Aladdin

With all the glitz and glamour of a Hollywood blockbuster I knew this was sure to be a hit with everyone in the audience, and I wasn’t wrong. The opening number from The Greatest Showman went down a bomb, with plenty of shooting flames, pyrotechnics and thrills resulting in great applause.

I have seen many “Manor Pantos” and they have all lived up to the expectations of the previous ones and this was no exception.

The title role of Aladdin was played to perfection by James Smith who always gives a superb performance no matter what he does and here he his singing and dancing thrilled the audience.

James was ably supported by Chris Hanlon as an extremely funny Wishee Washee, ensuring there were plenty of laughs and thrills throughout the whole show, also pulling out all the stops was Robert Spink as the matriarchal head of the family, Widow Twanky, a much larger than life woman who will do anything to protect her family no matter what. Robert was excellent in this role and together with Chris was able to ensure the whole audience enjoyed themselves all night long.

The villain of the piece, Abanazar was played by Simon Hance and here too Simon was able to bring out all the villainy possible so as to encourage all the hissing and booing which any top panto deserves, and deserve it did right from the word go.

As we all know Aladdin falls in love with the Princess Jasmine who really he should not even be acknowledging but he perseveres and of course we all know they have a wonderful wedding at the end, this however is not before Aladdin falls for the charms of Abanazar and climbs into the cave to get the magic lamp.

Once inside the cave Aladdin initially finds the ring which he rubs to release the Genie of the Ring played by Holly Mae Norris, she in turn helps Aladdin to find the lamp which he rubs and releases the Genie played by Liam Gordon who managed to leap effortlessly around the stage whilst singing and introducing all the glittering jewels in the cave, resulting in a most fabulous array of company members in dazzling costumes depicting a veritable fortune.

I mentioned Princess Jasmine who was portrayed effortlessly by the very talented Christina Rice who looked, acted and sounded every bit like the character she was portraying. The Princess has a hand maiden, So Shy played by Emily Mae Hoyland who like her fellow actors was able to make a big contribution to the overall enjoyment. Emily’s portrayal was akin to that of Jane Horrocks when she played the title role of Little Voice and was perfection itself.

Princess Jasmine’s parents, the Emperor and Empress were played superbly by Andy Finnerty and Sinead Summerhill as the typical couple, him downtrodden, not being able to get a word in and her as the voice of the family, both of them brought out the best in their parts causing riotous laughter throughout.

As in every Aladdin there has to be the Chinese Policemen and this one was no exception, PC Hugh and PC Mee, Callam Fellows and Gary Rossiter respectively playing these parts and the audience loved them from start to finish.

One of the highlights of this panto, and believe me there were plenty, was the flying carpet scene when Aladdin tries to find The Princess who was held a prisoner by Abanazar, this really was breathtaking and you could hear all the Oohs and Ahs from everybody in the audience as he flew around the stage and over the heads of everyone in the audience.

There is only one word which sums up this panto and that is, to quote Mary Poppins, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, it was wonderful, filled with everything you could expect from a Manor Panto.

Congratulations to everyone involved. 

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