The Hans Christian Anderson story of the wicked Snow Queen is brought to life with a cast of no fewer than eighty under the direction of Di Mason! No doubt with such a large young cast that assistant director Imogen Deller Evans and all the other backstage crew have put in an amazing amount of work.
Ryker Viersma in the role of the Narrator set the tone for the extravaganza that was to follow with clear diction and presentation in the opening number The Maker of Dreams.
Lola Bickford was outstanding as the Wicked Imp and her strong clear voice and stagecraft all came from a small stature with penetrating effect. She had the audience mesmerised. In contrast, the stature of Rose Vincent as The Snow Queen with her towering presence over all others clearly brought out her evil intent. Her makeup and costume added significantly to her aura.
The unsuspecting victim of the queen was Kai with Samuel Whitehead relishing this role and showing his acting ability with his transformation from good to evil. His saviour was Gerda played by Ivy Coligan who also suffered a change while on her search for Kai. Grace Wells portrayed Gerda’s mother with believable maternalism and unending support.
Omari Thinane-Rhane as ‘Moo’ the reindeer almost stole the show with clever inserts of well known songs throughout the performance. Other scene stealers were Tyler Hender as Mr Clarence Crow with an Ozzie accent and Audrey Coligan as Henrietta Crow with a pronounced French accent. One of her memorable lines to Clarence was ‘you always chase things without feathers’. The Bees made a humorous cameo appearance much to the delight of the audience.
The other principal cast members were all excellent in their respective roles: Kestrel Carney (as the Flower Garden Lady), Will Grue (the Prince), River Walmsley (the Princess), Ava Bowen-Gypsy (‘Hag’ Mother), Charlee de Hass (Gypsy Daughter), Aspin Wood (Lap Woman), Jessica Saliba (Finnland Woman) and Amelia Wells (as her Finnland Daughter).
All of the ensembles – Monday Senior Youth, Friday Senior Youth, Monday Youth, Friday Youth, Thursday Junior Youth and Saturday Junior Youth – all performed with alacrity and kept the show alive with song and dance.
At times the plot was a little confusing but this was of little consequence because of the outstanding performances and the utterly sensational costumes, sets and props all which held the audience’s attention. The sound and lighting effects added to the overall impact of the production. This show is a great credit to The Hills Youth Theatre and we look forward to their next production.
