Aladdin

Last year the snows closed in on me as I made my way to Whitley Bay for Humpty Dumpty.  Fortunately, there were no such problems this time.  Aladdin seems to be a popular panto this winter; this being the third version I have seen!  As  always, Whitley Bay Pantomime Society put on a sparkling and engaging panto written and directed, once again, by Jeff Waites. The costumes from Alan Graham and, I suspect, the Company’s Wardrobe Dept. helped keep the show bright and colourful.  As pantos are primarily for children, it was nice to see (according to the programme) 22 children on stage.

I suspect the plot of Aladdin is very familiar so I will avoid setting it out here.  Jamie Moore displayed his “cheeky chappy” persona to great effect as Wishee Washee.  He was full of pep and fizz and established a great rapport with the children and many of the adults in the audience without a great deal of apparent effort.  He is a natural for this kind of role.  I was also quite taken by David Linsdell and Alex Chidambaram as Hi-lo and Lo-hi, the traditional pantomime fools.  Like most adults, I only tend to smile during pantomimes but they did, on occasion, make me laugh out loud, especially Alex.  

Emma Waites played Aladdin in traditional panto.style as a Principal Boy, and Angela Dowse was her/his Princess Balroubadour.  I am afraid the sound system, or the balance between the band and the performers, conspired to make most of the musical numbers quite difficult to hear.  If the words of the songs were intended to advance the plot that was sadly lost.  I haven’t yet mentioned the Dame – Steven Bell as Widow Twankey.  Whenever he was on the stage he took command and, when not performing his comedy set pieces, he moved the story forward well.  The word “traditional” comes to mind again but it is appropriate.  He was funny, not too rude, and his costumes were dazzlingly bright.  Steven Thompson played an evil Abanazar, constantly trying to inflict evil upon poor, unsuspecting Aladdin.  I am happy to say he received his comeuppance before the curtains closed.

The entire company performed with real enthusiasm.  The dance numbers were full of life and the Principals all worked very had to create an entertaining and enjoyable evening.  The dog, Jed, as Ben the Royal Hound was a little out of control on the night I saw the show, a very large dog being minded by a rather small handler.  Unfortunately, it is unplanned moments like that which give audiences a lot of their entertainment, albeit unintentional.

All in all, another enjoyable and entertaining evening from Whitley Bay Pantomime Society.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.