Aladdin

This was my first panto of the season and it was a good way to start!  The amply-sized cast, including a number of regulars and some children, provided an evening of music and laughter which had the audience on-side from the opening to the finale.  The children in the audience were pretty vocal and the actors responded well to them.

Roselyn Shallcross performed well as principal boy Aladdin with Heather Embleton as her Princess Jasmine.  As usual, Ian Thompson was very funny as Widow Twanky and his costumes, and in fact all the costumes, were excellent.  There were also some enjoyable comedy moments provided by three police officers played by Mandy Pearson (whose French accent never wavered), Ian Latham and Oliver Power together with Alison White as Hose Me Down.  The audience loved Andy Collinson as Wishee Washee and he worked very well with the Dame.

The strength and success of most shows requires good back-up performers and here we had a strong Abanazar (George Panaghi) with Stuart Whittingham as the Slave of the Ring and Laura Embleton (Genie of the Lamp)

It was disappointing that, at times, the singing was difficult to hear over the keyboard but, overall, there were some extremely good sound effects and a colourful set.

An enjoyable night.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.