Malvern Theatres Pantomime 2024 – Sleeping Beauty: Review

Ad – tickets gifted for the purpose of a review

Malvern Theatres Pantomime has been one of our Christmas traditions since the girls were tiny. And unsurprisingly, we’re not the only ones. With Mark James on his seventh year of Malvern Pantos, the audience know what’s coming and everyone’s ready to join in given half a chance. As well as a brilliant cast, upbeat songs and plenty of humour, the atmosphere at Malvern Theatres panto is always an absolute joy. This year, the cast have put together a spectacular performance of Sleeping Beauty. We headed over on opening night to check it out.

Sleeping Beauty at Malvern Theatres: The Story

Princess Rose is excited to celebrate her 18th birthday, but her dad is worried about her leaving the castle. The audience learns about the curse that evil Carabosse cast on Rose as a baby. She’s destined to die before her 18th birthday when she pricks her finger on a spinning wheel. The King has burned all the spinning wheels in the Kingdom, except for one and nobody knows where it is.

Up to this point in the production, it all seems a bit serious. A beautiful princess at risk, an evil witch, a worried King and a stray spinning wheel. Thankfully, it’s time to lighten the mood. We’re introduced to the character everyone’s been waiting for, Chester the Jester. He looks remarkably similar to Buttons and Muddles from previous pantos, but it must be a coincidence.

Chester and his mum, Nanny Nora are on hand with buckets of fun and jokes that get everyone in the festive mood. They’re arranging Rose’s 18th birthday party and the King has invited eligible Prince Vince of Worcestershire. When Prince Vince hears of the princess’s plight, he sets out to find and destroy the last spinning wheel. Of course, Carabosse has other ideas, but Fairy Snowfall is on hand to save the day.

Sleeping Beauty at Malvern Theatres: The Cast and Crew

As always, the undisputed star of the show was Malvern’s favourite funny man Mark James as Chester the Jester. Malvern pantomime never disappoints the audience when it comes to a selection of jokes that appeal to both adults and children. This year was a first though, with a couple of jokes that were definitely aimed at the teens. My 12 year old was laughing so hard that she momentarily forgot how embarrassing her parents are.

• Princess Rose: Ellie Dadd (you’ll recognise her if you watch Eastenders – all the little girls in the audience instantly wanted to be her from the moment she appeared on stage)
• The King: Mark Llewelyn Evans (without giving too much away, look out for a staggering vocal performance from him)
• Fairy Snowfall: Shani Cantor (the female hero we all needed to see)
• Carabosse: Jordan Lee Davies (an excellent baddie, we were all a bit scared!)
• Chester the Jester: Mark James (Malvern is a very biased place, he will always be our fave)
• Nanny Nora: Phillip Arran (hilarious, fab outfits)
• Prince Vincent: Alexander Emery (the perfect geeky Prince Charming)
• Ensemble: Owen Bagnall, George Barber, Niamh Hendron, Sallie-Beth Lawless, Libby McGarry, Imogen Sharp and children from the Cecilia Hall Dance Centre (the ensemble added loads of energy and fun to the show).

Whilst I won’t list all the backstage crew, I have to give a particular mention to Tom Self. If you watched Cinderella last year, you will have appreciated his on-stage cameo. Whilst he wasn’t quite so involved this year, he is rapidly becoming our favourite musical director. He’s clearly extremely talented and bags of fun. A few other crew members do have a little cameo on stage this year though and it’s probably the most hilarious scene of the whole panto.

The Verdict

We’ve never been to a bad Malvern Pantomime and this year is no exception. As always, it’s a high-energy show full of brilliant performers and put together by an incredible behind-the-scenes team. There’s a lovely family feel to this show, and my girls commented on the atmosphere in the theatre. From the moment you walk into the auditorium, there’s a buzz of anticipation.

As always, there’s loads of audience participation – both voluntary and involuntary. I have to say that Sleeping Beauty really took the hilarity of using a member of the public in the show to another level. Whilst there’s usually somebody that the pantomime dame takes a liking to, this year’s victim was really put through his paces in a different way to the norm. I won’t give too much away but if you’re sitting on the front row, either put your brave pants on or swap seats!

We always feel very lucky to have Malvern Theatres just up the road. The shows there are always above and beyond what you’d expect in a small town like ours. But of course, you never really know whether you’re going to enjoy a show until you’re immersed in it. Pantomime is the exception to that rule. It’s comfortingly similar each year and we always go along expecting a brilliant evening. So far, we’ve never been disappointed.

Sleeping Beauty at Malvern Theatres: FAQs