Cinderella

Photo by Mick O Callaghan of the back cover of Cinderella 2026 programme

 We attended the annual Panto in Gorey Little Theatre last Monday January 12th. Before our attendance we had heard only positive comments about it from family and friends. We arrived early and were really impressed with the courtesy of the front of house people, welcoming us, selling raffle tickets, and showing us to our seats.

We read through the programme and familiarised ourselves with the cast.

As the clock ticked past 7.30, Jazz Stynes came front of stage curtain, welcomed us to the show and pointed out the exits. The orchestra struck up a lively opener as the curtain opened. We were immediately blown away by the excellence of the set, the lavish costumes and the opening chorus with The Queen Number “Don’t stop me now ‘.

 It was a glittering performance of colour, comedy and audience participation. From the very start I was dragged into the Cinderella story by the performance of Ellen O Flaherty playing the role. Her voice was so pure. She was a joy to listen to.

Pippa the cat played by Riona Sheridan was a beautiful but difficult role to play and was acted superbly.

The opening scenes of little Cinderella in her tattered clothing while sweeping up

contrasted with the lavish sparkling costumes, enthusiastic performers and highly disciplined smiling choral groups which were the standard for this great pantomime.

I just loved the energetic Garry Butler as Buttons and Tiernan O Donohue playing Dandini. I adored the hugely entertaining ugly sisters Maire Comerford as Griselda and Sorcha Howell as Amnesia, both on stage and in their interaction with the audience on the theatre floor. Their water pistol session was much enjoyed by everyone and both enlivened and dampened down the audience with their sprinkling water guns.

The highly talented Jan Cullen gave a wickedly fantastic portrayal of the evil stepmother. You just had to dislike her and her horrible treatment of Cinderella.

Throughout, the performances of chorus groups A, B and C both on stage and along the sides of the hall were truly magnificent. Their scene where they lit up the hall, standing on steps as they held up candles while they sang their tune was particularly memorable.

We had great oral audience participation with “He’s behind you or oh yes, he is and oh no he isn’t with the decibels increasing with each exhortation on stage from various cast members.

I loved the speeded-up video trips around Gorey town and Cahore where the cast members went in search of finding the foot to fit the sandal.

The carriage arrival on stage segment was very well received by the audience. with the romantic in all of us so happy that we were going to have a happy ending.

The entrances of Harold Wynne as King Philip and Schalan Fleming as Queen Aurora were truly regal while the glittering costumes added greatly to the scene.

Rossa Comerford who played Prince Will Charming is a natural actor, and he played an excellent performance.

The audience loved Nicola Galvin as Benjamin, Tanya Tighe Donohue playing Barny and Charlie Church as Sid. Their excellent portrayal of their characters gave great continuity and linkage while brilliantly enhancing the overall quality and atmosphere of the show. I loved the Cork accent in the singing of the Kingfisher group’s hit song Killeagh.

We were really impressed by the strong performance of Karen Mc Gillicuddy Conroy as the Fairy Godmother and Suzie O Neill performing the role of Glitter Knicks. They were great roles and the expansive grinning showed the true joy in the face of Glitter Knicks when she became a fully-fledged Fairy Godmother. This was a magical super joyous moment in the pantomime when she accepted her magic wand.

The minor cameo roles of  Malcolm Byrne as Curator, Sean Nolan as DJ, Seamus O Donohoe as The Bishop and Michael Kinsella the altar boy were all played superbly.

The choreography, while it was superb throughout, reached new levels in displaying the joy of everyone for Cinderella when the slipper fitted her.

Overall, it was a miracle in logistics that all 53 young children and backstage crew were able to handle all the costume changes so speedily.

The orchestra members were brilliant in their musicality and added greatly to this superb extravagant performance.

The stage set was magnificent, and all the scene changes were handled unobtrusively, quickly and to perfection with not a single glitch all night.

The Cinderella story was familiar. I have attended many performances over the years, but I was just blown away by the excellence of this Gorey panto 2026.It was a highly polished, pitch perfect, rousing, uplifting, phenomenal, joy filled lavish performance.I ran out of superlatives and had to go back to Websters dictionary for assistance.

 Well done to the production team, musicians, cast members, lighting and sound crews, set designers, props, costume people, front of house staff and everyone involved. It was another brilliant sold-out showcase event for Gorey upholding a long tradition of musical excellence in the town.

Bhi sibh go léir ar fheabhas. Go raibh mile maith agaibh as ucht bhur gceol agus aisteoireacht ar an stáitse le linn Cinderella 2026.i nGuaire.

P.S

From a long involvement with drama production, I realise the amount of hard work that goes into rehearsals and the dedication, discipline and commitment required to bring the show up to performance standard for opening night and consequent shows.

We hadn’t been to panto for a while but this year we had our grandson performing in chorus group B, so we were fully aware of the huge amount of rehearsal time involved and the wholehearted dedication and support of so many parents, grandparents and family members to make the Cinderella Pantomime 2026 a reality.

Go raibh fada faoi bhláth sibh uilig go mbuailfimíd go léir le chéile i Mí Eanair 2027

Mick O Callaghan                    15/01 /2026