If you have been to see Ray in Cinderella,we would love to read your reviews :).Please post them below

Can't wait to read them all.

I'm posting this review for Linda

Hello everyone. I was one of the lucky people who won tickets to the 7pm performance this evening. So you may be wondering why I am posting a review this early! As we were travelling 125 miles to Darlington we had decided to book in at The Cricketers Hotel overnight. When we got there at 1pm it was closed - a note on the back door said "due to unforeseen circumstances". We therefore decided to see if the theatre would be kind enough to swap our evening tickets for matinee ones, and luckily we got the last two! So we actually got to see the first performance of the panto, and there wasn't a single missed line - everyone seemed word perfect.

I'll get the negative bits out of the way first - the music was so loud - and we were back in row T- it was hard to hear the singers at all. And the other disappointment was that Ray actually wasn't in the first half a lot which I know is because of the story but I still would like to have seen more of him.

Ray and Emma were excellent, in fact the whole cast is good - even Jimmy Cricket who I am not keen on. I'm not great at writing reviews and I know other people are so won't go on too much.

Highlights for me was Ray singing "Get this party started" and a duet with Emma called "You'll be in my heart". He also was brilliant in a duelling dance. He is so good at engaging the audience

I only saw Grease two weeks ago and it was funny to hear Ray revert to his Scouse accent.

The theatre is really nice, you can even buy a hotdog from the foyer and the programme was only £2. The theatre was packed and the audience really got into the panto which was very funny. I really enjoyed it.

When we came out Jimmy Cricket was in the foyer signing autographs which I thought was nice of him even though he was also flogging his dvd!!

I didn't go to the stage door because it was raining and also I knew I had another long drive in front of me to get home and I just wanted to get on the road.

Anyone else who is booked in the Cricketers might be wise to ring first. They must have had an emergency to close like that.

Final word- you will all love it - and Ray of course who was as gorgeous as ever.

thanks linda for your lovely review, can't wait to see ray & co perform, looking forwards to hearing him sing those songs.you certainly did travel a long way to get there.  shame you never got round to the stage door, but the weather has been awful of late

bless Jimmy Cricket on doing some signing in the foyer.

well done on winning tickets, shame about the hotel, lets hope it is a blip & normal service will resume "unforseen circumstances could mean anything" but if they had people booked in with them it is only curtesy to ring & let them know.

Thank you for the review Linda, sounds a great panto, think I know that song that Ray and Emma sing, can't think of the name of the man that sang it.  So pleased the first show went well.  Hope everyone manages to find an alternative hotel when they visit.  

Loulou at December 3, 2011 at 5:55 PM

Thank you for the review Linda, sounds a great panto, think I know that song that Ray and Emma sing, can't think of the name of the man that sang it.  So pleased the first show went well.  Hope everyone manages to find an alternative hotel when they visit.  

I only know one You'll be in my heart,think it was from Disney's Tarzan,think it was Phil Collins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIVaUcE4kAM

Thanks Amanda, yes that's right  Phil Collins, got a memory like a sieve these days.  All that came to mind was little bald man and I didn't want to put that down, haha.  

Thanks for the link. Sounds a lovely song. Can't wait to hear Rays rendition of it.

Thanks for the link Amanda the song sounds great

Hi this is my review of Cinderella in Darlington.I took my mum to her first panto on Saturday 3/11/11 7pm show.The first cast member on stage was Geena as the fairy godmother,she was very good.Emma came on fairly early,she was great singing and dancing she is very pretty..It seemed to take forever for our first glimpse of Ray but it was well worth the wait.He had a dual sword fight with Dandini that was fantastic didn't know he could do that.The costume he had on was stunning and he looked so handsome in his black and silver outfit.He is very handsome anyway.Buttons was also very good and was very interactive with the audience,the children especially enjoyed it.The whole cast were great and the songs were quite modern which was good.Ray sang "Get this party started" it was absolutely fantastic,what a voice he has but then we all know that anyway.The costumes were very colouful,we laughed at the outrageous ones the two ugly sisters wore,they changed them quite often they got worse as the show went on.The whole cast were really good and we enjoyed it very much.After the show we met Ray and Emma at the stage door,Ray cares about his fans,he was quite concerned that we had waited to see him in the cold and rain.It was worth it to see him again he even remembered meeting me and my mum over a year ago in Durham when he wished my mum a happy 80th birthday.I had a hug and a kiss from Ray and told him how handsome he was in his costumes,also had a chat with Emma,she is lovely.Anyway I hope everyone goes to see Cinderella you will enjoy it I am sure.I would just like to thank Amanda for the tickets I won in the Giveaway competition,we had a lovely evening.I wish Ray and Emma a Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year.I am going again to the panto in January really looking forward to it and to see Ray again in the black and silver costume ready for the sword fight,I will remember this image forever,he is such a hunk.Hpppy Christmas to all RQW fans go and see the panto you won't be disappointed love Lynne in Middlesbroughxx

Glad you had a fantastic time Lynne,thank-you for your review :).Ray's Black and Silver outfit sounds fab :).I can't wait to see the show on Tuesday :).Glad you saw Ray and Emma after the show,they are lovely,and do spend time with their fans which is lovely :).Did you get a photo?

Thank you for the lovely review Lynne, glad you had a lovely time.  The costume sounds gorgeous, hopefully Darlington will put some pictures up.

thanks for sharing your experience with RQW Lynne, made up you got to see the panto & got the tickets curtosy of RQW giveaway, can't wait to see the sword fight, may pick up a few moves for when i do a sword presentation in the next few months made up you got to meet both Ray & emma afterwards too, have a great time when you go again in January

Thanks for the great review Lynne. Glad you had a good time and got to meet Ray again. So looking forward to seeing Ray in the outfit and the swordfight.

I went ot see Cinderella on Tuesday.These are my opinions only.I'll start by saying Ray and Emma were fab.I thought there vocals were really strong,and all dancing and acting were brilliant.The 2 highlights of the show for me were Ray singing Get The Party Started and Ray and Emma's duet You'll be in My Heart.

Ray also sing a song with Dandini,and he does a fencing dual with Dandini as well which I thought was good.Ray also looked very handsome in his black and Silver outfit.Emma looked lovely in her dress for the ball.Emma sang I'm A Believer with Buttons and also Circle of Life with Deena as the Fairy Godmother.Emma was very good in Circle of Life as wellHer voice is really beautiful.Emma also sang You'll Be in My Heart with Ray. Also the ponies that came on to Cinderella to the Ball were so gorgeous.

I also like Adam Booth as Buttons,I thought he worked with audience well,and I thought Stefan Anelli who played Dandini was really good too,and worked really well with Ray.Ray and Emma also worked really well as usual.I also liked Dawson Chance and Little Willie,and Deena Payne made a good job of the fairy,although she does not appear very much.

I did think the ugly sisters (Brian Godfrey/Darren Southworth),were good and made me laugh a few times,their banter with the audience was good.

I did think both Ray and Emma,were very under used,and they could have used them more,as they have such amazing talents.As much as I'm sure Jimmy Cricket is a lovely man,I did feel that the show was more of the Jimmy Cricket Show than a pantomime,with virtually every other scene featuring Jimmy Cricket,and I didn't really connect with his humour.Even the Thank-you speak at the end which is usually delivered by the star of the panto was delivered by Jimmy and not Ray,yet in the programme Ray gets top billing.I did like the kids scene Jimmy did at the end as he was good with the kids,but once again I didn't see the relelvence of the plug for his new dvd in the scene either.

I hope anyone going has a lovely time,Ray and Emma are fantastic

Thanks for the review Amanda. Don't like the sound of it being the Jimmy show though. Pity they don't use Ray more but i suppose thats the story.Can't wait to hear Ray sing his solo and his duet with Emma. They sound awesome. Did you manage to buy a program? How much are they?

Thank you for the detailed review Amanda, pity they don't use Ray and Emma more, make more use of their talent.  Think I would find Jimmy Cricket annoying and he does seem to want to make it all about him  and flogging his dvd.  The singing sounds lovely.

sue at December 7, 2011 at 4:04 PM

Thanks for the review Amanda. Don't like the sound of it being the Jimmy show though. Pity they don't use Ray more but i suppose thats the story.Can't wait to hear Ray sing his solo and his duet with Emma. They sound awesome. Did you manage to buy a program? How much are they?

Programmes are £2.They don't use Ray or Emma to their full capacity,which is a shame cos they are both very talented.They bill Ray as the star,as it should be in the programme,but Emma has tiniest write up,and is not at the front with Ray as she should be considering she's Cinderella.

thanks for your review amanda, i agree with you regarding emma, she is cinderella & having the smallest of write ups in the programme certainly isn't fair, sounds like they should have used both Ray & emma more, even the fairy godmother too, looking forwards to seeing their costumes esp the grand ball ones, i can just picture emma now looking lovely,  wearing just a lovley ball gown

Thanks for the review Amanda. Disappointing that Ray and Emma aren't used more