Pantomime (Cinderella) 2025

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Oh, yes it is, it’s Panto Season! This year we joined Jo, Janet, Helen and Carol for Cinderella!

Closer to home too, as we headed to The Lighthouse Theatre right here in Kettering, rather than the usual trip to MK! 😀. Keeping it local meant we could pay a visit to the quaint ‘Blitz Tea Rooms‘ in town that we haven’t been to for a good few years (July 2018!) for some pre-Theatre nibbles.

As the name suggests, this is a 1940s-themed Tea Room.

We arrived just before 12.15 and the place was deserted, but happily, it soon filled up, and by the time we left, it had quite an atmosphere.

It was ‘light-bites’ all round, where the food and service were as good as we remember it! It’s a charming location, with prices that are still very kind on the wallet – and the quirky themed interior makes it equally unforgettable. Personally, if it weren’t tucked away near the Library and was located with the rest of the shops in the town, I’m sure it would be even busier.

Quirky and enjoyable! 👍

Our next stop? The Lighthouse Theatre 👍

Judging by how full their car park was, this was a popular event. Once we got inside, it was, as expected, PACKED! When the curtain went up at 2pm, it was pretty much a full house. For me, it was slightly weird that there was no cast list, and we certainly didn’t recognise anyone in the few publicity posters we’d seen leading up to today’s matinée.

I did wonder if this was going to be a poor imitation of the more lavish productions we’d got used to at MK over the years, but I needn’t have worried! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. I learned later this was a KD Theatre Production err, production, and they’ve got quite a track record with Pantos.

‘Buttons‘ got the audience onside from the off, and the Ugly Sisters were entertaining enough to have the whole Panto to themselves! The singing was well above average, and the choreography was spot on! Even the plug for the show’s Sponsors (Wilson Browne Solicitors) was delivered in such a way, for it not to feel forced – and it even received an appreciative response from the audience! 👍

I liked the way the script had been updated to reflect contemporary culture, including: naming the Ugly Sisters, ‘Tess’ and ‘Claudia’/a non-complimentary reference to Rachel Reeves/something about the number ’67’ (which I didn’t ‘get’ and even after looking it up HERE, it didn’t help much!) 😯

Yes, it was just as a Panto should be – laugh-out-loud funny – with jokes as corny as they come. For us, the funniest (and original) part was the ventriloquist sketch featuring a member of the audience. I won’t spoil it here, but it’s worth going JUST for that scene – HILARIOUS! 🤣😂😅🤣😂😅. There was some genuinely innovative stuff too! – a variation on The 12 Days of Christmas Carol plus a short sketch involving a shopping trolley full of ‘big brand’ carrier bags (cleverer and funnier than my description here!) 🤔

It was a two hour performance with a 25-minute break exactly halfway through. It passed in a flash, and like all good productions, it was over too soon. When I got home, I decided to do a little digging to identify the cast members who had impressed us so much. Success! 👍👍

• Cinderella (Maisie Asbury)
• Wicked stepsisters Tess (Michael Loftus) and Claudia (Dominic Mattos)
• Buttons (Sean ‘Rollo’ Rollason)
• Prince Charming (Daniel Breakwell)
• Dandini (Jon-Scott Clark)
• Fairy Godmother (Jessie Waterfield)

This had been a great afternoon! Not just a quality performance, but just a short distance from home and a good value Lunch too! I think today proved that you don’t need a ‘headline name’ in a Pantomime cast list for it to be a success. The Panto here next year is Peter Pan, and it’ll be on our (very short) short list! Today may not have featured any Turkey, but we’ve certainly topped-up on the Christmas Spirit! 🎅🎄🎁