Waterworks Players proudly presents the pantomime Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to celebrate the holiday season. Beloved by children and adults alike, pantomimes are as much a part of Christmas throughout the British Isles as singing carols, trimming the tree, and exchanging presents.

As a popular form of theater, “Pantomimes are melodramatic presentations of familiar nursery rhymes or children's tales that combine song, dance, and slapstick comedy,” states Mary Jo Stockton, who grew up in Scotland and will stage manage the production. “At home they are called pantomimes, but it's not the same as a mime,” says Stockton. “You get the story with a twist. A night out at the pantomime is a family affair.”

Four years ago, Waterworks presented its first pantomime, Puss In Boots. “The production was so successful that we followed that with Aladdin, Cinderella, and Jack and the Beanstalk. We packed the house for each production and now people ask us months in advance which tale we will tell in December” according to Waterworks Players' director Dudley Sauve. From the beginning, kids knew right away how to get involved in the play as if they had grown up with it. Likewise, adults had a wonderful time laughing at the double-meaning of the punch lines.

“Part of the magic of pantomime,” says Sauve, “is the audience participation.” Everyone is encouraged to “Boo” the villain and sing along with cast members. This can lead to friendly audience competition as half of the audience tries to sing their chorus louder than the other. In some productions the story villain will squirt the audience with water guns, while other cast members might throw candy to children.

In Waterworks' production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fairy Flora (Peyton Wall) introduces us to a kingdom ruled by the vane Queen Evilynn (Shirley Kagan), who needs to find a husband. In hopes of winning the favor of Prince Valiant (Marlow Vilchez), a lavish royal banquet is prepared by Clarissa (Jordan Whiley), the palace's cook, and her bum-of-a-son Muddles (Walter McCoy). During his visit Prince Valiant is impressed, but not with the queen. Instead, the beautiful Snow White (Christy Moore) has caught the handsome prince's eye. To make matters worse, the queen's magic mirror (Leigh Lunsford) informs her that she is no longer the fairest in the land. Enraged, the queen hatches a plot for Muddles to kill Snow White. Rather than doing Snow White harm, Muddles leads her deep into the forest where she encounters a group of seven friendly dwarfs (Ross Baldwin, Audrey Gee, Miriam Kagan-Dubroff, Lauran Todt, Faith Vieira, Sophie Watson, and Aaron Hogan. Life away from the palace is peaceful until a disguised Queen Evilynn shows up selling apples.

The cast also includes soldiers and villagers (Don Hicks, JR Schipper, and Phyllis Stafford). There is even a ghost (Valarie Wagner).

Make reservations now for the whole family to attend Waterworks Players' production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Performances are Friday (December 3rd) at 7 pm, Saturday (December 4th) at 2 pm and 5 pm, and Sunday (December 5th) at 5 pm. Tickets are $5 for everyone, children, adults, dwarfs, princes, and commoners. You can obtain tickets by calling the box office at 434-392-3452 or visiting the Waterworks web site: http://waterworksplayers.org.