Aladdin

RODS annual pantomime is a long standing tradition and extremely popular with the local community.  We were greeted by the Front of House team and made very welcome.  My thanks to Ryan and the ladies for their hospitality.   As we took our seats the audience were eagerly anticipating the show and, with so many children in the audience I was confident it was going to be fun.

The show had all the ingredients of a traditional pantomime with plenty of audience participation; not only a well-rehearsed cast, but a well versed audience, who knew exactly what they needed to do to make the show a success!

All the Principals were well cast; Zoe Tebbutt played Aladdin with her usual style and confidence and Christine Parker was delightful as Princess Jasmine; their duets were lovely.   Wishee Washee is a part that is traditionally reserved for the young male lead but Karen Barton played the part well and made sure that the audience joined in the fun.  Emma Maloney played Notsoshy well and she and Karen Barton made a good team.   I must compliment Lawrence Harp and Matthew Lark, both newcomers to RODS, who made another great team as the comedy policemen Chop and Suey.   I look forward to seeing more of these two in the future.   Martin Wood, as the Genie of the Lamp, was brilliant, he has great stage presence and this was the perfect part for him. 

A pantomime usually stands or falls on the performance by the Dame and, although Roy Llewellyn looked the part, I felt that his delivery was not as over the top as I would have liked.   I understand that Mike Robertson had been ill earlier in the week and that he had no voice at all for the start of the run, so I think he did really well as the baddie Abanazer, although I have seen him do much better, I congratulate him for going on stage at all and I hope he has rested now!  The Principal line up was completed by Graham Smerdon as the Emperor.

I was particularly impressed with the Ensemble in this show, all of whom were excellent.  They performed with enthusiasm and enjoyment, which is so important in panto.  RODS seem to have found a source of young people to join them and it was a pleasure to see such a vibrant cast.  I must also mention the Kelly Went dancers, this team of young ladies get better every year and they add an extra dimension to an already strong show.

Technically this story always presents an interesting problem as the Principals are required to fly on a magic carpet from Peking to Egypt.  RODS chose to do this with a projected, animated sequence and very good it was too.  The transition to bring on the screen was slick and discrete and the actual sequence was well done and looked very professional.

The band, which is small but more than adequate for the production, did well and supported the cast’s voices.   The scenery was simple but very affective and the costumes were excellent.  Lighting was good and sound was as well as can be expected in this venue, which is notorious for the problems with microphones.  Thankfully the majority of the cast, with dialogue, projected well so the mics were, almost, unnecessary!

All in all, another good ‘un, well done RODS and thank you again for your hospitality.

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