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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
Entertainment
Sarah Scott

Cinderella at The MAC Belfast review: Enchanting Christmas fun for all the family

It's the classic fairytale but not quite as you might remember it.

There's the handsome prince, the ugly step-sisters and the famous glass slipper, but Cinderella at The MAC has its own twist audiences will have come to expect from their Christmas shows.

Brought to life by award-winning children's theatre company, Cahoots, I felt very lucky that this would be my son's first introduction to the theatre.

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As soon as you sit down you can admire the absolutely stunning set before the show even begins, with stairs cases running up to another stage floor on each side.

The story does indeed follow our heroine Cinderella but she definitely has a bit more attitude than the Disney version. Unbeknown to her she meets the prince who she thinks is a poor boy from the village.

As they begin to fall in love they are cruelly torn apart by the King, who can not have his son falling for anyone other than a princess.

Chaos ensues as the King decides to throw a ball, in his bedroom, to help his son find a princess to wed. Enter the ugly stepsisters who try their luck at winning the prince's heart before the young love birds find their way back to one another.

And it's not the glass slipper in the end but an ugly old boot that is the key.

It is a unique telling of the familiar tale and one that will go down well with families.

The cast are magical with Belfast's Corrie Earley taking on the role of Cinderella, showing off her beautiful vocals as well as good comic timing. She has a great on stage relationship with Conor Quinn, who gives a great performance as Prince Sebastian.

Philippa O'Hara and Catriona McFeely are a perfect pairing as the ugly stepsisters and we very much enjoyed their musical number on meeting Cinderella, and the lengths they went to to try and fit their feet into the glass slipper.

As much as the story and cast were mesmerising, what I really loved was the music and special effects which made the show truly magical for all the family. My son is three and was spellbound at points.

It is a great running time as well with the first half being around 45 minutes, a short interval and then a 40 minute second half. The MAC does say over fives will get the biggest kick out of the show but if you are considering taking younger ones to their first Christmas show, then this could be the one for them.

With laughs, brilliant songs from Score Draw Music, and a little bit of magic, this is a show not to be missed for the family this Christmas.

Cinderella is running at The MAC Belfast until January 8 and you can find out more about show times by visiting their website.

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