Aladdin

Published Thursday 28 December 2006 at 12:20 by Louise Bonner

A star-studded cast, magnificent glittering sets, sparkling sumptuous costumes and magic aplenty turn this panto into a show oozing style, glamour and goodwill. Designer Terry Parsons has really excelled with his sets of old Peking, the magic cave and the temple at Thebes.

Jonathan Wilkes shines as the true star of the evening, having flown in (presumably via magic carpet) only a couple of days before from Australia, where he was on tour with best mate Robbie Williams. Local lad Jonathan steals the show with his powerful stage presence, perfect comic timing, excellent singing and genuine rapport with the audience.

Hologram appearances of Robbie Williams as the genie and Ant and Dec as his assistants add a novel twist to the show, although clarity of image and sound quality need to be improved to maximise the effect.

Vicky Entwistle gives an earthy, feisty performance as slave of the ring. Bursting with energy, argumentative, battling with sat-nav, she really makes the role her own. Jason Capewell works hard as Abanazar, successfully milking the audience for boos and also showing off his fine singing voice. Carolynne Good as Princess Jasmine sings some wonderful solos and duets.

Given the wealth of talent in the show, there seems little for Chris Hayward as Widow Twankey to add, although he does indulge his passion for fashion design with some outrageous costumes.

There is a sprinkling of slapstick, some well-received local jokes and masses of audience participation. A spectacular, quality production with a real feel-good factor.