Essex take on Rossini opera is exhuberant and polished

Speaking as an ex-pat, bottle-blond Essex girl who has never seen The Only Way is Essex, I enjoyed this student production immensely for its humour, vitality and generosity.

As Cinderella, Charlotte Howes was wonderful and watchable. And the cast gave an exuberant and polished performance. Pantomime was a clear reference (that poor audience member ‘plucked’ from obscurity and the Nando’s chicken), the grotesque ‘Ugly Sisters’ Gabriella (with the enormous Anna Nicole Smith breasts - Hannah Price) and Daniella (with the tango tan – Katherine Thorogood) and helped Cinderella’s simple emotional honesty shine like a beacon.

We know the story – well, do we?. In TOWIE terms, Prince Charming is footballer Ricky Ramiro (Robert Grisbrook) searching for a WAG with a difference. He swaps clothes with sidekick banker Danny D (Rory Carver) and throws a PARTY!!! at the Sugar Hut, Brentwood’s nightclub of choice to find a girl who loves him, for him and not his wallet.

Camp TV presenter Ali D (Andrew Archibald) plays the part – very well - of the fairy godmother bringing them together. The ending is as you might expect, with the wedding reception turning into an orgy of alcohol-fuelled fisticuffs and flirtation.

I particularly enjoyed the light sequence when technical difficulties ‘halted’ the show, the catty explanatory surtitles and the wonderful comic performance from ‘dad’ Donny D (Thomas Stevenson). Interval pole-dancing was an additional surprise.

The music was great, singing amazing and it was lovely to see a live orchestra in the pit.

I couldn’t help thinking that Rossini would have approved.

Opera Warwick’s next production will be Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at Warwick Arts Centre from June 5 to 8.

Jane Howard