Aladdin

Three things struck me particularly  about this impressive production: the strong community feeling and teamwork, the degree of engagement with the audience, and the energy level. This was evident right from the start with the enthusiastic introduction by the Guardian of the Ring encouraging the audience to boo the baddie Abanazer, and it carried on throughout the performance with the whole cast; with the ensemble of Agradoodians just as much as with the principals. Particularly impressive levels of energy were generated by Aladdin (a wonderfully upbeat and audience-engaging performance), Wishee Washee (crackling with electricity, including a super air-sax solo), the ‘Mini Wishee Washee’ who emerged from the washing machine and ran frantically about (a very impressive young performer), the Sultan who gave it plenty of welly, the Genie of the Lamp who really went for it and delivered a superbly high-voltage performance, and above all the full-throttle, no holds barred Widow Twankey, generating gusto galore.

This high energy was not, moreover, over the top; there was light and shade, a blend of pace. The Guardian of the Ring (Freya Jones), for example, had an impressive and very effective stillness when talking with Abanazer, and Abanazer himself was played in an interestingly ‘lower key’ way, with more subtlety than applies to the usual panto villain. This counterpointed the other characters and provided a breadth, a richness and a balance to the production.

The Ensemble of Agradoodians provided a solid base to the production with their energy and confidence and the quality of their dancing. Congratulations  to the Choreographer (also Musical Co-ordinator and Assistant Director), Becs Field-Bunney. The opening number in the Agradoo Bazaar set the pace and energy level for the show and throughout the performance everyone in the Ensemble looked as though they were part of a group; it was great teamwork. The number ‘Agradoo’ which opened the second half was also very well executed and the choreography had a powerful simplicity, as it did in the love song of Aladdin and Princess Maria (‘A Thousand Years’), when the Ensemble, the Sultan, Ben Hur and Ben Him, Madonna Kebab and Genghis joined in. The impact and skill of the choreography was seen par excellence in the amazing and very funny Tango dance performed by Widow Twankey and the Sultan.

The singing of ‘The Old Bazaar of Agradoo’ at the opening was led by Wishee Washee (Anthony) and his endearing smile and the strong engagement with the audience which he showed in this number was a running strength through the show.

Aladdin (Hannah) also had a warm, friendly manner and smile, and drew the audience in every time she appeared, interacting with them very effectively. Her strong performance included  some great songs, such as Just One Look and Close Every Door which she sang with full conviction and loads of emotion. She also demonstrated a feel for the comedy, as when she came over all soppy thinking of Princess Maria. This fed into one of the great running gags of the show: the tune of The Carpenters’ Close to You would kick in at these ‘lovey-dovey’ moments but would then be abruptly cut off, with Widow Twankey saying “stop that”.

The character eliciting Aladdin’s affection, Princess Maria (Victoria), played the role well, both as the daughter of the Sultan - convincingly frustrated at not having the freedom to see men - and in her relationship with Aladdin. She and Aladdin sand their harmonies beautifully in their love song.

The Sultan (Philip) played up well the comedy element, as with his riffing on local place names like Corfe Mandu, and also the wonderfully amusing Tango dance with Widow Twankey.

Madonna Kebab (Natasha), the nurse of Princess Maria, displayed both an admirable toughness and ‘oomph’, as when confronting Abanazer (‘I was born in Langton Matravers, you don’t frighten me’), and a fine singing voice, as when she sang Holding out for a Hero with Princess Maria.  

The Genie of the Lamp (Becky) said, in introducing herself to Aladdin, something  along the lines of ‘I’m your personal genial genie’ and she was indeed very genial. The audience warmed instantly to her and this was due partly to the energy and commitment she invested in the part. In her song ‘Get Lucky’ she really went for it and the audience really loved it.

Hump the Camel (Lizzie and Karen) entertained the audience throughout, dropping comedy poo balls, joining in the dancing in the ‘Agradoo’ number and adding hilariously to the choreographed chaos of the 12 Days of Panto routine towards the end.  Ben Him (Alex) and Ben Hur (Roxie) also contributed here and made a good comedy double while the Vicar (John) did a good job of looking comically bemused at the various goings-on.

Widow Twankey (David) delivered a tour-de-force performance with consistently high energy and perfect timing. Just a few of the many highlights were the way the Widow came on seductively to the Sultan, the slinky dancing and semi-striptease to ‘Get It On’, the slow motion running exit to the Chariots of Fire theme,  the superb ‘You’re Timeless to Me’ and the dance with the Sultan, with Widow Twankey repeartedly calling out ‘jetée’ to the great amusement of the audience.

Abanazer (Brian) was a suitably evil villain with the aforementioned more subtle approach, more of a sinister menace than an over-the-top dastardliness. This was exemplified by the way he spoke the lines in the song ‘Don’t Cha’ rather than singing them and the number was one of the comedic highlights of the show. This was due in no small measure to the excellent contribution of Abanazer’s evil sidekick Genghis (Megan) who repeated his lines and delivered sinister dance movements while wearing sinister sunglasses. Genghis gave a brilliant, stand-out performance and an extra dimension was added by the evil timbre given to her voice through the amplification – just one example of the quality of the Sound Design and Operation (Dan Welsh).

The design and operation of the Lighting (Ro Smith) was also very impressive, with Abanazer’s cave having a striking wall of lights at the back, a very atmospheric wash of red and green used during Abanazer’s and Genghis’ song ‘Don’t Cha’, and a beautiful array of electric night lights held by the Ensemble during the emotional number Close Every Door sung by Aladdin in the dungeon. The stage smoke was used to good effect.

For the set, a huge backdrop painting of the town of Agradoo was very effective, with market stalls for the bazaar set up in front of it. Widow Twankey’s kitchen was also well-represented, including a nice washer/dryer, and the entrance arch for Abanazer’s cave was a neat design well-executed. The stage furniture and props worked well, such as the Sultan’s fancy chair covered with lights and the splendid chest of jewels.

The wonderful array of costumes (Hannah Fleming-Hill) was a very strong element of the show, ranging from the fairly simple but effective costumes of the Ensemble through to the suitably over-the-top and spectacular multitude of costumes sported by Widow Twankey. Special mentions also go to the costumes of the Genie, the Sultan and Abanazer, and to Aladdin’s glittering outfit when he is transformed into a prince.

This production hit all the right pantomime buttons with plenty of panto humour and the cast doing a great job of engaging the audience and generating the ‘oh no he’s not’ / ‘ oh yes he is’ responses. The one or two mistakes were covered well with improvisation by the cast and added to the general humour, as when one of the caskets of jewels intended for the Sultan turned out to be locked accidentally and Wishee Washee covered it with a joke, to the amusement of the audience. The stirring final number of Reach show-cased the strengths of the production and was a fitting finale. Congratulations to the Director (Brian Travers), Assistant Director, Musical Co-ordinator and Choreographer (Becs Field-Bunney) and all the cast and the production team, which included the design of an excellent, high-quality programme.

 

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