Kids in London - Pinocchio at the Royal Opera House

How lucky is the little girl who's Mummy has a business colleague who is a friend of the Royal Opera House and gets tickets to see the first night production of Will Tuckett's Pinocchio? Answer: VERY!

This was a truly delightful production - lively and skilled dance with excellent singing and narration -staged in the intimacy of the small Linbury Studio. From the moment that Gepatto announced "Once upon a time" we were entranced.

The Blue Fairy - as well as using a scooter for glide-effect - looked like a small blue version of Amy Whinehouse with an Italian accent. And with Amy's talent for singing in her dancing toes.

After the shock of seeing Pinocchio pulled from a tree and realising that he had more than a passing resemblence to Dick Van Dyke in the puppet scene of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (i.e. a mop of bright orange hair), we appreciated how his fabulous wood costume complimented his superb ability to make every gesture scream "puppet".

My daughter adored the foxy fox in a sheer costume with a very fine brush - now THAT is character dancing! And she went on and on and on and on about how she loved the choreography - and I pity her poor school friends who will see numerous demos tomorrow.

The lights for the Land of Toys drew gasps of wonder and we were all taken by surprise by the beach balls. Then the terrifying Stromboli attacked the poor donkey children while the giant animated puppet master gathered the injured ones into the glue factory - even the hardiest adult audience members were shaking with fear (Those with very young children should note that the production is not recommended for under 8s). But all that was forgotten with the shark scene...

The final scene was truly magical with lots and lots of magic blue fairy dust to turn Pinocchio into a real boy. Hooray!

The production is on until the 5th January - and if you can get tickets then you really should - it's a wonderful alternative to a Christmas panto and really accessible dance for those not quite up to classical ballet.

The final flourish was that we wandered into the Piazza afterwards and were wowed by the lights and decorations there - it was almost as if Narnia were there.

Anyway. We want to send a great big THANK YOU to Tricia - you know who you are - for taking us on such a treat. I was told that you are simply the BEST work friend I have! That's some endorsement!

:angel: :angel: :angel: