ALADDIN

Paignton Pantomime Productions
The Palace Theatre, Paignton

Director: Iain Douglas
Choreographers:Elaine Johnson and Amanda Read.
M.D. John Amery

The colourful, energetic opening chorus set the scene for this pantomime which sparkled from start to finish.  All the scenes looked wonderful with bright glittering costumes and excellent scenery.  The magic Carpet scene was most effective.  There were some fabulous fast moving dance sequences with beautiful, Asian, stylised moves, well-performed by a team of 10 dancers.  They were joined by a junior team of six who danced with enthusiasm.  All the cast wore convincing black wigs which added to the atmosphere of the show.  The chorus performed with energy and were admirably accompanied by a small group made up of keyboard, reeds, bass and percussion.  All the cast were very relaxed in their over the top characters.  Aladdin was unusually, but ably played by a young man ( Jonathan Hunt ) and there was a delightful portrayal of Princess Jasmine by Sarah Caplan.  Much of the comedy came from Abanazer (Colin Gilderthorp ) and The Slave of the Ring ( Rae Gilderthorp ) sparring against each other.  Rae's portrayal of the character was highly amusing.  Matt Bones playing in his first role with the company as The Inspector and Richard Thomas as Wishee Washee built up a good rapport with the audience. Lots of smiles, great audience participation and slick, well-rehearsed numbers ensured a most enjoyable afternoon.