Rustie shines in fairytale

snow white

Snow White On Ice

Forum Theatre, Malvern

***

THIS is snow white as you've never seen it before . . . and I don't mean because of the ice dancing, I'm referring to narrator extraordinaire Rustie Lee.

The lovable chef-turned-TV presenter wonderfully summed up the story in her own Brummie way as fairy correspondent, appearing like a hallucigenic bee in stripey black and hot pink outfit and cackling laugh. Her joy was totally infectious.

It provided a good balance with the ice dancing to make a well-rounded entertaining show for all ages.

Featuring a cast of talented Russian ice skaters, the choreography was finely tuned with a range of impressive moves within the limited rink on stage to retell the Snow White fairytale.

Glamorous costumes and strong characterisations were an added bonus, particularly the evil step mother and her sidekick, a flamboyant crow. Then there was the pair of adorable ducks that befriend Snow White in the woods. They even got a crazy interview with Rustie Lee after saving Snow's life. To say it was quackers is an understatement, but very funny all the same.

Amid the laughter was plenty of impressive acrobatic and sensual skating. The big finale was saved for when Snow met her prince and the breakneck speed he spun her above his head with one hand proved just how experienced this cast of athletes was.

The only confusion was with the seven woodsmen, whose routines were haphazard. I wasn't sure what these seven were either, as they were never referred to as dwarves. Most seemed to be small in oversized clothes, apart from one of them, who was huge. At another point, they became Jewish, dancing with bottles on their heads.

All in all though, it was a fun and entertaining production with a likeable cast of ice dancers and personalities. Although it may have been better to see around Christmas-time, it's worth catching while you can. To 19-04-15.

Alison Brinkworth

14-04-15 

 

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