Aladdin

What makes a good pantomime song?  Variety certainly helps, and this pantomime had a lot of that, including chorus numbers, Wishee Washee (Jack Haberfield) singing whilst accompanying himself on ukulele, and Aladdin’s solo in which Shannon Fisher sang whilst being lifted into the air and flown out over the footlights on a flying carpet (mounted on a pump truck).

All the usual characters were present, plus the pet panda (an unrecognisable Lotte Fletcher-Jonk) who had some of the best of the physical comedy, especially in the fight in which the panda beat-up Wishee Washee.  Richard Fereday looked and sounded splendid as Widow Twankey, but in his (her?  I never know the right way to address a panto dame) first entrance with shopping trolley I think there was a script on the trolley as a security blanket!

This was my first visit to New Milton Memorial Hall.  A good venue with a big stage, but, I assume that dressing rooms were problematic as the principals had to enter through a side door which, because it was not a fire exit, was not fully masked from the audience.  Thus, when the show was about to start I caught sight of Abanazar (a suitably villainous Chris March), his height accentuated by an enormous hot air balloon of a sultan’s hat next to Jasmine Lawrence, the Genie of the Ring, who looked tiny in comparison.  The Genie of the Ring is a very small role in this particular version, but was made into a memorable character by being played with gum-chewing, nail-polishing, what-are-you-bothering-me-for attitude.  Matthew Walker was an excellent contrast as the splendidly camp, larger-than-life Genie of the Lamp.

I’m not sure whether it was my position in the theatre or a problem with the sound system, but the (amplified) sound seemed to be very biased to one side.  Nevertheless, the highlight of the evening for me was a musical one: the duet between Aladdin and Princess Jasmine (Camilla Pillinger).  Before this, I wouldn’t have picked out “Dream a Little Dream of Me” as a pantomime song, but this was beautifully sung and harmonised.  So what makes a good pantomime song?  Good singing!

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