urged the 16 year old, who she described as having "a very mature voice," to put her own personality into the role.
The show will feature dancing bears and Doreen believes the furry trio, who will also do a spot of singing, will be a big hit with the younger members of the audience. Her production's musicians didn't join up with the rest of the cast until the Sunday before opening night. Doreen said: "Our pianist is with us all the time and he gets to know what we need. But you need to know your musicians because there is a lot they can do to keep the pantomime going. The drummer is important because every time someone falls over and if you want to zap someone you need the percussion to helphelp out."
Although Doreen has introduced new ideas such as a teddy bear chorus, Goldilocks and the Three bears will have a Dame and two Principal Boys.
"People come to panto to enjoy themselves in the traditional way but you have to be open to new ideas"
Julia Taylor
There were good portrayals of characters. I enjoyed the Black Witch played by Margaret Johnson and Christine Perry as the White Witch: they played off each other very well. Comedy was in the hands of John Walker (Court Chamberlain) and Ken Brook (Dame Hannah Hathaway) who both brought in a lot of audience participation. Principal boy and girl showed romance and sang well.
The music was well chosen but there was a lot of it, which made the first act a little too long. Musical accompaniment was quietly effective. The enthusiasm from the cast came over the footlights. Costumes and scenery complemented the production.
This pantomime was well received and I look forward to your next production.
John Flay