Aladdin

I had not seen this version of this well-loved panto, but I really enjoyed it, in the title role of Aladdin was Charlie Aveyard, a young man who I am certain will go far in theatre land both in the amateur world and if he chooses the professional one too. Charlie delivered his lines with ease and maybe with some coaching will be able to deliver the songs equally well. His diction was excellent and showed a great stage presence plus he was able to get out of a tight hole with ease.

The love of Aladdin is of course Princess Jasmine who was in the very capable hands of Lexi Pygott, again delivering her lines with ease plus a lovely voice which she put to good use, I especially enjoyed her singing with the two maids, Erin Wood and Lacey Shaw, whose voices blended really well.

As a change to tradition here we had Emily Varley playing Widow Twankey, as we all know normally played by a man, however Emily did it well and was loved by the audience both young and old.

Reece Shaw gave us an excellent Wishee Washee, as with Charlie, Reece showed a great stage presence, and his delivery of his lines were excellent.

We all love the baddie in panto land and here we had one who the audience loved to boo and hiss much to the delight of Alex Kenyon who played Abanazar. I’m not quite sure how many of Alex’s lines were actually in the script but he did manage to keep going all the way through and create a great deal of mayhem.

The role of the Empress, which was a smaller one but nevertheless a very important one in the panto, Eloise Walker was able to deliver the goods well.

In the role of the Vizier was Daniel Stitchman, definitely another star in the making, he gave a great performance.

In a change to the norm here we had a Fairy Announcer, who entered the stage at appropriate times to give updates as to what was happening, step up Catherine Hodgson who not only delivered her lines well she also delivered a great gag with her violin playing, initially showing how bad she could play it but boy did she shock everyone on her last entrance when she showed just how she could play it with ease much to the delight of the audience.

As with all good pantos, here we had “the brokers’ men” in the guise of Ping and Pong, played by Melissa Wild and Georgia Aveyard, who as well as delivering their lines were also great at telling jokes.

Two mythological creatures in this piece, namely The Genie and The Spirit of The Ring were in the more than capable hands of Paige Higgs and Isobel Hand respectively, both able to deliver their lines to the full.

Another couple of characters in this piece were Minnie and Milly which were in the very capable hands of Evie Williams and Melissa Wild respectively, both of who added to the whole experience of this production.

In a twist to the story here we had a take off of Britain’s Got Talent which gave us some great acts, I especially enjoyed Georgia Aveyard who sang I Love You Too from Pete’s Dragon, it really was magical.

This was an excellent example of Community Theatre which produced some excellent ensemble singing plus some well-choreographed dancing too.

Congratulations to everyone involved especially the production team of Alex Kenyon, Meeni Leach, Heidi Slater and Cameron Smith.

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