On Saturday 12th December Xmas was officially launched by the performance of Cinderella at the Hawth in Crawley.
With a star studded cast and the talents of two local performing arts companies, it was a brilliant rendition of the classic, Cinderella. With Julian Clary as Dandini, Danny Bayne as Prince Charming and the beautiful Vicky Longley as Cinderella the show was bound to be entertaining and full of those great one liners which gave the audience the chance to shout at the stage “he’s behind you!” and “Oh no it’s not!”. But in our opinion the true star of the show came in the form of Joe Tracini who played Buttons. Some may recognise this extremely talented young man from BBC three’s Coming of Age and My Spy Family. Joe owned the stage and had the audience eating out of his hands (we did very well looking after his present). We found Joe to be a mix of Joe Pasquale and Norman Wisdom, in the greatest of ways! (Some may get the connection between these two Joe’s but we do not feel the need to highlight it, as Joe stands out all on his own).
Stages Performing Arts and Stagecoach complimented the star cast with such talent that you would think they had performed together for the whole year! The young performers, mostly from Crawley, were so proffesional it was hard to distinguish them from the leading cast members which we have no doubt the proud parents in the audience would agree with.
In the interval we met a gentleman who was watching with his daughter. He said she was getting a bit big for panto now, but he enjoyed it so much that he came every year and would probably come even if his daughter didn’t want to. The gentleman told us “my christmas starts once I have watched panto at the Hawth, it’s almost a tradition and get’s me in the mood”. We felt this was the case for most of the serial panto goers. In fact if you are not addicted before, this performance would have changed that. The scenery was just amazing, with two real shetland ponies used to pull the stunning carriage. The production crew should be very pleased with themselves. And, of course, the outfits were fit for a Prince 
Cinderella runs at Crawley’s Hawth Theatre from 12th December 2009 to 3rd January 2010. Tickets are selling fast so call Box Office now to book on 01293 553636 or online at www.hawth.co.uk.
Also the cast are ‘out and about’ in Crawley this week. You can read more about where and when here…
Crawley Happy Times were invited by our friends at the Hawth to the after party where some of the cast made an appearance. We would like to thank Lorraine and Steve for their hospitality, which was exceptional. We took some pictures for you. Enjoy
Joe Tracini signs our ticket for us. Such a nice man!
Shelley and CHT finger puppet thought Joe Tracini stole the show!
Stephen Carlile was lovely. Here we found Stephen signing a programme for two young children
Stephen Carlile made two very excited boys day with an autograph while Mum watched on proudly
Our Shelley could not resist a picture with Stephen Carlile
Julian Clary giving Shelley his autograph
A quick pickie if that is ok Julian
