It is difficult to type because my hands are red raw after attempting to give the Russian Ice Stars the applause they deserved following tonight’s Cinderella on Ice performance at Shrewsbury’s Theatre Severn.
Telling the story of Cinderella the stars gave outstanding performances from beginning to end with much more than ice skating skills to entertain the audience.
To fulfill their role in this Wild Rose production they must be actors, acrobats, skaters and much more – and each and every one meets the demand.
Valdis Mintals as the Prince and Valeria Vorobyeva as Cinderella spend the majority of the night on the ice and perform many of the trickiest ice dancing moves that gave the night an extreme ‘wow’ factor.
The two create loveable characters and even if you don’t like anything to do with ice skating it’s worth heading to the theatre just for the Prince’s smile and the atmosphere these two create.
The choreography and musical score make the performance so clever in telling a tale with not one word uttered throughout and the comic and acting talent of the skaters mean the story is not hard to follow.
Providing a spot of comedy and some jaw-dropping aerial moves were, Alexander Belokopitov and his wife Ekaterina, who play the roles of jesters. The pair, who are both qualified aerial gymnasts, give outstanding and extremely talented performances – from ice skating, to comedy, to aerial entertainment and even juggling!
More comedy is provided by Stepmother Sergei Smirnov, who takes on the role of the pantomime dame, and the performance has a lovely pantomime feel with the group dances – which were a joy to watch.
Watching Cinderella on Ice is a great way to spend an evening, my only disappointment was that there was not bums on every seat tonight, because the cast deserved the utmost applause.
If you like ice dancing, panto, aerial performances or just watching a group of very talented people working together on stage I recommend you head to Theatre Severn this weekend.
Cinderella On Ice has performances each day until Sunday 12 February. Tickets are priced from £20 for adults and £15 for children, and are available from the Box Office at Theatre Severn (01743 281281) or online at www.theatresevern.co.uk
