ALADDIN AT NEWPORT’S THE RIVERFRONT
It’s panto season in Newport and this year Aladdin is treading the boards at the Riverfront theatre. And even opening the show with a One Direction track couldn’t stop this from being an evening of quality entertainment.
Taking my three-year-old nephew to his first pantomime - we’d fully prepped him of his participation obligations.
The theatre was packed to the rafters with youngsters and families, all of them - including my nephew eagerly awaiting their chance to belt out roars of ‘oh no it’s not’.
And it didn’t take long for the evil Abanazar (played superbly by Dafydd Gwyn Howells) to get this back and forth going.
The villain’s name, which leads to the panto classic (if exhausted) misunderstanding of “have a banana?” was well used and refreshed as cast members reminded each other that they’d “already done that one” every time the baddie was introduced.
Despite being (mostly) set in China, this might have been one of the most Wales-centric productions I’ve seen.
And it was all the better for it - how often do you hear “cheers, Drive” on stage at a panto?
Even the genie, played brilliantly by Richard Elis is a Welsh genie called Dai, so naturally, he was known as Dai the Lamp.
Coming on to Great Balls of Fire and accompanied by an acrobatic two-person panto lion, Elis brought plenty of fun to the stage - in both this, and his other role of police chief Hanky Panky.
Between Ellis and Liam Tobin’s Widow Twankey, Aladdin’s washerwoman mother, the dad jokes and double entendres came thick and fast - a welcome addition for the grown ups in the crowd.
But there was obviously a few bits thrown in for the younger audience members - they even dropped in a sneaky “man’s not hot” joke, which had the youngsters in hysterics and left plenty of the adults smiling, if slightly bemused.
Tobin’s Twankey brought a brilliant comedic addition to the stage and used the crowd wonderfully.
Audience member Daniel, had to shout out “fancy me hanky, Twankey” every time the character let out a dramatic wail, setting up a snot-ona-hanky related one-liner each time.
Nickcolia King N’Da is everything you want from a leading man, and his Aladdin, who enters the stage to Paul Simon’s You Can Call Me Al, is heroic and acrobatic and actually takes a ride on a “flying” carpet during one of his songs with Jazmin Hudson-Owen’s captivating Princess Jasmine.
Joining the lead on the acrobatic front is Aishah Numah’s wonderful Wishee Washee, arguably one of the show’s highlights (along with Elis and Tobin) and the energetic best mate of Aladdin.
She uses any opportunity for an impressive flip, cartwheel or roll and even teaches the audience how to say hello in Chinese.
Add in some effective pyrotechnics, wonderful musical arrangements and some fantastic young dancers and supporting cast - and you’ve got yourself a brilliant evening of Christmassy fun.
My three-year-old nephew, who was captivated throughout, absolutely loved it, and to put it simply, so did I. Josh Knapman Aladdin is at the Riverfront Theatre, Newport until Sunday January 7. Call 01633 656679.