Corina Pavlova & The Lion's Roar - Sherman Cymru

Despite spending a year living just a 5 minute walk away in the middle of Cardiff, I'd never actually visited Sherman Cymru, one of Cardiff's hidden gems, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect when Squeaky & I wer invited to attend the very first showing of Corina Pavlova and the Lion's Roar, their Christmas show aimed at children aged 3-6.  In fact, not only had I never visited, but I wasn't even 100% sure where I was going, so I was very grateful for Cardiff Council's little brown tourism signs which lead me right to the door.  Parked my car in a very big puddle, and we were there.

The Sherman is a modern theatre, nestled in amongst university buildings on one of Roath's lovely tree-lined streets (great unless you have to park your car there every day, as I learned to my peril), with a welcoming cafe-bar in the foyer.  I wish I'd had a bit more time to browse their cakes, but it was one of those very busy days, and we only just made it to the theatre on time.  We were ushered into Theatre 2, an informal performance space, and sat down on the kind of tiny chairs more commonly seen in classrooms, alongside a few fellow bloggers, local press types, and a local primary school.

Corina Pavlova is a young girl, whose family has just grown with the arrival of her baby brother, who she's not exactly excited to meet, and is having difficulty getting used to.  She pays a visit to Mr McAlistair's Pet Shop, a magical shop with "Cats and Dogs, Fleas and Frogs, Lemurs, Llamas, Rats in Pyjamas"... where the customers don't choose their pets, the pets choose their owners, guaranteed to make sure everyone ends up with their perfect pet.  Corina meets a cheeky monkey, a hilarious French-accented snake, and the lion of the title.  While it doesn't *sound* like a Christmas play, there's a Christmas theme throughout, and the focus on family and family relationships is definitely a seasonal one.

The whole play was performed by just three, multi-talented actors, singing, dancing & playing a veritable orchestra of instruments - I counted a clarinet, flute, recorder, accordion, glockenspiel, xylophone (yes, I do know the difference!) and shaking eggs, and I've probably missed a few there!  There was also plenty of opportunity for little ones to get involved, tuning in their ears and mouths, not forgetting the all important ROAR!!

Squeaky & I loved the show, once she stopped asking me what was about to happen & watched to find out for herself instead.  It did get a little scary towards the end, so if you've got a more sensitive child, be prepared for some gentle cwtching!

At about an hour's show, it was spot on for Squeaky, and kept her attention throughout.  The fact that she was fast asleep in the back seat of the car within 5 minutes of leaving was even better for me.  Ever since, she's been asking to see the "singing lion show" again - so I take it that it's a hit with her too!

Corina Pavlova and the Lion's Roar  is showing at Sherman Cymru from 9 December to 4 January, with showings in English and Welsh.  Tickets are £7.00 and available direct from the theatre.  A very fair priced alternative to the traditional pantomime, and much more suited to a young family.

Disclosure: I was provided with two tickets to the show free of charge for the purposes of this review.  I was not told what to write and all opinions are my own.  Links are provided for convenience, I am not a member of any affiliate scheme and will not receive payment for their use.

Sid's Show - Review

Do you remember last year, when I gave away a family ticket to see CBeebies' legend Sid Sloane in his very own stage show, Sid's Show? Well, I did.  And today, Squeaky and I got the chance to see Sid's Show for ourselves when the tour reached Cardiff.  Off we toddled to St David's Hall, along with about 600 other people for Sid's one & only visit to South Wales in the tour.  He's still going until June, but this was the Wales show, and we were going to make the most of it.  The rest of the tour dates are here, but you know that, right?

It's getting to be a bit of a theme when Squeaky & I go to shows, that we find ourselves in the audience alongside the glitterati of Welsh showbiz circles.  We sat in front of John Hartson when we saw Peppa Pig, bumped into Lucy & Rhodri Owen in the foyer of The Tiger Who Came To Tea, so it was only fitting that we were joined at Sid's Show by his fellow CBeebies presenter Alex Winters (No, not the guy out of Bill & Ted, that's Alex Winter. Different fella altogether).  Squeaky was convinced that the whole show was going to be Sid dipping some bread into sauce.  Specifically brown bread into tomato sauce.  Interesting concept, but I was hoping for slightly more than that!

We settled down in our seats up in the gods for the first half (and moved down right in front of Alex & his family for the second half - yes! That was me ::grin::)  Right on time, Sid bounded onto the stage, there's no other way to describe it.  Full of energy, and had the children and adults in the audience joining in straight away with If You're Happy & You Know It, swiftly followed by a crazy action song about getting up & dressed.

And getting dressed is where Sid's problems all start.  He can't find his favourite socks & shoes, and we're soon off on a fantastic adventure to find them, without ever leaving the comfort of his bedroom.  It's all in the imagination, you see, and Sid's box becomes a hot air balloon, a spaceship, a submarine.  Part of me was a little bit surprised, but it works.  Give Squeaky a box and it becomes a house, a rocket, or a car.  So for the audience, a simple box becoming the key to an adventure is absolutely right.

The box. Or the spaceship. Or maybe the hot air balloon!

We shifted downstairs at the interval.  Not so much for a better view, there aren't any *bad* seats in St David's Hall in my experience, but more so that if she wanted to run to the front, Squeaky would have the opportunity to do so.  She didn't.  Ah well.  During the interval, there was mayhem as children searched high & low (OK, low) for, well, I can't tell you that!  Something special.  No, sorry, wrong show.  Something to help Sid, anyway.  I'm not going to give the story away, but with a bit of help, and another very funny action song, Sid gets his socks & shoes sorted, and even cheers up his dog Fuzzy.

Cheering up Fuzzy

Squeaky was transfixed.  Even Peppa, who was in her bag, was transfixed.  I was amazed that the show was just Sid, and Fuzzy, on the stage for an hour.  No dancers, no supporting artistes, just Sid.  The energy coming from the stage was brilliant.  And Sid is quite a dancer.  I'm thinking of starting a campaign now to get Sid on the next season of Strictly. Are you with me?

A couple of things I loved about the show, just because.  The range of music was fab - there was a blues song, reggae, rap, as well as silly action songs & kids favourites.  And a very simple thing that made me happier than you'd expect.  In one of the last songs, Sid sings "Thank you" to us all for helping him, and he signs "thank you" as he says it.  I know I mentioned Something Special as a joke up there somewhere, but it's such a simple way to make the show inclusive, and such a nice touch.  I'm not going off into Deaf Woman Ranting territory here, it was great.  Thank you!

The foyer area wasn't Merchandise City either.  I've been to other shows where you can't get in without running the gauntlet of glowsticks, balloons, programmes and assorted stuff you never look at again.  I didn't actually notice any merchandise on sale, but that might have been due to being upstairs for the first half & not going into the main bar/foyer area.  Did my wallet the world of good!  We had a great time at Sid's Show, even if he didn't dip his bread into his sauce, Squeaky wasn't disappointed.

Sid's on tour until June, you can keep up with his tour dates here if you haven't already been to see the show.  Or you can keep up with him on facebook, and twitter as well.

Disclosure: I was provided with a family ticket to the show free of charge for the purpose of this review. I was not told what to write and all opinions are my own.  Links are provided for your convenience, I am not a member of any affiliate scheme & will not receive reward for their use.

CLOSED Win Tickets to Sid's Show!

If you've got children in the house, this will be a very familiar face.  Sid Sloane, CBeebies' longest serving presenter, often to be found leaping around rapping about the number 4.  Well, this autumn, Sid's making the leap from the small screen to the big stage, with his very own live show!  And you could win tickets right here!

The Sid's Show tour has its official premiere in Brighton on 30th October, so I hope he's busy rehearsing now, in between episodes of Balamory!  There's a first cluster of shows in the autumn before a break (theatres full of  panto, I would guess) and the tour continues well into the new year, calling at over 30 venues.  Join Sid as he sets out on the quest to find where his favourite shoes & socks have gone - follow his adventures to the bottom of the ocean, outer space & deep in the jungle, in an interactive show filled with games & songs.

This sounds right up Squeaky's street.  We've taken her to a few live shows in the past and she's loved every minute of them - glowsticks at the ready!

And as if that wasn't enough, Sid's also going to be presenting his own show "Let's Play" on CBeebies later in the year.  Along with Rebecca Keatley, the show's all about encouraging children to discover the world around them through dressing up & creative role play.  Again, this is right on target for Squeaky at the moment, she's just discovered the joys of the dressing-up box, and spent a happy hour yesterday bouncing around the living room saying "I'm a rabbit! Hop Hop Hop!"  And then eating me, because apparently I'm a carrot.  The minds of children are fascinating!

If you'd like to join Sid on his adventure, it couldn't be easier.  I've got a family ticket to give away (2 adults & 2 children or 1 adult & 3 children) for Sid's tour, and I'd like you to win it!  (October dates are excluded, tickets subject to availability)  Just follow the instructions on the rafflecopter widget below, and you'll be in with a chance of seeing Sid's Show live, in a theatre near you.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

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