A MAGICAL time at the panto was what the cast of Cinderella promised – and that is exactly what they delivered.

I arrived at The Forum in Barrow to watch Shone Productions’ first performance of this year’s Christmas pantomime, joined by children from Roose School and Lindal & Marton Primary School.

As the show began we were introduced to the Fairy Godmother. Unfortunately it was announced earlier that morning that Love Island star Laura Anderson would no longer be available to play the role, however, a very talented Rosie Winter did a fantastic job of stepping into her glittering gown.

We soon met Cinderella, played by Isobel Rose Proctor, showing off her incredible singing voice which would continue to impress throughout the show.

But it was when best Cinderella’s best friend joined the stage that the audience roared to life shouting: “Hiya Buttons.”

Buttons, played by comedy star Rollo, undoubtedly stole the show with his family-friendly jokes (as well as some that were appreciated by the adults in the audience).

The comic produced belly laughs with jokes, a straight-jacket escape and his ventriloquist talents.

When scanning the theatre for a helping hand from a teacher after ‘forgetting’ his dummy, Buttons selected Gary to join him on stage.

After adding a fake mouth to Gary’s face that could be manipulated by Buttons, he was transformed into a human ventriloquist dummy with the stage name of ‘Susan’.

Children squealed with delight as Gary – or Susan – performed I’m a Little Teapot and dabbled in some River Dance.

David Drewitt and Danny Jay did a brilliant job of bringing the Ugly Sisters to life – and even their larger than life hairdos were not as large as their stage presence.

The sisters, Tess and Claudia, had increasingly strange and colourful outfits that never failed to raise a smile – even appearing as glittery cans of Heinz minestrone and Heinz broccoli and stilton soup in one scene.

The highlight of the pantomime for me was the dress transformation – seeing Cinderella seamlessly transition from rags to a beautiful blue ball gown on stage surrounded by the show’s talented group of dancers.

This was followed by the impressive carriage which flew above the stage while fake snow blew above the audience, giving the show a real sense of Christmas magic.

Children from Roose School also loved the performance.

Nicola, in year six, said: “It is really funny, I really like Buttons. My favourite part is when they were pretending to play The Chase and Buttons was just answering with jokes.

“The carriage was also really cool and the snow was really fun!”

Darcie in year five said that Cinderella was her favourite because ‘she’s a really good actress’.

Noah and Edward, in year six and year five respectively, agreed that Buttons was the best ‘because of his jokes’ and because he ‘was really funny’.

Overall, it’s a big thumbs up from me, and a huge thumbs up from Nicola, Darcie, Noah and Edward.

For dates and tickets, visit: www.theforumbarrow.co.uk