Aladdin

Once again this society performed a pantomime written and directed by company member Amanda Craib. Her script for this perennial favourite was full of the usual characters, local references and lots of humour. From the opening rendition of Michael Buble’s “Beautiful Day” through Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl” to the closing “You Make It Feel Like Christmas” we were treated to a plethora of well known songs and well executed choreography. Kim McIntyre in the title role of Aladdin was excellent with good strong acting and singing. In these attributes she was equalled by Lee Whitley as a strong minded Princess Jasmine. They made a delightful pairing and their duets “Call Me Maybe” and “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” – the latter performed whilst hovering above the stage on a magic carpet! – were impressive. Ben Mortimer was a truly over-the-top Widow Twankey commanding the stage at his every appearance with just the right amount of cheeky – and sometimes saucy – banter with the audience and I enjoyed his rendition of “I Am What I Am”. Another character with good strong acting and singing abilities, as shown in her rendition of “Hooked On A Feeling”, was Ada Carmichael’s Wishee who soon built up a good rapport with the youngsters in the audience. Milky Milkinson was truly boo-able as the evil Abanazar but with a superb singing voice in his rendition of Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life”. In his machinations he was ably assisted by Amara Nunag as Bella Donna and Katy Rodway-Swanson as Fox Glove. Adding a touch of magic and sparkle to the action were Adrienne Lean as the Genie of the Ring and Lesley Oman as the Genie of the Lamp. Strong support was given by Lindsey Knight as the Emperor and Gemma Thomas as Lily, Jasmine’s maid and Wishee’s love interest. The chorus singing throughout was enthusiastic and they moved well. The four piece band, under Angus Hull’s leadership from the keyboard, played the various styles of music well and were always supportive of the singers. The set, built with the help of Fochabers Men’s Shed members, was simple, colourful and with the addition of Chris Ingram’s lighting were very effective and the scene changes were well handled by the crew under Stage Manager Kenny Craib The costumes by Janice Anderson and Lesley Oman were bright and appropriate to each character especially those of Widow Twankey. Due to the venue closing for major renovation this may have been the group’s last pantomime for a couple of years and they certainly went out on a high. Well done everyone on a great night’s entertainment.

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