Aladdin

I was delighted to accept an invitation to visit the Friendship Theatre’s production of “Aladdin”.   This popular pantomime had all the key requirements, with a hard working cast and a production with plenty of enthusiasm.  The show appealed to different age groups on varying levels and the cast had the audience’s attention from the beginning.  

Alan Williams, as always, was a great Widow Twankey busting his moves with great conviction. Our much loved and adored Denys Jenkins played Denny Twp bringing great comedy to the stage. It was a privilege to witness Denys perform for the last time in such a big role. He has been an inspiration to so many and his character has brought laughter and fun to so many young people’s lives. Denys Jenkins was ably supported by, Stephen McDermid as the Emperor and Sean Davies as Inspector Li Li Law who all added to good comedy elements.

Matthew Tucker as Aladdin and Daniella Difede as Princess Jasmine were a good combination as principal boy and girl and both had some excellent musical interludes. Credit must be given where it is due to Wynne Seaborne who played the evil Abanazar. Wynne always provides an outstanding performance as the ‘baddy’ but having fractured/broken a bone the night before he was on stage in a cast boot without any aids doing his thing! Hannah Beth gave a beautiful role as the Slave of the Ring with a good performance from Cory Bentley Rowe as the Guard.

For me the performance of the night was Nathan W.R. a larger than life Genie. He sang his musical numbers with conviction and his performance was incredible, a performance certainly to be proud of.

A big well done must also go to the senior dancers and babes for their great choreography, which enhanced the whole experience of the production.  

Lighting and sound worked very well with great projections, the costumes as always were excellent especially the very colourful finale. One thing I liked in particular was the “Magic Carpet Ride” which was very cleverly done and which added some real magic to the production.

Congratulations to Dean Verbeeck and his team for a very enjoyable production. Long may they continue to uphold the Friendship Theatre tradition of producing a magical pantomime.

Diolch yn Fawr Friendship Theatre.

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