Aladdin

This was the ultimate feel-good production, a jolly romp of a pantomime with bags of creativity on show, all the right bells and whistles, all sounding just right, and a great community feel. The audience was engaged with it all throughout, they were fully into the pantomime spirit, and the great energy, enthusiasm and focus from the performers communicated itself to them. This was evident right from the start, when Abanazer, with a wonderfully gravelly voice and great stage presence, encouraged the audience to boo him. Smoke and light ‘pyrotechnics’ accompanying the entrances of Abanazer and the Genie of the Ring added to the sense of spectacle and the ‘wow’ factor. Later on the audience were booing and shouting so loudly when Abanazer was trying to do his ‘new lamps for old’ trick with the Princess that he wasn’t able to speak over them, and there was a delightful moment when the Empress and Sergeant Ping were hitting the beleaguered PC Pong and a child shouted in sympathy ‘stop doing that!’. Songs were sung with verve and gusto, which got the audience going and singing along, and when at the end of one of these (500 Miles) the Princess was left alone and forlorn, a large number of the audience went ‘aah’.

The set for the village street was simple but effective - some flats painted as shop fronts, with Chinese lanterns and bamboo – and the set for the enchanted cave was very good indeed. The script was also very good and the Director and cast did it full justice, revelling in all the comedy moments and touches of humour. The laundry scene with Widow Twanky et al, for example, was superb, particularly the washing machine shrinking and expanding the naughty Panda, Nobby. Nobby was really rather a star in this production, so well done to that bear – wordless but wonderful, including the very funny introduction to the song Ça Plane Pour Moi and the ‘he’s behind you’ routine. Also delightful were the business Widow Twanky, Aladdin and Ping and Pong did, looking for the magic 50p among the audience, and the humorous local references such as Abanazer’s ‘this work is taking as long as the town bridge’.

The singing and dancing were great and the cast, including the chorus, really ‘went for it’, bursting with energy. I’ll be There for You, Footloose and You Can’t Stop The Beat were particularly impressive numbers, with nice dance moves, and the audience thoroughly enjoyed being led by the two Genies and Wishee Washee (and Nobby) in singing The Music Man, one side of the audience competing with the other. The wardrobe department had done an amazing job with some stunning costumes to enhance the characters and the action, including at one point some Egyptian costumes, and an array of various spectacular Chinese costumes throughout. The Empress in her red dress, Widow Twanky also in red and with a pagoda hat, and Abanazer elegantly bedecked in gold, were a sight to behold.

Abanazer was brilliantly portrayed, giving full rein to being splendidly scheming and wicked. I enjoyed his ‘James Bond villain’ cat gag, with the cat giving a perfectly-timed miaow as Abanazer hurled it (a stuffed toy cat, I hasten to add) into the wings. The actor had great confidence and style and was spot-on in characterisation and timing, both generally and in the little humorous touches like saying ‘I’m feeling blue’, waiting for the nearby blue light to come on and, when it didn’t, stamping his foot to ‘make it’ come on. The enchanted cave scene was a particular highlight, with Abanazer oozing evil and producing a great rendition of One Way Or Another. I must admit that I was concerned that his amazing delivery of the very gravelly voice effect might cause him discomfort, so strong and continual was his keeping up of it.

The Princess and Aladdin made a convincing and enjoyable couple/double-act. The Princess, as well as turning out to be a kung-fu expert, acted and sang very well and the rendition of Love Story, sung with Aladdin, was one of the highlights of the evening, with beautiful harmonies, lovely dance moves and strong emotion. Aladdin too had a fine voice, and enthusiasm and energy galore, and the duet with the Princess of Goodbye My Lover was very strong indeed (although I was slightly surprised by the line ‘I’ve shared your bed’ being kept in, in the context of this storyline!).

The Empress was a great character, suitably imperious and prone to abusing her servants and Sergeant Ping. The actor gave a carefully-crafted shrillness and silliness to the character – perhaps channelling Queen Elizabeth from Blackadder II? The Genie of the Ring was engagingly ‘sassy’ and street-wise, a very good foil to Abanazer, and The Genie of the Lamp won the audience over with strong acting, dancing and singing, particularly in the songs Footloose and Let Me Entertain You. I particularly enjoyed the lead-in to Footloose, with the Disney lawyer frustrating the attempt to sing a song from Disney’s Aladdin.

Wishee Washee was at the core of the pantomime and at the core of the audience engagement, doing superbly the ‘you can do better than that’ and the ‘everyone call out “hello Wishee Washee” when I come on’ business. This isn’t an easy role to get right and the actor was brilliant in it, providing a strong, beating heart to the performance. Sergeant Ping and PC Pong made a very strong, funny and enjoyable double-act, with Sergeant Ping in particular demonstrating very impressive projection and clarity – clearly very confident, comfortable and capable performing in panto style.

The Director, Martyn Lilley, mentioned in the programme notes that this was his first time directing a pantomime – so huge congratulations. Not only that, he also took on at very short notice (two weeks?) the major role of Widow Twanky, and performed it brilliantly (and pretty much word-perfect to boot) with great projection and clarity, bags of gusto and energy, and a strong stage presence – a real star. The hair-do with washing line strung from two chopsticks was a lovely touch. When singing he really went for it, exuding attitude and confidence and, like Wishee Washee, Abanazer and others, doing a huge amount of audience engagement. When he encouraged the audience to clap and join in they responded immediately, some standing up from their seats to participate even more fully. His song Feel Like A Woman was a triumph and the level to which the audience engaged with his performance was shown when, in response to the arrival of the police, Widow Twanky told everyone on stage to ‘strike a normal position’, and a child shouted, regarding the character’s own attempt at one, ‘that’s not normal’.

The engagement of the audience showed how much they really enjoyed the performance, and I did too. Well done to everyone and thank you for a great evening.

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