Highcliffe Charity Players
Regent Centre, Christchurch
Becki Dawson
24 January 2025
Highcliffe Charity Players have been performing pantomimes and shows since 1971. This is their last January pantomime at The Regent in Christchurch… but they’ve promised to come back at Easter instead!
This year, Director Pete Whitaker, Choreographer Shannon Cook and Musical Director Stuart Darling have worked together to put on Goldilocks And The Three Bears. And what an enthusiastic show! I have never seen so many excited faces up on a stage enjoying every minute of what they are doing like I saw this evening.
The big stage at The Regent was a great platform for the very professional set and enormous musical numbers that this cast delivered for us. The choreographer, Shannon, did a fantastic job of getting a principal cast of 10, an adult ensemble of 15 AND a children’s ensemble of 17 to all work together and dance relatively in time with each other. There were a couple of incidents of them tripping over each other, but this didn’t distract too much especially with the youngest members of the ensemble stealing the show and trying so hard! It was very effective when the aisles were used as dancing areas to give everyone a little more space to move.
Sadly, some of the tech was not quite there, with lighting coming late at times, and the microphones not balanced well with the band (who were fantastic, but too loud!). At the times we could hear the singing better, the voices were good, particularly from Goldilocks (Laila Judge), and the harmonies from the adult ensemble who were fantastic throughout. Scene changes could have been a bit slicker as some took a little time, but the band played some great music to help these along. There were a few stumbles over lines but thankfully the improvisation helped to cover this well!
The show lacked a little pace overall, with some jokes falling a bit flat because of this, but at other times the comedy shone through and it is a great show for all the family. For me, the standout performances come from Silly Billy (Harry Young), who had a great voice and really worked to keep the pace and comedy throughout, and also the wonderful family of three bears. Daddy Bear (Barry Gray) was the perfect calm demeanour with Mummy Bear’s (Louise King) great voice and dancing. But lovely Baby Bear (Travis Bussell) was the best of the bunch, playing the ‘cute’ brilliantly – I’m just sorry we didn’t get more of his Baby Bear Breakdancing!
It was great to see so much support in the audience tonight and it would be great for the auditorium to be full every night. There are 5 more opportunities to see the show at The Regent this weekend and tickets are available from the Box Office 01202 499199 or online.