Aladdin

A delightfully colourful opening, with stunning costumes, the cast making full use of the stage and the aprons either side. The ensemble and children were obviously enjoying this panto with beaming smiles and well choreographed movement simple but effective being carried out. Aladdin (David Podmore) and Princess Jasmine (Holly Roberts) were very well suited for the leads and acted and sang their numbers beautifully. It was a wonderful change and very innovative of the director to use so many new songs it really added to the entire production well done. Abanaza (Neil Garbett) was devilishly evil, and strong acting enhanced his performance a master class in captivating an audience, The Enchantress Ting a Ling (Claire Copestick) was stunning in her outfit portraying the softer side with a beautiful voice. When you talk about updating a show you missed a treat with the performance by the Genie (Rob Slater) who rapped his way through the show very well thought out and highly amusing to one and all well done. Now I know every Pantomime has its characters and this show was no exception, enter the DAME Widow Twankey (Chris Mann) now I know rehearsal time could have been of a premium to save cost but how this guy bluffed adlibbed his way through the show I don’t know, which was an entertainment in itself, much to the amusement of the audience and cast members alike not least of all poor Wishy Washy (Andrew Bours) who had the arduous task of following the made up script my hat goes off to you, especially in the  laundry scene which I have to say was absolutely hilarious. The monkey which was a shared part, I’m not sure which one I saw but it was Thursday evenings performance, a cameo role but the character never faltered all through the performance with some delightful mime well done. Overall a well received Pantomime by an appreciative audience.

Many thanks for your hospitality during my visit    

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