Aladdin

This was the first time that I had attended a production of the Blackmore Players. I received a warm welcome and was delighted to be seated in a beautiful village hall which was the perfect venue for a family show, with comfortable seating, a bar and a curtained stage. The technical set up was very professional and there was a healthy audience for the first night of the run.

In my opinion Pantomimes should be entertaining, fun, family friendly, and have audience participation. This Panto ticked all the boxes. The cast compiled of a range of actors young and older and gave the production a community feel that I really appreciated. To hear the children who were sitting around me, shouting and laughing at the action confirmed that the cast were doing a good job.

The scenery looked really good. It was simple but bright and had a design which represented the only supermarket in Peking. Scene changes involved using props representing the only Laundry in Peking; these props were interactive and added to the many jokes in the Panto. One character was shrunk in the washer, squashed in the mangle and brought to life in the dryer much to hilarity of the audience.

Other scene changes involved a curtain representing a forest/alleyway and a brick wall representing the palace in Egypt. These also worked incredibly well. Action took place in front of the curtains, and in the audience and all parts of the stage were used effectively during the acting and the choreography.

Lighting and sound were good, there was a small echo on the microphone of the Spirit of the Ring but this was rectified during the interval. There were thunder-flashes for the appearances of the Spirit of the ring and the Genie which again worked well and added to the magic particularly for the younger members of the audience.

Costumes were colourful and in keeping with the theme; it was also good to see all the hats were the same and all the truncheons were the same and this added to the ensemble pieces. Make-up was simple but effective.

The performers all did very well. Abanazer was played by Andrew Raymond; he gave a solid and confident performance. He showed various aspects to his character changing his accent and his attitude to comic effect. He seemed to really enjoy the booing and the interaction with the audience as much as the audience did.

The Spirit of the Ring was played by Annie Allardyce. Despite the feedback on her microphone, she was clear and strong. Alf Currey and Tony Donnelly played Wishee and Washee who appeared throughout the piece desperately trying to find girls to love them. They were a funny pair and in pantomime tradition they interacted well with the audience, sang, danced, and covered up any errors with a laugh. When the tassel fell off the fez, for example, they played about with it and this is just the kind of event we all love.

Aladdin was not the typical principal boy role but played by the handsome and laid-back Joseph Cordell. Joseph was a confident performer and had a good singing voice. He’d been trying to avoid the many girls that fancied him but fell instantly in love with Princess Jasmine played by Lily-Rose Brown. Lily-rose was the perfect Princess Jasmine, she portrayed a sweet, kind and beautiful girl who was fed-up with the constraints of royal life. She seemed tiny onstage when flanked by the Genie, and Aladdin.

Widow Twankey, mother of Wishee, Washee and Aladdin, was played by the imposing figure of Keith Goody. All his costumes and wigs were brilliant and his fluttering green eye lashes were a great detail. Keith was a great Panto Dame and had some great one-liners that made us groan.

Flung-Dung, the head of the Peking Imperial Police was played by Linda Raymond. I enjoyed her performance of Flung-Dung but she often looked down when delivering her speeches. She did have some great interactions with other characters. I enjoyed her phone calls with The Empress, Barbara Harrold, and the ‘Knicker nicker’ dialogue was really good. Flung-Dung led the PIP, fought the Invisible Ninja’s and was even transformed during the laundry scene.

When Abanazer tricked Aladdin to going into the cave, which was a clever use of the curtains, there were some amusing comings and goings and intricate use of sound. I did particularly enjoy Martin Herford’s ‘doorman to the Cave’ The additional script was topical, funny and very cleverly observed.

Ryan Stevens played the Genie, a huge figure who loved his freedom from the lamp by singing, dancing also rapping incredibly well. He was a really fun character with a good voice and relaxed stage presence.

The rest of the cast worked really well and added to the panto with some ensemble choreography and songs. One that stuck in my mind was the Thriller tribute when Aladdin was in the cave.

The Finale of the Panto involved the whole company and some amazing costumes. Everyone looked fabulous especially Widow Twankey who bagged her knicker nicker Abanazer.

I left the Blackmore village Hall with a huge smile on my face and sore hands from clapping so much.

Thank you so much for inviting me to see your Panto.

 

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