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A panto with much to like
Aladdin
Malvern Theatres
*** PRETTY multi-coloured Chinese lanterns
shine around the theatre as the audience is transported to The Orient
for the fairytale of lovesick laundry boy Aladdin. And while pleasant
enough, it's more of a slow burner than a firecracker of a show. There's popular songs from the Disney film
Aladdin as well as cleverly adapted chart hits from Taylor Swift and
Pharrell Williams; an immense baddie in the form of TV star Robert
Powell; and a strong comedic Widow Twanky. Where it falls short, however, is with the
leading pair of Aladdin and Princess Jasmine (Chris Edgerley, from
children's TV show High-5, and newcomer Rebecca Marks) who are barely in
tune during their many songs. They also don't have as much charisma of
other actors in the show, such as Milkshake's Derek Moran as Wishy
Washey or Carrie Rawlings as the Slave of the Ring. There are jokes aplenty and Powell steals the
limelight in all his scenes as evil Abanazar, but the set doesn't seem
as lavish as last year and some of the previous panto's set routines
have been resurrected almost identically, like the scene with the ghost. There were some glitches on the first night when I was there, of microphones going on the blink and the like, but the actors made jokes of the mishaps to add to the comedy. I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt with three stars that these issues won't persist as it is a fun, average family show to enjoy this Christmas. To 04-12-15 Alison Brinkworth
11-12-14
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