Review: Ottawa Musicals' SLEEPING BEAUTY: AN ANNUAL PANTO at The Gladstone Theatre

After a three-year hiatus, Ottawa Musicals welcomed audiences to The Gladstone Theatre for Sleeping Beauty - An Annual Panto. Some young patrons even came to the theatre dressed as princes and princesses for the performance. For the uninitiated, a pantomime is a musical comedy where the audience is encouraged to actively participate in the story by cheering, booing or even being selected for interaction with characters on stage. Geared towards families, pantomimes (fondly referred to as pantos) are often loosely based on fairy tales and are commonly presented during the holiday season.

In the Ottawa Musicals’ version of Sleeping Beauty, Princess Stella (Constant Bernard) is grieving for her mother, who recently passed away. Stella’s father, King Pin (Andy Allen-McCarthy) has gone on an undercover mission, her Aunt Karen (Shelley Simester) and cousin, Justin (Chad Connell) have been banished from the kingdom for being rude to the King at his wife’s funeral. Stella’s fairy attendants, Martha (Cara Pantalone), Lulu (Émilie O’Brien), and Pixel (Maggie Cassidy) are desperate to find a way to help Stella get her groove back. While King Pin is away, the fairies plan Stella’s 16th birthday party, at which the King has promised to give Stella the most coveted of all gifts: a cell phone. Meanwhile, Karen and Justin concoct a half-baked plan to ruin the party as revenge for their own misfortunes. To accomplish their evil plan, their house elf, Selfie (Declan Cassidy) infiltrates the castle to bring them back insider information.

A Scooby-Doo style chase scene through the Merivale Bowling Centre looked like it was a hoot to film, but it went on for a tad too long, making it feel like it was merely a thinly veiled advertisement for the bowling alley (although this may have actually been the case, as it is the show’s title sponsor).

The music was a fun mix of original, as well as contemporary pop songs, with some of the latter’s words changed to advance the plot (original music by Jonathan Evans). Simester and Connell were hilariously heckled and booed whenever they entered the stage. Bernard and Allen-McCarthy are both talented singers with great stage presence; they, along with Simester, carried the musical numbers of the show.

The musical carried an underlying message that we should spend more quality time in the real world with the people we care about, rather being too focused on social media or worrying about what others may think – a good lesson to take away this holiday season, especially for younger audiences.

Ottawa Musicals is a family owned and operated theatre company, led by Sarah and Matt Cassidy, and they keep the focus on family entertainment. This is a lighthearted, fun show that I would recommend for families, especially those with younger children. Sleeping Beauty - An Annual Panto is in performances through January 7th at The Gladstone Theatre, located at 910 Gladstone Avenue. Patrons are also invited to bring non-perishable food items to the theatre in support of HiJinx Community House if they wish. Click here for more information and to buy tickets.

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