We arrive in the kingdom of Dreamland, where Princess Aurora is preparing for her 18th birthday celebration. While the kingdom is filled with excitement, her father, the King, is quietly battling his growing fear. This is the night he’s been dreading as according to Carabosse’s dark curse, if Aurora pricks her finger on a spinning wheel before the night is over, she will die. 

With a cast full of familiar faces from the world of entertainment, expectations were understandably high. Unfortunately, the show ends up being a bit of a mixed bag. Sherrie Hewson, best known from Benidorm and Loose Women, is arguably the biggest name on the bill, appearing as Fairy Sherrie Trifle. However, several times throughout the performance, she could be seen reading lines directly from the “magic storybook,” which would’ve been fine if the audience weren’t able to see it so clearly. Add to that forgotten lines and lyrics, and things started to unravel a little.

Pantomime is never meant to be polished, perfect theatre, and that’s part of its charm. When things go wrong, the audience should be in on the joke, laughing along with the cast. Instead, these moments felt awkward, leaving audience members glancing at one another rather than joining in the fun. To make matters trickier, Hewson’s microphone consistently sounded quieter than her cast mates’. Whilst this isn’t her fault, it certainly needs turning up.

A pair of Britain’s Got Talent winners also take to the stage this year, with Jon Courtenay as King Jon and George Sampson as Prince George, the so-called “Dragon Slayer.” Courtenay makes the most of every moment he’s on stage, leaning into the style that helped him win BGT. He even treats the audience to an original song written just for the pantomime, joking about how people thought he’d make a million, yet here he is at the Rhyl Pavilion.

George Sampson, best known for his standout dancing, doesn’t get many opportunities to fully show off his strengths with Benny Tyas’ choreography, but when he does, it’s clear he hasn’t lost his touch. Vocally, he isn’t as strong as some of his cast mates, but he gives it his all, and his enthusiasm shines through.

Casualty star Amanda Henderson appears as Nurse Merryweather, a role that seems to fill the traditional ‘dame’ spot in a pantomime, though oddly, there isn’t actually a dame in this production. Because of that, the character ends up feeling a bit unnecessary. She isn’t even mentioned in the show’s synopsis, and her involvement in the story is minimal. At one point, she has a whole scene where she’s preparing items for a buffet, which seems to come completely out of nowhere. It feels like it was added mainly to give her some stage time rather than to move the story along.

Cast members who fared better included Kiera-Nicole from Milkshake!, who brought a lovely mix of innocence and charm to the stage. She clearly resonated with the younger audience members, who were captivated by her energy. Dan Whitley delivered exactly the kind of silly, over-the-top performance you’d expect from Wally, filling his stage time with endless jokes and gags in his quest to be a court jester and the young audience members absolutely loved it. Elektra Fence, from RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, shone as Carabosse, wickedly evil and clearly having the time of her life. She even worked in her signature stunts and showed why she is a true triple threat.

The set design is genuinely impressive, especially Carabosse’s lair, though it’s hard to say who deserves the credit, as programmes weren’t yet available. The show features a lively mix of songs, from Jessie J’s ‘Domino,’ which kicks things off with an upbeat spark, to Carabosse belting out ‘Toxic’ and even soaring across the stage on a broomstick, ‘Defying Gravity.’ However, someone clearly got a bit carried away with the smoke effects. In an attempt to hide the mechanics of the illusion, the stage ended up so foggy that the audience could barely see what was happening.

Similarly, the costumes were perfectly suited to the world of Dreamland, though a little more variety could have gone a long way. Carabosse, for example, really felt like she deserved at least one outfit change or even a dramatic reveal, especially with a drag queen in the role. 

Some of the creative choices were a little puzzling. One moment that stood out was the scene where Princess Aurora disguises herself by simply putting on a hat. Prince George failing to recognise her until she removed it felt a bit weak, and the reveal didn’t land the way it seemed intended to. The ‘12 Days of Christmas’ number also lacked the spontaneity and playful chaos it usually brings. Instead of feeling fun and unpredictable, it came across as carefully planned, which took away some of the charm that makes that moment a panto favourite. There was also a section built entirely around puns, where characters replaced usual dialogue with movie titles. This dragged on much longer than it needed to and the jokes never quite landed the way they were meant to.

Sleeping Beauty at the Rhyl Pavilion Theatre is entertaining enough, with an impressively designed set that really stands out. Some cast members deliver genuinely strong performances, while others don’t quite hit the same mark. The panto seems clearly geared toward a younger audience with its humour and content, though this isn’t communicated particularly well. It might have been wiser to give the cast a few more shows to settle into their roles before inviting the press, as I’m sure many of the issues would have tightened up with time and a bit more confidence on stage. As it stands, though, this performance of Sleeping Beauty was unfortunately far from a dream come true.

★★★

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No photography supplied by the production.