Alhambra is graced by fine Cinderella show (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Matthew Bourne turns up to see Cinderella ballet

11:28pm Tuesday 8th March 2011 in Reviews By Jim Greenhalf

We were danced out of the Alhambra tonight.

The 20-strong cast of Cinderella celebrated the rapturous reception of Matthew Bourne’s ballet by jitterbugging to Glen Miller’s Pennsylvania 65000.

The choreographer and director was in the audience to witness what must have been one of the finest examples of ensemble dancing, theatre and stage design seen at the Alhambra for a long time.

It has been said that this revival of the 1997 West End show, to mark the 70th anniversary of the London Blitz, owes much to post-war British movies such as Powell and Pressburger’s A Matter of Life and Death, starring David Niven and Kim Hunter. True as that is, the real genius of Matthew Bourne’s production was in his choice of the score by Russian composer Serge Prokofiev.

In a programme note Bourne says: “I was intrigued to hear that Prokofiev had actually written the score during the Second World War, and this got me thinking… “The more I delved into the Cinderella story, it seemed to work so well in the wartime setting… when time was everything, love was found and lost suddenly and the world danced as if there was no tomorrow.”

That’s exactly what we got over a couple of hours, helped enormously by Lez Brotherston’s stage and set designs, which perfectly suited the theatre’s deep stage.

Kerry Biggin as Cinderella, Sam Archer as Harry the RAF pilot, Adam Maskell as the Angel (not the usual Fairy Godmother), Madelaine Brennan as Sybil, the wicked step-mother, danced with outstanding style, wit and grace.

Having seen a few ballets, I was always disappointed by the sound of dancers thundering up and down the stage like a herd of wildebeest.

This wasn’t so last night, principally because the dancers did not wear the traditional cork-tipped pumps that make such a racket.

Cinderella did not go to the ball in a coach and horses, but a white painted motorcycle and sidecar.

Special effects of sirens, bombs, searchlights, fire and smoke and the London underground, included a railways station, another reference to a wartime movie – Brief Encounter, perhaps.

Cinderella is on until Saturday. The box office number is (01274) 432000.