Snow White and the 7 Dwarves
By Katy Solomon

On 16 January 2005, the JDA arranged an outing to the pantomime of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. It was at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London, and starred Lily Savage (Paul O'Grady) as the Wicked Queen. The performance was sign interpreted by Donna Ruane.

Katy Solomon writes of the adventures of the JDA group:

Those of you who did not come with us to see this pantomime missed a real treat. We met at the JDA, where the minibus arrived - without the promised driver! But, as always, our caretaker Barry came to the rescue. (How would we cope without him?) We arrived at the theatre on time … even though we were driven there by Barry "the Northerner" and directed by Lisa "the foreigner"!

Of course, before we all sat down in the theatre, there was a lot of shuffling and changing of seats. Eventually, we all sat where we wanted so that we could see the performance clearly and have an uninterrupted view of the interpreter.

What can I say about the performance? It was amazing! The dancing, the costumes and the scenery were excellent. And the interpreter, Donna, was wonderful - she brought the show to life through sign language, and became a part of the performance too. With my very limited knowledge of signing, I found myself watching Donna with fascination, as she signed beautifully.

The acting was brilliant and the conversation was as funny as any pantomime I've ever seen - and I've seen a lot in my time! I remember Lily Savage saying "I'm giving up smoking, so I got these nicotine patches. I stick them over my glasses, and I can't find my cigarettes!" It was brilliantly funny, and I am sure all of us enjoyed every moment.

Oh, what a performance! Snow White was beautiful (the Prince wasn't too bad either) and Lily Savage - otherwise known as Paul O' Grady - was magnificently and outrageously bad as the Wicked Queen. His/her costumes were fantastic and her assistant was his/her pet bird, (a sort of half raven-half vulture). The Wicked Queen planned to make herself "the fairest in the land", by killing Snow White with the poisoned apple. Of course he/she didn't succeed, and Snow White was saved and looked after by the coolest set of dwarves you have ever seen.

During the break, we had ice cream. It was SO expensive that I was tempted to tell the seller "I only want to buy an ice cream … I don't want to buy shares in the theatre!!" But it looked so delicious, that I changed my mind, and splashed out on a strawberry ice cream.

The dancers who were courtiers of the Queen, and also animals of the forest, were an inspiration of ballet. The tiny children were delightful too.

All good things have to end and, after a roaring applause, we said our goodbyes and made our way back to the minibus. Now I am going to tell you a secret … but don't let it go any further…(wink!)

The JDA minibus was parked right outside the theatre, at the stage door where the actors leave. Lots of people were waiting there and everyone quickly tried to get their autographs (our Jacqui, included). Then, Paul O'Grady (Lily Savage) came out and signed autographs. I went to him and I said "Excuse me Mr O' Grady. On the JDA bus, there is a lovely lady. She will be celebrating her 90th birthday very soon. Please will you come and say hello?"

Well - boys and girls - Paul O'Grady (Lily Savage) got on the JDA minibus (and when you look at him close-up, he is gorgeous!). He went to our Minnie Goldberg and gave her a birthday kiss. Well, that made our day EXTRA special!

If you didn't come to the pantomime, you missed out on a great trip. Make sure you don't miss the next one!

Love Katy