Not currently on display at the V&A

Cinderella

Design
1948 (designed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Back cloth design for 'Finale' in pantomime <i>Cinderella,</i> London Palladium, 1948.

In 1947, Val Parnell took over the management of the London Palladium, one of the largest theatres in Britain. Under Parnell, the Palladium presented large-scale spectacular pantomimes until 1987 and became known as the Home of Pantomime due to its lavish productions featuring the biggest celebrity names of the time.

Cinderella ran from 24th December 1948 to 19th March 1949 and starred actress Evelyn Laye as Prince Charming and comedian Tommy Trinder as Buttons. The show’s scenery, designed by Charles Reading, achieved great praise, with Michael Bishop of The Times writing, “There has been nothing like it since the Christmas glory that was Drury Lane in the long ago […] There is breath enough left to remark that in the matter of design and colour moreover these vast quantities of scenery are in better taste than they once were.”

The show also featured a comedy sequence with a St. Bernard dog and live ponies to take Cinderella to the ball.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleCinderella (popular title)
Materials and techniques
Pencil on tracing paper
Brief description
Back cloth design for 'Finale' in pantomime Cinderella, London Palladium, 1948
Physical description
Pencil on tracing paper design for a 'Finale' back cloth in pantomime Cinderella, London Palladium, 1948. The design features a sunburst with clouds scattered across it.
Dimensions
  • Height: 32.4cm
  • Width: 66.9cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • BACK CLOTH / CUT OUT / CUT OUT / CUT OUT / CUT OUT / TOP OF CLOUDS / MAGENTA PINK. / SILVER LINES / FINALE SUN RAY / CINDERELLA (On front side in pencil and blue ink)
  • Transliteration
Credit line
Given by Roger Fox
Summary
Back cloth design for 'Finale' in pantomime <i>Cinderella,</i> London Palladium, 1948.

In 1947, Val Parnell took over the management of the London Palladium, one of the largest theatres in Britain. Under Parnell, the Palladium presented large-scale spectacular pantomimes until 1987 and became known as the Home of Pantomime due to its lavish productions featuring the biggest celebrity names of the time.

Cinderella ran from 24th December 1948 to 19th March 1949 and starred actress Evelyn Laye as Prince Charming and comedian Tommy Trinder as Buttons. The show’s scenery, designed by Charles Reading, achieved great praise, with Michael Bishop of The Times writing, “There has been nothing like it since the Christmas glory that was Drury Lane in the long ago […] There is breath enough left to remark that in the matter of design and colour moreover these vast quantities of scenery are in better taste than they once were.”

The show also featured a comedy sequence with a St. Bernard dog and live ponies to take Cinderella to the ball.
Collection
Accession number
S.2233-2014

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Record createdNovember 14, 2014
Record URL
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