Aladdin

After being mightily impressed by my introduction to The MAD Company last year with their production of Robinson Crusoe, I was really looking forward to seeing Aladdin this year. I was not disappointed. Same high production values, great script, fantastic sets, props and costumes, lots of audience interaction and a jolly good afternoon’s entertainment in traditional panto style.

Vanessa Breach has no doubt found that writing your own script allows you to play to the strengths of your cast, and what a strong cast they were. All the characters were painted in broad strokes and you immediately knew who the baddies were, who was good, who was kind and who was a bit daft.

Mike Till as Abanazar, in a tremendous costume and scary makeup, got the show off to a good start. We were soon booing and hissing his evil plans to recover the magic lamp. Claire Fewings as Wishee Washee, the audience’s friend, seemed to have limitless energy, bouncing around the stage, and obviously a past master at working a live audience. Mick Selley (Widow Twankey) made a good dame, with some fabulous costumes and outrageous headgear - I loved the washing line in one wig, but felt the washing machine was rather distracting for him!

Kevin Stevenson was a lovely pompous, hen-pecked Emperor Tee-Pot, nicely matched by Sue Calvert as the shrewish Empress Ty-Foo (great names), while Tatum Shields (Aladdin) and Lucy Coluccia (Princess Jasmine) made the perfect  leading couple, with beautiful singing voices to match. My vote for best characterisation goes to Mandy Coluccia as Bing Bong, the Genie of the Ring. Fantastic costumes and make-up allied to the perfect, cheeky persona and spot-on delivery of all her lines made her character stand out much more than is usual in Aladdin.

It’s a fortunate company that can muster such a large chorus these days and with such a wide age range. The standard of singing was good and the choreography was well executed. Everyone looked excited to be in the show, right down to the smallest members of the cast. The Emperor’s Guards were particularly good, marching around and swinging their sabres around with great confidence.

Take big bow Costume Manager Mandy Coluccia and your team – every single costume looked absolutely amazing: rich, colourful, well made and absolutely right for the characters, with some lovely individual decorative touches. Make-up too (Mandy Goodridge) was far better than the usual standard for amateur panto with some beautiful details, like the outlines around the lips and the sparkle on Bing Bong. Set, props and effects were all of an excellent standard too – I was amazed by the number of different items you’d made for the market stalls and vendors’ trays. And, despite being only three rows back, I just couldn’t work out how you did the magic carpet – it was a great effect – it can only have been real magic! Lighting was most effective, sound really clear and scene transitions were made quickly, without fuss or noise.

Vanessa Breach, your cast and backstage team, I congratulate you all for the amount of time and effort that must have gone into making this pantomime such fun to watch and achieving such high standards with your production. It was another triumph.

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