Cinderella
Set Design
1948 (designed)
1948 (designed)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
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.
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 | |
Title | Cinderella (popular title) |
Materials and techniques | Pencil on tracing paper |
Brief description | Set design for 'Transformation Scenes and Ballet' in pantomime Cinderella, London Palladium, 1948 |
Physical description | Pencil on tracing paper set design for Act One Scene 8b 'Transformation Scenes and Ballet: The Gossamer Web' in pantomime Cinderella. London Palladium, 1948. The design features a large spider's web with dots and curtains drape in front of it. |
Dimensions |
|
Marks and inscriptions |
|
Credit line | Given by Roger Fox |
Summary | 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.2245-2014 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
Record created | January 7, 2015 |
Record URL |
Download as: JSON