A twist on the classic

“Cinderella on Ice” Opera House, Manchester

THIS classic tale comes with a twist which must have been somewhat confusing for the large numbers of children among the audience.

Cinders is training to be a ballerina, the Prince was replaced by the Lord Mayor’s son, and the Fairy Godmother’s part is played by a Gipsy fortune teller who weaves a little magic on the heroine’s behalf at the Lord Mayor’s ball.

Once you get all that in your head, the storyline is pretty much the same, with Cinderella suffering at the hands of her evil stepmother and spoiled stepsisters, but eventually getting her man when he manages to slip a white skating boot — not quite a slipper — on to her foot.

The show is performed by the Imperial Ice Stars, a 25-strong cast of World, European and National Championship skaters, who make an admirable attempt to entertain on a stage a quarter of the size of the arena such daring moves would normally be performed.

The space restrictions inevitably lead to a large amount of circling on a stage which at times looks overcrowded. Some of the most enjoyable parts of the show involve scenes where there are only two skaters with more room to execute graceful manoeuvres.

Some of the moves claim to never have been attempted before and there is an undoubted amount of skill among the performers who ice-dance their way through the show at break-neck speed, missing each other by a mere whisker as they leap, twirl and spin in breathtaking displays.

“Cinderella on Ice” was conceived and choreographed by Tony Mercer, mastermind of previous ice shows “Swan Lake” and “Sleeping Beauty,” along with Evgeny Platov, dual Olympic gold medallist and four-times world champion.

There is no doubt all the cast are proficient on ice, and their skating is hard to fault, but it is the lead performers who steal the show, excelling in both technique and skill.

Olga Sharutenko as Cinderella and Vadim Yarkov as her father, the watchmaker, give excellent performances, closely followed by Andrei Penkine, as the Lord Mayor’s son; and watchmakers’ assistants Denis Balandin and Maxim Belyakov.

The stepmother and stepsisters’ roles are less memorable, which could be down to choreography, and the show unfolds to the sounds of a rather uninspiring pre-recorded score which eventually grates on the nerves.