mr_cinders

Reviews:

"...a cast whose energy and professional expertise is a joy to behold, including a performance of sloe-eyed charm from Denis Lawson as Mr. C, the poor cousin who finally goes to the ball. ..." Diana Simmonds, City Limits

"...As the title would suggest, the story is a male version of Cinderella, with a down-trodden nephew dancing attendence on a snobbish gorgon of an aunt and her two vapid sons. The Princess Charming is the daughter of an American billionaire and the slipper becpmes a bowler hat. ...The star of the show is Denis Lawson, equally at home as the accident prone drudge and as the 'explorer' whose knowledge of South America is limited to what he has been able hurridly to swot up from an outdated encyclopaedia. Mr. Lawson is a shade too knowing to glint with the blissful innocence of Bobby Howes, his predecessor in the role; but whether executing a grotesque sand dance or wistfully enjoining a rapt audience to 'Spread a Little Happiness', he confirms that he is the best male performer in musicals on the English stage at present. ..." Francis King, Sunday Telegraph

"...At the heart of it all, Denis Lawson as Mr. Cinders combines expert slapstick and the most non-chalent kind of charisma in a triumphantly entertaining performance. ..." Jim Hiley, City Limits

"...Denis Lawson as Mr. Cinders combines the grave stilness of a Dickensian potboy with a fairy-footed lightness that enables him to tiptoe across crowded tabletops, do a Dying Swan routine while laden with hats and cloaks or even execute a ...sand-dance. It is a star turn..." Michael Billington, The Guardian

"...This is the world of 'Mr. Cinders', the 1929 musical comedy now revived at the Fortune, and were it not for the sparkling brilliance of Denis Lawson in the title role there would be little to distinguish it from the many other mindless indulgences currently shoring up the West End. But Lawson does triumph. From the moment he skates on, the clumsy but lovable poor relation Jim Lancaster - ugly duckling, emergent swan - through all his humiliations at the hands of his matriarchal aunt, until his climax as an eccentric, aristocratic explorer. It is an extraordinary demonstration of virtuosity that leaves everyone else standing. ..." Suzie Mackenzie, Time Out

"...Best of all, though, is the title character. Denis Lawson enters on rollerskates in a confusion of parcels and is shortly disguised as a barrel defending his bung after fishing an American millionaire out of the river. Mr. Cinders is the heroic poor relation who falls for the disguised heiress he richly deserves not least for his vivid display of physical ingenuity. Whether collecting evening wear accessories for his ugly 'brothers' in a ludicrous dying swan routine or fending off suspicions as a spurious African explorer in a tash, fez and monocle, Mr. Lawson has a field day. This is a brilliant comic display, all the stronger for the steel in the actor's personality. Without patronising his material or surrounding cast, Mr. Lawson stands effortlessly apart. On a tiny stage, he can exit via the breakfast table or truss up the buglar after the chase with no sense of physical constriction. The Performance is relaxed, funny and perfectly pitched."