It's as traditional as mince pies and Christmas Pudding. It's as British as beef on the bone. It's as jolly as an August bank-holiday excursion to the seaside. It is, as you'll have guessed, the good old Christmas Pantomime. (Oh, yes it is!)
And to all these well-known ingredients the Ross Operatic and Dramatic Society's production of "Sleeping Beauty" has added novel titbits which add spice and zest to the audience's anticipated pleasure. Tony Hearn's music and lyrics are both catchy and clever, They inspire audience participation and stir the memory with recollections of well loved favourites from musicals of the past; from "Mary Poppins" and "The Sound of Music" to echoes of Elvis and the cadences of "Are you being served?" All this is achieved by the combined skills of a large and surprisingly versatile and talented cast whose wholehearted zest underpins the sheer fun of the evening and sweetens even the hoariest of panto chestnuts.
To single out any one individual from a production that is so clearly a team-effort and so uniformly well presented, might seem unfair. But failure to mention the antics of Oddjob (Richard Mayo) and Penelope Pinchme (James Lee-Hynes), the melodramatically powerful presence of Olga Pong (Loraine Worrall) or the comic capers of King Rumbletum (Gordon Beard) and Queen Gigglebelly (Anne Catcheside) would be downright unjust. They, together with Princess Beauty (Angharad Renno) and Prince Handsome (Rebecca Ball), with frequent benign interventions by the Fairygodmothers (Avril Farley, Joanna Hicks and Barbara Morley-Jones) carry the panto to its predictable happy ending, and they are admirably supported by the host of courtiers, goblins and jellyfish - (Yes, there really is an excursion to the seaside) - all of whom sing and dance with commendable gusto and admirable talent. Every aspect of the production - sets, lighting and music - is impressive.
So, it you are young-at-heart and ready to let your hair down for a rollicking evening, come along to the Phoenix with all the family and join in their seasonal celebrations.