Ben Sharratt
Great scenery and special effects, a high gags per minute count, plenty of interaction with the audience - New Wolsey’s Aladdin ticks almost all the boxes. Unfortunately, a grating insistence on over-cooking the pratfalls and double takes - enough already with the accidental knockout punches - means that just occasionally there are spells when this show seems like hard wok.
That said, Julian Harries’ impressively sassy Widow Twankey knows precisely how to keep the audience in the palm of her hand, or more accurately the cleavage of her bosom. Equally adept is Johnson Willis, who imbues his Abanazer with an unsettling level of slippery devilishness. Imagine Gollum morphed with Right Said Fred and you’re in the right ball park.
Music is the real star of the show, all of it played by these superb multi-instrumentalist actors. Abba tunes feature intermittently, courtesy of a running joke at Abba-nazer’s expense. Two virtuoso guitar players in Gregory Clarke (Wishee Washee) and Steve Simmonds mean we even get Iron Maiden’s Run to the Hills - surely a first for any panto - as well as stonking versions of Born to be Wild and various Motown and Michael Jackson classics, all driven by drummer par excellence Delroy Brown.
Some full throttle vocal contributions from Sarah Mahoney (Princess) and Alex Tomkins (Aladdin), and most notably Shirley Darroch as Genie, are also a treat for the ears, as are the remarkably accurate screeches and howls of Nanas the monkey, played by Francesca Loren. Andy Serkis clearly has a new rival in the jungle where simian portrayal is concerned.