Aladdin

The pantomime opened with a wonderful Abanazer (Nick Howell) who set the scene for us and we were introduced to our hero Aladdin (Rob Place). It was good to see this talented young man in the leading role and it made a nice change from the usual thigh slapping principal boy. The town's crime fighters, Sergeant Ping (John Ealdon) and PC Pong (Ruth Birkett) brought plenty of humour to the show along with an amusing Widow Twanky (Steve Milward) and her likeable son Wishee Washee (Joe Haigh). Their trusty pet Tyson the Panda (Josh Wilkinson) joined in the fun and there were some good comedy sketches from these characters.

Victoria Wilkinson made an appealing Princess Jasmine and her sweet singing was a pleasure to listen to. She was carefully guarded by her father the Emperor (Mike Waring). The genie of the ring (Maria Sage) was a small part but she made the most of it and was a joy to watch. The Genie of the Lamp (Sarah Hobson) had much more to get her teeth into and seemed to really enjoy her role.

The all singing all dancing children were super and looked very eye catching in their lovely outfits. Costumes throughout were very attractive and added greatly to the production. The scenery and props were suitable for the setting and it was a pity that we didn't get to see more of the sedan chair after someone had obviously spent a lot of time making it.

The dancing was very effective and the children looked as if they were really having fun. The singing was strong and was sympathetically accompanied by Arnold Boddy and his little band of men.

This was a happy clourful show and was well received by the capacity audience.

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