By Harry Duke
Audiences headed for a performance of the Raven Players’ production of Cinderella who are expecting anything along the lines of a Disney musical are in for a bit of a surprise. This particular production, running at the Raven Performing Arts Theater in Healdsburg through Dec. 1, is done in the style of a British pantomime, or “panto.”
What exactly does that mean? Well, it means you’re going to get a classic fairy tale (like Cinderella) all gussied up with slapstick (and often risqué) humor, cross-dressing performers, topical humor, local references, audience interaction, and a couple of popular yet completely anachronistic song-and-dance numbers.
The basics of the story remain. Cinderella (Skylar Saltz) is living under the thumb of her evil stepmother, the Baroness Hardup (Anthony Martin), and her two malicious stepsisters, Ammonia (Len Improta) and Amnesia (Declan Hackett).
Word soon comes that the prince (Bohn Connor) is throwing a ball with the hopes of finding a bride. The Baroness plots to have one of her two daughters be the prince’s betrothed, and does her best to keep Cinderella under wraps. But with the help of her loyal butler Buttons (Nicholas Augusta), her Fairy Godmother (Emily Stryker) and an inept fairy intern named Sparkles (Lily Gibson), we just know that the prince and Cinderella will live happily ever after.
The humor is often groan-inducing or bawdy, the costumes are incredibly gaudy and the whole thing comes off like something you’d see at your local Elks Lodge, but it is what it is. The audience was encouraged to boo and hiss at the villains, cheer for the hero and heroine, assist the inept fairy intern with her magic and sing along with the musical moments. And they did.
Those moments ranged from a fairly well-mounted and choreographed number featuring Prince’s “1999” and Beyoncé’s “Single Lady,” to a version of “I’ll Be There for You’ that would put an end to any friendship.
Director Robert Zelenka has a cast of old pros and a lot of young folks in the show, and they all understood the assignment. They certainly succeeded with the five-year-old sitting in front of me, who was so invested in the show and in her desire to warn the cast of the ghosts she saw running around behind them that I think her parents had to hold her back from charging the stage and rescuing them.
This Cinderella may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but for that little girl it was an ocean of refreshment.
‘Cinderella’ runs through Dec. 1 at the Raven Performing Arts Theater, 115 North St., Healdsburg. Thu–Sat, 7:30pm; Sun, 2pm. $10–$25. (707) 433-6335. raventheater.org
