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Yesterday I was lucky enough to go and see Cinderella at the Manchester Opera House, starring Torvill and Dean.

When I first said I would go and take my 5 year old grandson, I began to have second thoughts about it.   Would we be able to get there on time? Would he enjoy it? Would he be able to sit there for 2 hours on a school night? Would we cope with an ice skating show? The answer to those questions was Yes, Yes, Yes and No as it wasn’t an ice skating show. It was an absolutely fabulous Pantomime with Torvill and Dean as superb skating/flying fairy godparents.

The performance was an early 7pm start, so please check your tickets as some people were still coming in up until 7.30pm! Not only did they cause a commotion, and miss the start, but they missed all the build up too. We were in our seats early and 10 mins before the show started, a screen was dropped down on the stage and a camera was scanning the audience and projecting it on the screen with funny little quips about each person or group of people and everybody else was encouraged to cheer and shout and clap. It was a great build up to the performance and to get us in the mood for our audience participation.

Then the show started with Torvill and Dean propelled onto the stage on something like “in line” roller skates and from then on it was a fast paced, slick, professional, happy, funny show. There was a very pretty Cinderella, very Ugly Sisters, a Camp Dandini, a Handsome Prince, a Hapless Buttons, and of course Cinderella’s downtrodden father. These were all brilliantly supported by the chorus, some of whom looked very young, maybe 6/7 years old.

We cheered, shouted “its behind you”, booed and hissed, clapped, laughed, joined in the songs, laughed at the very predictable innuendoes that went right over the children’s heads and generally had a very good time. It was a true family pantomime with great performances throughout by Torvill and Dean, which culminated in them performing their 1984 Olympic Gold Medal routine to Ravel’s Bolero and winning them a standing ovation!

The evening was finished (at 9.20pm so not too late) and as everyone walked out, with smiles on their faces, I asked my grandson had he enjoyed it and he said “it was the best show he had ever seen” Having watched his reactions to it all, that was a very good observation of Cinderella.

What did surprise me though was the diversity of the audience; there were Brownies and Cubs, families, young women and even old people (according to my grandson!). So it was definitely a show for all ages.

NB: We received tickets to see the show, but as ever, all views and opinions are our own.