Aladdin

A pantomime follows a strict formula of elements in order to be successful, evil villain, daft but loveable character, outrageous Dame, comedy duo, magical being, attractive princesses and daring lead character.  Yes all were there, check list complete.  The well- known tale of Aladdin was given its customary DTW twist, which ensured its success. Gary Eglinton was ‘evil’ as the unscrupulous “Abanazar” controlling the “Spirit of the Ring”, Sarah Cook, who looked good and acted well.  Alan Oliver, “The Emperor”, gave a steady performance as the father of “Princess Mandarin”, played by Emma Scott who, as well as looking the part, acted and sang well.  Emma was a perfect contrast to Claire Jordan, whose fine voice, in the title role made her a suitably confident “Aladdin”.

Bumbling Chinese policemen “Hu-Dun-Wong” and “Yu-Dun-Pong” (Margaret Smith and Karen Scott) were hilarious with their mispronunciations.  Libby Kennedy, as “So-Shy” hand maiden  to the Princess (and part time laundry assistant),  lived up to her name as the somewhat shy but adorable love interest for “Wishee Washee” (Lee Brannigan).  Lee looked ‘at home’ in his role and the sight of him performing a comedy dance trio with ‘Fern Cotton’ and ‘Holly Willoughby’ in Gangnam style will live with me for many years.  Phil Martin, resplendent in an all over blue body wash, was superb as the super-confident Genie, although I wished the script had allowed us to see more of his character.  Malcolm Quinn once again played the Dame, “Widow Twankey”, with his usual style.  Whilst not as outrageous as other dames I’ve seen, in my opinion the more subtle interpretation came across as much better, believable and ‘friendly’.  That is a term I found appropriate to this group’s performances – friendly. It appeared that the audience were an extension of the stage family,  and indeed during the last performance ‘welcome’ messages I felt as though I were intruding during a family gathering, given the support from the families of the cast in the audience.  All this audience support was apparent in the applause and genuine enjoyment by children and adults alike. Even I was out of my seat singing along during the audience participation song.  For the statisticians amongst you - my ‘gang’, led by Widow Twankey, came second in a field of two (we were cheated!)  A good chorus, many ‘groan’ moments, laugh-out-loud moments, and subtle humour all contributed to good clean family fun.

A high spot was the ‘green screen’ filmed Magic carpet ride featuring the Spirit of the Ring and Aladdin’s journey from Peking to Egypt (taking in the sights of Tyneside en-route - faulty satnav perhaps?) A nice touch.

Set was simple but adequate, Choreography was appropriate to the genre of the production. Direction was spot on, and production songs appropriate to the scenes in play.  Well done to all at DTW

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.