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Principal boys and girls, good fairies and genies, villains, heroes and heroines gathered with comedy duos, linkmen and grand dames in a veritable smorgasbord of pantomime splendour at Rookery Manor on Saturday night. And you wouldn’t have recognised a single one of them! Gone were the overblown make up, the colourful wigs and over-the-top costumes, and instead they turned up resplendent in their glad rags – glittery frocks, tuxedos and smartly buffered shoes were the order of the day. And, to complete the transformation, the men were dressed as men and the women as women! Yes, this was the annual gathering of the good folk from the world of pantomime for the SFD’s Cinderella Trophy Awards Ceremony!
Competition Moderator Nigel Ford was the host for the evening and, with his usual enthusiastic style, he kept the evening moving along at a smart lick that added to the frisson that always characterises this event. In a slight change from previous years, some of the nominations were announced in advance but the society award nominations and all the winners were kept a closely guarded secret until that magical moment when Nigel made the announcement!
This was a splendid year for panto and the top awards were hotly contested. Overall winners, and recipients of the Cinderella Trophy were Yeovil Amateur Dramatic Society for their wonderful production of Jack and the Beanstalk. Hot on their heels were last years winners, Wayfarers Pantomime Society from Taunton who performed Alan Frayn’s The Snow Queen.
Top village panto, and winner of the Spotlight Shield was Cloverleaf Productions for their version of Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood. They also won the Pint Pot Award for a ‘big’ production on a small stage while their director, Ros Rodrigez, was awarded the prestigious Best Director accolade. Puriton Players were the Spotlight Trophy runners up with perennial panto favourite Dick Whittington.
In the technical categories awards went to Cloverleaf for lighting and Wellington Pantomime Group for sound with Minehead Pantomime Group picking up the Special Effects Award for their wonderful Cheshire Cat – a simple but hugely impressive conception.
While Wells Little Theatre may have missed out this year on the top awards, they claimed an impressive array of awards, picking up six altogether for Best Goodie (Chris Bissel as the Genie), Best Original Costumes, Costume of the Year, Best Dame (Jonathan Miller as Widow Twankey) Best Musical Director (Nick Barlow) and Best Original Script (written by their very own Vicky Orman).
In a year of excellent choruses the Best Junior Chorus award went to Somerton Dramatic Society with Failand Drama Circle being Highly Commended. Best Senior Chorus was Wellington while the Best Dancers were at Yeovil. Wellington also picked up the accolade for Best Theatre Musicians with the equivalent village award going to Trull Players.
The Bradford Trophy for Best performance aged 16 or under went to Natalia Carey who charmed as Alice in Minehead’s Alice in Wonderland. And the Eddie Bowker Award for the best overall performance of the year was awarded, in an unprecedented move to two people: Chris Bissell and Rob Manlow who played the Ugly Sisters in Burnham and District Pantomime Society’s Cinderella. As well as this coveted award, the talented Chris Bissell won two different awards for two different roles in two different societies! Unfortunately he was not there on the night to receive his well-deserved accolade.
The evening was organised by competition coordinator Pam Price and Roger Price took the photos. Graham Reeks was the technical wizard who provided the sound including some wonderfully uplifting tunes to greet award recipients as they made their way to the stage. Awards were presented by the adjudicators with the top accolades presented by SFD Chairman Sam Allen. Entertainment on the evening was provided by singers from four of the shows that were entered in the competition this year, topped off by a splendid rendition of I Put a Spell on You by Wayfarer’s Jennifer Holland-Brewer.
All photos from the night can be found on photo box www.photobox.co.uk/album/4144485066 Password – Rookery (case sensitive)
The full list of awards is shown below:
The following were the Winners at the 2018-2019 Cinderella Awards Evening
Junior Chorus: Dick Whittington Somerton Dramatic Society
Junior Dancer: Laila Wall as the Dancing Cat Dick Whittington Puriton Players
Junior Fairy: Megan Leslie as Mirabel Rose Cinderella Wellington Pantomime Group
Junior Animal: Cyanne Ellis as Tommy The Cat Dick Whittington Puriton Players
Junior Principal Boy: Maia Henley as Jack Trott Jack And The Beanstalk Yeovil Amateur Pantomime Society
Junior Principal Girl: Anastacia Hayward as Jill Halfpint Jack And The Beanstalk Yeovil Amateur Pantomime Society
Junior Comic: Will Markendale as Jingle The Snow Queen Wincanton Amateur Dramatic Society
Junior Comedy Duo: Sophie Martin-Thomas & Oliver Dusgate as Dum & Dee Alice in Wonderland The Trull Players
Comedy Duo: Chris Bissell & Rob Manlow as Gabanna & Dolce Cinderella Burnham District Pantomime Society
Comedic Scene: Georgia Twigg & Lorna Davey (Who What I Don’t Know) Cinderella Burnham District Pantomime Society
Goodie Supernatural: Chris Bissell as Genie Aladdin Wells Little Theatre
Cameo: Grace Mclaren as Cheshire Cat in Lair Alice in Wonderland Minehead Panto People
Dance Troupe: Jack And The Beanstalk Yeovil Amateur Pantomime Society
Village Musicians: Alice in Wonderland The Trull Players
Theatre Musicians: Cinderella Wellington Pantomime Group
Male Singer: Richard Matravers as Buttons Cinderella Wellington Pantomime Group
Female Singer: Jennifer Holland-Brewer as The Snow Queen The Snow Queen Wayfarers Pantomime Society
Romantic Duet: Natalie Gowan & Jas Cook as Dick Whittington & Alice Dick Whittington CUDOS
Chorus: Cinderella Wellington Pantomime Group
Properties: Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood Cloverleaf Productions
Makeup: Goldilocks And The Three Amazing Bears Glastonbury and Street Musical Comedy Society
Special Effects: The Chesire Cat Alice in Wonderland Minehead Panto People
UV Scene: Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood Cloverleaf Productions
Lighting: Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood Cloverleaf Productions
Sound: Cinderella Wellington Pantomime Group
Village Stage Management: Little Red Riding Hood Timsbury Theatre Group
Theatre Stage Management: The Snow Queen Wayfarers Pantomime Society
Village Design: Dick Whittington Puriton Players
Theatre Design: The Nutcracker Merlin Theatre Productions
Adjudicator’s Special Award for Junior Performance: Conny Hunter as Marie The Nutcracker Merlin Theatre Productions
Adjudicator’s Special Award for Junior Performance: Natalia Carey as Alice Alice in Wonderland Minehead Panto People
Adjudicator’s Special Award for Junior Performance: Poppy Ferizi as Frederika The Snow Queen Wayfarers Pantomime Society
Adjudicator’s Special Award: Shaz Sparks as Monique Beauty And The Beast Cannington Pantomime Society
Adjudicator’s Special Award: Katie Symons as Dandini Cinderella CARDS
Cinderella Special Award: Glynn Webster & Dave Bonser for Mummy & Daddy Bear’s duet – Duet Goldilocks And The Three Amazing Bears Glastonbury and Street Musical Comedy Society
Moderator’s Award: The Nutcracker Merlin Theatre Productions
Best Original Script Vicky Orman Aladdin Wells Little Theatre
Costumes Original: Aladdin Wells Little Theatre
Costume of the Year: Dame’s Finale Aladdin Wells Little Theatre
Best Animal: Jon Hicks as The Wolf Little Red Riding Hood Timsbury Theatre Group
Linkman: Sarah Williamson as Wishee Washee Aladdin Chardstock Amateur Dramatic Society
Villain: Jennifer Holland-Brewer as The Snow Queen The Snow Queen Wayfarers Pantomime Society
Principal Boy: Verity Huntley as Kai The Snow Queen Failand Drama Circle
Principal Girl: Nicola Thompson as Alice Fitzwarren Dick Whittington Puriton Players
Bradford Trophy: Natalia Carey as Alice Alice in Wonderland Minehead Panto People
Best Dame: Jonathan Miller as Widow Twankey Aladdin Wells Little Theatre
The Eddie Bowker Trophy: Chris Bissell & Rob Manlow as the Ugly Sisters Cinderella Burnham District Pantomime Society
Musical Director: Nick Barlow Aladdin Wells Little Theatre
Director: Ros Roderigo Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood Cloverleaf Productions
The Pint Pot Award: Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood Cloverleaf Productions
Spotlight Runner Up: Dick Whittington Puriton Players
Spotlight Trophy: Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood Cloverleaf Productions
Cinderella Runner Up: The Snow Queen Wayfarers Pantomime Society
Cinderella Trophy: Jack And The Beanstalk Yeovil Amateur Pantomime Society
The following Group was Very Highly Commended at the 2018-2019 Cinderella Awards Evening
Junior Chorus: The Snow Queen Failand Drama Circle