Snow White,

The Muni, Colne

THE Muni at Colne staged an immensely entertaining and polished production of the pantomime Snow White on its opening weekend.

The show, which runs through Sunday, January 21, provided plenty of laughs and traditional panto style entertainment.

In his 20th year as pantomime producer at Colne, George Critchley has assembled a strong cast who are ably supported by youngsters from two Pendle dance schools.

George himself took on the role of the Dame Duddles and after two decades of always playing the Dame's idiot son, Critchley's on stage antics, in particular his hilarious and impeccably timed facial expressions, were ideally suited to the Dame character.

This year, the Dame's son, Muddles, was portrayed by Mark Homer, who played in four seasons of EastEnders.

Mark as Muddles kept the audience laughing throughout.

One of the joys of the production was an excellent performance by all-round entertainer Grant Brookes, who played the part of Ramsbottom, the Queen's Henchman.

Grant, who was enjoyable to watch as the snivelling and hunched servant of the evil Queen Cruella, also showed off a few circus skills such as unicycle riding, juggling and balancing, much to the audience's enjoyment.

Queen Cruella was played by Anne Nolan, who has enjoyed a long career as a singer and was a member of the band Nolan Sisters.

After more than 40 years in the limelight, Anne has decided to retire after Snow White finishes later this month.

Anne as Queen Cruella conjured plenty of the traditional panto boos from her audience, but she showed off her singing talents with a number of songs.

She and Emma Brown, who gave a strong performance as Snow White, let their singing talents shine through despite the occasionally loud music which vibrated through auditorium.

The choice of music and songs was a nice touch though, as the balance between older and more modern songs could be enjoyed by the young and old alike.

Adaptations of the Steve Miller Band's 'Abracadabra' and Little Mix's 'Black Magic' were ideal selections for the production.

And while Oliver Bower as Prince Valentine and Amy Isaac as Fairy Good also played their parts well, one must not forget to acknowledge some excellent dance performances by youngsters from the East Lancashire School of Dance and the Pendle Academy of Dance and Performing Arts.

The dancers glided across the stage in an array of colourful costumes in supporting roles, which included some of the junior members who impressed in non-speaking roles as the 'Seven Dwarfs'.

The entertaining panto ended with a rousing rendition of its usual audience sing-along of 'Wiggly Woo'.

To book tickets to Snow White, ring the box office on 01282 661234 or visit themuni.co.uk

Daryl Ames