From the moment that Talia Duff arrives in a puff of smoke as The Spirit of the Ring and Abanazar (Richard J Hunt) takes to the stage to unveil his dastardly plan for world domination, and makes the most of his chance to threaten the audience as well, we know that we are about to witness a traditional pantomime in the very best sense of the word.
To get the audience interacting with the performance, Hastings pantomime favourite Ben Watson takes the role of Aladdin’s brother Wishee Washee and he soon has the audience shouting, singing and, on command, performing a “We need a We We” chant as if it was the most natural thing to do while watching a show.
No traditional pantomime would be complete without its Dame and returning to the White Rock Theatre stage for the third time, Tim McArthur, is just right. Arriving on stage surrounded by four semi-naked and seriously sexy boy dancers (Luke Adlam, Adam Hughes, Solomon Adlam and Jake Abbott), Widow Twankey dominates the stage whenever she appears.
Another mention has to go to the showstoppingly camp Louie Westwood as the Genie of the Lamp. His tight Lycra bodysuit has to be seen to be believed and, using his powerful singing voice and 70’s disco gyrations, he grants Aladdin’s wishes and goes on to please and tease the audience throughout the show.
Playing the title role, with his killer smile, good looks and tremendous singing voice is star of screen, stage and member of the band Blue, Duncan James who, as this is his third pantomime appearance, is incredibly comfortable and natural in the role. Some producers might have been tempted to continually reference his music career in the show but, with just one reference to “feeling Blue”, the producers of Aladdin have acknowledged, but not overblown, his superstar status.
The cast is completed by Tamara Eden and Andy Cryer, as Princess Jasmine and The Emperor, together with a troupe of young performers from local schools and colleges.
Hasting’s pantomime gets better and better every year, with the emphasis on telling a traditional tale in a very entertaining way while still making sure that the cast are talented enough to carry it off and, with the fantastic talent on display this year, they seem to have got it just right.
From curtain up to the finale, Aladdin is everything that you would expect from a traditional pantomime – an all singing, all dancing festival of festive fun.
**** Four Stars