Cinderella – The Show and it’s Performances
FAST FACTS:
SHOW TIMES:
Evening Performances at 8 pm:
Thursday to Saturday nights
Matinee Performances at 2 pm:
Dec 17th & 31st.
SHOW RUN:
Dec 15 thru Jan 2, 2018
- Director’s Talk on Friday, December 22nd .
- The Preview is on Friday Dec 15 – it is the final dress rehearsal.
- Run time is 2 hours 15 min
LOCATION:
1370 SW Marine Drive, Vancouver, BC. Next to the on-ramp to the Arthur Lang Bridge by Marine Drive and Granville.
TICKET PRICING:
Tickets are $25 for adults or $22 for seniors and students, with a special every Thursday 2 for $38. Preview performance $15.
Tickets can be reserved by calling the Metro Box Office 604 266 7191
BOX OFFICE WINDOWS HOURS start 4:30 pm on Performance Days
604 266 7191 voicemail or Contact Us form below can be used at other times.
LICENSED LOUNGE HOURS:
Performance Evenings – 7:00 – 11:00 pm
Performance Matinees – 1:00 – 5:00 pm
PARKING:
There is plenty of easy parking – in the parking lot, on the street, even ‘All Evening Parking’ for $4 at the Value Liquor Store Lot just up the street from Metro – 1450 SW Marine Dr, Vancouver, BC V6P 5Z9
BUS ROUTES:
We’re close to the Marpole bus loop and on the #10 route. Check out www.translink.ca for transit directions.
CONTACT:
Metro Theatre via the contact form at the bottom of this page for more information, publicity photos, and arrangements for interviews.
Reviews
OVATION AWARD: 2017 Audience Choice Outstanding Panto – January 2018
Two Cents & Two Pence: CINDERELLA: A PANTOMIME
Reported by Liz Gloucester, December 22, 2017 – “… left with a smile on my face. It may have taken a few drinks to get there, but the cast and crew showed up to entertain a delighted crowd. The leading women in this production of Cinderella are oozing with talent… The resolution is very refreshing and, I hate to use the word progressive as progressive would have been equal rights for all centuries ago, but there you go- This Cinderella knows her own mind and doesn’t need a prince to save her – Hurrah! If you have kids that enjoy heckling Demons, (Attila Mityok did a grand job at keeping a straight face when he was accused of being a robot and a sausage), singing the whole of 12 Days of Christmas and conversing with a friendly barman I would recommend seeing Cinderella. It is fun and keeps things simple after a tough work/holiday week.“
Surrey Now-Leader: North Delta Teen Takes Centre Stage In Cinderella
Reported by Grace Kennedy, December 14, 2017 – “…a really great message to promote to younger audiences, like the kids who are seeing it: women are strong too and women are independent.”
Vancouver Sun: Metro Theatre’s Christmas panto a hit for Downtown Eastside families
Reported by Gerry Bellett, December 22, 2017 – “Christmas without a pantomime is like a turkey without stuffing — you could get by without it but who would want to?”
Vancouver’s source for everything theatre:A little bit odd, and surprisingly fun: Metro Theatre’s “Cinderella”
Reported by Hannah Madden-Krasnick, December 23, 2017 – “The highlight for me were the moments when the audience (mostly the kids in the audience) were directly engaging with the actors on stage…it was clear that when the kids were having fun, the show was really doing its job…It’s been a while since I saw a show that whose main target audience was young kids; I forgot how fun and carefree they can be. “
Vancouver’s source for everything theatre:Metro Theatre presents “Cinderella”
Reported by Merely Players on December 11, 2017 – “One of the must-see pantos of the season, as always, is that of the Metro Theatre. With plenty of catchy musical numbers and considerable audience participation… a take charge Cinderella in sneakers, embracing her girl power, never allowing her wicked stepmother or stepsisters to deflate her happiness, or worrying about the stroke of midnight.“
Press Release: Cinderella
Cinderella Directed by Mike MacKenzie & Written by Catherine Morrison
Metro Theatre is pleased to present CINDERELLA, our Holiday Musical Pantomime and annual tradition for over 33 years.
With plenty of catchy musical numbers and considerable audience participation, Metro Theatre’s CINDERELLA is the story of how an underdog uses her courage to go after what she wants. The classic glass slipper fairytale is transported to our technology driven world by a take charge Cinderella in sneakers, embracing her girl power, never allowing her wicked stepmother or stepsisters to deflate her happiness, or worrying about the stroke of midnight.
Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo! And the magic of live theatre casts its spell on you. Wonderful costumes in inventive stage settings combined with the wacky hijacks of the two “Dames” (Cinderella’s stepsisters), the Metro Theatre Demon (the guy we love to hate), the ever popular Good Fairy, an awkward Prince Charming, hilarious best friend Buttons along with the iconic evil stepmother prompt captivated children and adults alike to cheer, boo, laugh, groan and even sing and dance along, in a fun-filled experience for the whole family.
“We have taken the classic story of Cinderella that everyone knows, and given it a modern twist with a strong, confident woman who does not need a male to “complete” her instead wanting a partner to compliment her personality and ideals. Exploring the piece in the times we live in, with local topical references continues the Metro Theatre decade’s old tradition of witty pantomimes that delight.” ~ Director Mike Mackenzie
Cast and Production Team
CAST
Demon………………… Attila Mityok
Good Fairy………….. Fairlith Harvey
Step Sister 1………… James Melcher
Step Sister 2 ………. Jon Morris
Step Mother ………. Cindy Hirschberg
Senior Lopez ……….. Isaac Li
Cinderella …………….. Brianna Clark
Buttons …………………. Jessi Fowlis
Prince …………………….. Adam Van Loo
Dandini/Mr Bear ….. Sultan Owaisi
Queen/Ensemble …. Isabella Ciccone
King/Ensemble …….. Malcolm Stead
Friar Tuck ……………… Rob Gillespie
Ralph/Ensemble ….. Jason Gillespie
Kids Ensemble ………. Adrienne Ma, Ivy Hawkey, Wren Hawkey, Georgia Levitan, Erin Rose Kelly
PRODUCTION TEAM
Director ……………………….. Mike Mackenzie
Music Direction ………….. Theo Budd
Choreography ……………. Sam Bregoliss
Production Manager….. Ryan Nunez
Stage Manager……………. Heather Webster
Costume Designer………. Fairlith Harvey
Set Designer ………………. Nikolia Kuchin
Lighting Designer ………. Matthew Bisset
General Manager ………. Les Erskine
Technical Director ………. Jamie Horsley
Scenic Carpenter ………… Robin Richardson
Scenic Carpenter ………… Jamie Horsley
Scenic Painting/Set Decoration ….. Tracy-Lynn Chernaske
Graphic Design ………….. Barbara LaBounta
Photography ………………. Tracy-Lynn Chernaske
The Story
Christmas PANTO: Is it like mime where silent clowns perform?
British Pantomime, or Panto, has no resemblance to those silent comedians whatsoever. In fact, Panto is probably the noisiest, rowdiest sort of live theatre you can attend and it’s for the whole family. It’s a musical comedy traditionally done for a Christmas treat. It has nothing to do with mimes, those silent performers in white-faces.
Panto takes familiar fairy tales and children’s stories such as this year’s CINDERELLA and injects a bit of music hall, vaudeville, contemporary references and lots of audience participation to create a raucous, noisy entertainment that’s fun for everyone.
It is a traditional British Christmas play and a chance for people to go to the theatre. But it really came from very un-British traditions, nothing to do with Christmas whatever!
Often billed as children’s entertainment, pantomime really began as an entertainment for adults. It can be traced back to the ancient Roman ‘Saturnalia’ midwinter feast, at which everything was supposed to be turned upside-down like the Pantomime Dames (Men comically dressed up as women).
Pantomime first came to Britain in the 18th century from the ‘commedia dell’arte’, the Italian tradition of improvised theatre. The stories of the commedia dell’arte had many ‘stock’ characters in them such as clowns and jesters and a ‘baddie’. Traditional plots got mixed up with fairy stories, folk tales, or tales from the Arabian Nights stories, and gradually evolved into the dozen or so familiar stories of the panto repertoire that are still used today. The traditional figures from the commedia dell’arte gradually disappeared, and pantomimes became more as we know them today; they also became an expected part of our Christmas festivities.
Pantomime is now a popular family entertainment enjoyed by the adults as much as the children. The audience has to work almost as hard as the performers, whether it be joining in the songs, assisting in conjuring tricks, booing the villain and warning the hero with ‘He’s behind you!’ or cheering them on!
Something Familiar, Something Peculiar,
Something for Everyone, a Pantomine Tonight
Directors TALK
Mike Mackenzie is thrilled to be back at Metro to direct the Christmas Panto, Cinderella. Previous Metro Theatre shows include Moon Over Buffalo and The 39 Steps.
Join him and some of the cast of CINDERELLA immediately after the show on Friday, December 22nd for an informal chat.
Mike will speak about:
• his vision for the production
• the modernization of the Cinderella fairytale
• invite the cast to talk about working on a traditonal British pantomime
• and then open it up to questions from the audience.
From the very start, Mike worked with writer Catherine Morrison to help shape the story for a modern time. He felt that with a long overdue resurgence of strong female role models permeating our culture, it was about time that Cinderella was told in a way that didn’t end necessarily with “boy and girl fall in love, get married and live happily ever after”. Mike knew that Cinderella could succeed in life without being married to a Prince and being left to sit on a throne day in and day out – that there was more to her story, and who she could be.
