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Chronicle Live
Entertainment
Katie Collings

Bedknobs and Broomsticks bewitches Sunderland with mesmerising performance

Bedknobs and Broomsticks made its debut in Sunderland this week and has certainly already enchanted audiences.

The iconic Disney show runs at the Empire Theatre until April 24 as part of a major UK and Ireland tour - and there was no shortage of enthralled children and families taking in the show on Wednesday night.

I went along with a young family member to get a child's perspective on the classic show which was such a huge part of so many of our childhoods. I'm not speaking for myself however, as I struggled to remember a single thing about the movie so we were both going in blind.

Read more: Theatre and music shows around Newcastle to see this spring

West End regular Dianne Pilkington starred as Miss Eglantine Price, who takes the three orphans under her wing, and Matilda star Charles Brunton appeared as Emelius Browne.

Dianne, who has also starred in Mamma Mia! and Wicked, was simply mesmerising in the role which was immortalised by the fabulous Angela Lansbury. You couldn't take your eyes off her - especially when she was flying around on a broom with such grace it left me seriously impressed.

Another standout performance came from Conor O'Hara as the eldest Rawlins child Charlie. His comedic timing made the show and he boasted the singing chops to go along with it.

That's not to say younger stars Sapphire Hagon as Carrie and Haydn Court as Paul were not equally as impressive. They each held their own on the huge stage as if they'd been doing the job for decades.

The special effects - flying beds and the like - were spectacular and left me unable to answer quite a lot of questions from my young companion about how it all worked! The set changes and tricks were seamless - which is exactly what you need when you want to immerse yourself in a show about magic.

And from hearing the chatter of other members of the audience, I think it's safe to say it was a success. I can't pick any faults at all with this performance and in fact I may even revisit the movie.

It was quite simply...magical.

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