All Smiles In Whitley Bay
Blue Genie
Entertainment presents
Aladdin
Whitley Bay Playhouse
Until Monday
2nd January 2017
Aladdin
had us laughing from start to finish. It has a great cast, excellent pace and
knows how to entertain. Today’s show also featured the loudest reaction from
the younger members of the audience so far in this year’s panto season.
Boyzone’s
Shane Lynch plays Abanazer, the evil one, who is told by the Slave Of The Ring
(Natasha Boyde) he needs a lad called Aladdin (Sam Ebenezer) to dig out a lamp to
reveal the genie known as the Geordie Of The Lamp (Georgia Nicholson) in order
to obtain his desires.
Poor unsuspecting
Aladdin works with his mother Widow Twankey (Paul Harris) and brother Wishee
Washee (Steve Walls) in a Peking laundry. His love interest is the Princess
Jasmine (Charoltte Chinn) upon whom no one is supposed to look when she visits the town. Such rules are
enforced by the hapless law enforcers PC Left (Rebecca Shorrocks) and PC Right
(Paul F Taylor).
Blue
Genie Entertainment have delivered a great panto here. Writer & director
Paul Ferguson has created a tight show that doesn’t get too bogged down with
either the exposition or the delivery of the panto standards such as the messy
scene. The disappearing scene, to the music of Ghostbusters, is typical in that
it is fun, interactive and doesn’t run longer than it needs to.
It was in this
part in particular that we heard a really loud young audience getting really
excited. Producer Gary Telfer has ensured there are good production values
throughout the show, the magic flying carpet scene getting a loud “wow!” from
the kids.
The
cast are engaging and successful in bringing the audience on board. Steve Walls
immediately succeeds in getting the children involved and feeling a part of the
proceedings. There is the necessary chemistry between the lead characters:
Aladdin is suitably charming and the Princess enigmatic. The genies are fun, Georgia gets many laughs and
Natasha Boyde gets plenty of opportunity to show how literally flexible she is.
The professional dancers and young dancers from Hazel Rayson Theatre Dance School added to the show.
Shane
Lynch seems to enjoy playing the bad guy though it was difficult to dislike his
character. Double act Short & Curly were a tribute to Monty Python style
humour, in particular The Ministry of Silly Walks.
On
a day when a former X-Factor contestant is getting bad press for taking the
script on stage, blaming a lack of opportunity to learn it, we should heap
praise on Whitley Bay’s panto dame. Paul Harris has just come on board with the
show. 24 hours after receiving the script he was on stage, working completely
off book. There was no clipboard and script needed for this professional. Based
upon today’s show you’d never have guessed that he was a late addition.
It is easy to see why this panto attracts families with younger children. Aladdin
is a great panto. It has laughs, local references and is accessible to the
young audience. Add a chance for the adults to enjoy some Boyzone hits at the
end and lots of audience participation and we’ve have all of the essential
ingredients for a canny family experience.
Review by Stephen Oliver (Follow on Twitter: @panic_c_button)
Tickets:
Tickets for Aladdin costing
£23 - £19, £21 - £17 conc., Family Special £14 per person, Groups £17/£16,
Youth Groups £16/£15 are available now.
Tickets are available from the Box
Office open Monday – Friday 10am – 4pm, Saturday 10.30am – 2.30pm plus until show start on event days. Tickets can also
be purchased on the booking hotline 0844 248 1588* or online at www.playhousewhitleybay.co.uk.
*Calls cost 7p per minute plus your
phone company’s access charge.
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