PANTO SEASON - REVIEW: ALADDIN, New Wimbledon Theatre, December 12 2009

Harriet Humphries

This time next year the New Wimbledon Theatre will be facing its century, and I've got a funny feeling the bigwigs will be feeling the pressure to mark the occasion in an even bigger fashion after their 99th pantomime has blown all other regional performances out of the water in terms of press coverage. After reading all the hype it was my turn to see if the show was as spectacular as its guest casting.

Sitting waiting for the show to begin, I couldn't help but feel Christmas spirit already seeping as I watched the two members of staff selling brochures on the doors mouthing the words to Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas" to each other across the auditorium. It wasn't quite enough to take the sting out of the £1.60 bottle of water I had to buy off them, but as the theatre filled with families to the tune of Christmas classics, I couldn't help but wonder whether I'd been missing a trick since the last time I sat through panto way over a decade ago. Maybe I wasn't too old for panto after all...

As the first half began we were invited into a somewhat un-magical backdrop of Peking, but I needn't have worried as Jordan and Christopher Biggins' love child soon sparkled things up in the shape of Widow Twanky, whose first of many outfits was reminiscent of the Lilt ladies. Jonathon D Ellis took camp to a whole new level and reminded me how panto was ahead of its time when it first paraded a male dame in front of family audiences to such a success that it became tradition. Widow Twanky kept the children connected with performances of all the latest pop songs, and the adults patting themselves on the back when they successfully read into all the innuendos.

With more wardrobe changes than Cheryl Cole on an X-Factor spin-off show, Widow Twanky was the one to look out for in every scene but I can't lie, it may have been something to do with Aladdin's striking resemblance to Zac Efron that kept my eyes off the disappointing scenery. Fresh off the stage from High School Musical, Ashley Day fit the bill perfectly and wasn't just a pretty face as his infectious enthusiasm never once wavered over what could have been a long two hours and 20 minutes. It was my opinion that Princess Jasmine wasn't worth the drama but hey, that may be jealousy talking...

It wasn't until the second half though that things really got going. Ruby Wax stole the show and reminded me why celebrity casting is so important for panto. Arriving on stage in a floating ring, Ruby entered with all the grace that wouldn't get you cast as Glinda in Wicked. After screaming at the stage manager that he'd missed her stop as she failed to land smoothly, she required further assistant from the stage crew to un-harness herself. This set the scene for continual self-reflexive references to the fact that this wasn't real life, she was going to be off stage by half nine and that she was being paid a lot of money to be there. All joking aside, Wax showed herself to be a truly good sport, highlighting the good humour involved in pantomime, particularly when she spoke on behalf of most of the audience when she told Brian Blessed he was over-acting. It would have been easy for her to play a low-key cameo role but she clearly embraced the whole experience, her quick tongue and ability to laugh at herself causing much hilarity, particularly when she took out the leggy Brazilian dancer on stage because she was showing her up during a brilliantly choreographed song and dance routine.

With a tag line of "how you diddling, kids?" and a goofy personality Aladdin's brother Wishy Washy Twanky was accessible to the younger audience, keeping the fun factor to a high. Another something special for them was the appearance of mock celebrities Jedward as they ran into the audience, not throwing sweets as I had hoped, but dressed as ghostbusters and squirting water pistol - typically this happens the one time I'm "blessed" with stall seats. It did the trick with the kids though and kept the interactive nature of pantomimes alive.

Overall there were enough witty references to all things pop culture, from Ikea to Strictly Come Dancing and Iceland to B & Q, to personalise the show to the audience, not forgetting the well written jokes made at the expense of other local areas, one which resulted in the residents of Richmond being deemed as having "no real quality but all stuck up at the front". It came as a pleasant surprise that in the mix of visual gags and obvious one-line puns, came a more grown up style of humour, delivered in cleverly disguised child friendly innuendos and a performance from Ruby laced in parody and light-hearted satire.

With such an enthusiastic performance from Ruby it was easy to forget that there are three other genies waiting to be summoned from the lamp, but if she was anything to go by the "great unwashed of Wimbledon" still left to see the show are in for a real treat this Christmas time.

 

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