“Aladdin” by Polka Dot Pantomimes was a good old-fashioned traditional British pantomime, with well-known pop songs, glittering sequins, a flying carpet that really flew, and a couple hundred children screaming “It’s behind you!” in great enthusiasm. I attended with the Assistant Reviewers, age twelve, ten and five, and last night’s performance was at the Albert Halls, Bolton.
Ray Quinn, of “Hollyoaks” and “The X Factor”, starred as Aladdin. He gave a very lively performance with full Liverpudlian charm, and a droll sense of comedy. Nadia Kramer partnered as Princess Jasmine, bringing an elegant charisma to the role, as well as wearing the most beautiful dresses that my daughter has seen on stage. Graham Edgington was a powerfully majestic Emperor of China, and also had a rich, crooning singing voice that was an additional pleasure.
Entertainer Simon Hannah bounced his way through the production as Wishee Washee, and several times utilised his excellent ventriloquist skills. My youngest son adored the routine with the cheeky unicorn puppet, and the two unfortunate women from the audience who volunteered for an act involving mobile face masks and Hannah’s embarrassing supplied voices was one of the hit scenes of the night. It is really refreshing to see skilled variety acts being included in pantomime.
Award-winning Paul Tate strolled with dignity through his performance as Widow Twankey, wearing a new and more preposterous costume and even more preposterous headpiece with every entrance. I quite liked the laundry theme of some of them, which had Tate dressed as a washing machine with a miniature clothes-line on his head for one, and what appeared to be a dress based on a bottle of fabric conditioner for another.
Battling out the forces of good and evil were Slave of the Ring Misha Malcolm and Genie of the Lamp Billy Walker on one side, and Abanazer the evil sorcerer as played by Jon Holling on the other, amidst a lot of booing and yells of enthusiasm from the audience: – Malcolm even led us in a football chant at one point, and it appeared there were a lot of Bolton Wanderers fans in the theatre last night. The performance climaxed in an exciting slow-motion fight sequence with lots of strobe lighting that had my youngest son out of his seat with excitement, and it was Wishee Washee’s unicorn puppet that saved the day – you’re never too small to make a difference.
The script was clean and witty, and suitable for a family audience. There were plenty of physical comedy sequences, chases through the audience with water pistols, and hidden dancing monkeys for my youngest son; cool references to Iphones and Twitter for my daughter; and (gentle) digs at politicians and celebrities for the adults.
Four professional dancers led a chorus of local children in slick dance routines by choreorapher Lindsey Alexander, and the music was consistently upbeat, catchy pop that met my daughter’s approval and segued well with the action: – why not have a disco rendition of “Car Wash” performed by the Slave of the Ring and the chorus in Widow Twankey’s laundry?
The costumes should have taken a bow of their own in the curtain call, as they really were lovely, with lots of colour and lots of gracefully sequinned sparkle. The transformation scene, where Aladdin was being turned into a prince, filled the stage with so many baskets of treasure and dancing assistant genies that the illustrations in my son’s fairy tale book at home got completely upstaged, and he was as blown away as a five-year-old can be.
Director Sallie Warrington had delivered a good, entertaining and magical pantomime that will live on in the memories of the children for years to come.
Reviewer - Thalia Terpsichore
on - 6/12/19
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