Aladdin

Author: John Holliday

Information

Date
26th January 2023
Society
Northallerton Amateur Variety Company
Venue
The Forum, Northallerton
Type of Production
Pantomime
Director
James Cornick
Musical Director
Maeve Hird
Choreographer
Adele McNally and Phil Bargewell

Whilst there may not be many guarantees in life, 1 thing that is for certain is a great evening’s entertainment with Northallerton Amateur Variety Company, and their 2023 production of Aladdin certainly lived up to the great reputation this company has built up.

This year’s cast had some familiar faces but also a host of new stars in both principal and chorus roles. Northallerton always have a lively energetic Junior chorus in their annual pantomime and these 14 members were brilliant throughout bringing the chorus numbers and ensemble scenes to life. Many of them had great little cameo roles as well, I especially found the Laundry scene hilarious with flattened and mini-Wishee Washee.

The Committee with Director James Cornick had certainly chosen a fabulous script from the many on offer out there and this version by Alan P.Frayn was very current (Covid gags have become a modern necessity these days), maintaining all of the key components of a traditional pantomime whilst giving the cast a great platform from which to shine… and shine they did.

Adele McNally took on the title role bring a great life and energy to the character, her enthusiasm was infectious and she had the chance off her vocals, especially in the duet with Jess Stamper as the Princess. Both ladies have got lovely tone to their voices, I would however have preferred a slightly more up-tempo version as it does put more pressure on the vocalists when songs are slowed down too much.

There was great chemistry between the 2 of them which made the story come to life; clearly this cast are a tight unit as all the relationships on stage were believable and never seemed “staged”.

Jess was the perfect princess, graceful in her delivery and incredibly delicate in her portrayal which worked so well against the feisty Kim Boagey playing So-Shy (her lady in waiting). Kim has clearly gained confidence after her performance in NMTC’s Me and My girl and she once again shone on the Forum stage.

Making up the Palace family was Will Jackson as The Emperor, a very noble and confident showing as he tries to handle all the chaos around him.

The story and show kept ticking along at a great pace, with tricky technical scenes being handled at ease and no long pauses (very well done to the backstage and technical crew). Keeping us up to date with the plot and the twists were Martin Brooks as Abanazar and Sarah Talkington as the Spirit of the Ring who bounced off each other in style. Sarah handled the rhyming monologues with ease and her diction was a dream where as Martin kept the audience on their toes with a very charismatic baddie performance.

Phil Bargewell played the part of the Genie and whilst not the biggest role in this show – only arriving half way through the show, Phil made the part larger than life, a great physical display with very good dance ability and gave us a strong showing.

Enough of the “serious” characters, what every pantomime needs is humor and chaos – well this came in bucket loads, and kept on coming. Keith Burns and Lewis Wilde were a fab double act as Abanazar’s Police force Yu-Dun-Wong and Hu-Dun-Pong. Some great slapstick with plenty of trips, slips and truncheon whacking!

Nik Browne was yet again a delight as the Dame, this time as Twankey. A lovely portrayal of a Pantomime favourite, he kept the audience entertained with all of his cheap gags, wonderful 1-liners and over the top innuendos. His relationship with Nigel Thomson on stage has become a mainstay of The Forum’s Calendar and as Wishee Washee, Nigel was simply epic yet again.

How this actor has the energy to put on this performance time and time again is beyond me, his timing, physical contribution and facial expressions to rival Frank Spencer are better than anything I have seen in a professional production.

The interaction with all the cast members and especially Nik is amazing, the Twankey’s Takeaway scene was hysterical with more water in it than the Titanic (Yes Lewis I will get you back at some point!).

James Cornick as Director must be incredibly proud of not only his cast but also his production team for bringing a wonderful vision to life. There were some fabulous moments from a UV carpet scene, a strobe lighting chase and some brilliant dance routines, brilliantly choreographed and led by Adele and Phil on top of their principal roles.  The costumes were colorful and perfect for each role and the lighting was a perfect showpiece for the back drops and many scene changes.

It is always brilliant having a live band at these shows and Maeve Hird expertly led the familiar faces in the MAVC orchestra bring a lovely sound to some fabulous song choices for the cast.

Although in the middle of Panto season I can hand on heart say that I can not wait until next year’s production and to see if NAVC can up their game, yet again. Thank you to everyone involved.

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