Sleeping Beauty at The Regent has glitz, glamour, humour and an all-round fabulous cast.
The regular Stokey Christmas panto duo – Jonny Wilkes and Christian Patterson – along with the the delightful and convincing Kai Owen as King Cyril and Delme Thomas as Chi-Chi, the Spirit of Stoke, all work together superbly to produce a real festive treat.
Jonny Wilkes certainly makes an unforgettable entrance as Muddles and connects with the audience in true style while Christian Patterson is utterly brilliant in costume and character as Fanny, the Nanny.
One liner jokes are aplenty throughout and audience participation is genius – you cannot help but laugh, smile and join in.
The story itself flows with ease in this fast-paced show and the stage setting makes you feel as though you’re inside a real-life Disney book.
Muddles is in love with Princess Beauty played by the lovely Naomi Slights, but as with any Panto story, there is always an evil character looking to spoil the fun. That character here is Carabosse – the Wicked Fairy – who is sensationally played by Vivien Parry.
Princess Beauty’s fate is meddled with by the Wicked Fairy, but is somewhat saved by darling Chi-Chi who casts his own magic spell.
Scenes between King Cyril and Chi-Chi are hilarious and the two are real stars on stage with Kai Owen giving an absolute stellar performance as the King.
Jonny Wilkes and Christian Patterson are great to watch throughout and light-hearted references towards Stoke-on-Trent, from the pair, and Kai Owen, are taken in jest by the audience.
Overall, Sleeping Beauty at The Regent is bigger and better than 2018’s Panto. It’s a Great show with a great cast and fantastic stage setting and costumes all round!
Sleeping Beauty is at The Regent until Sunday 5 January 2020. For tickets go to www.atgtickets.com/stoke or telephone 0844 871 7649.
