Enchanting tradition continues with stunning show
THERE’S a magic carpet flying around Loughborough, Oh yes there is and it is heading for the Town Hall where the excellent Little Wolf Company are presenting their latest and long awaited pantomime the ever popular ‘Aladdin’ and it’s a fabulous family festive cracker of a show filled with ‘monkey’ mayhem, special effects and Little Wolf’s speciality, their jaw dropping costumes!
Let’s face it folks, it’s the children who are the true critics ready to be entertained, laugh, hiss and boo ( in this case they did very loudly!) A tall order but the show’s multi-talented writer and director, Morgan Brind pulled out all the stops to ensure they were not disappointed.
The story is pure fiction, local hero Aladdin is destined to marry his true love Princess Amirah encouraged by his mother Widow Twankey and his pet monkey Marmaduke but his supposed uncle the evil and villainous Abanazar plots to make it impossible but magical beings namely a genie and slave save the day. The cheering swiftly turned to booing as Simon Kingsley, whose steely blue eyes could turn you to stone, suitably sinister and slimy as the murderous Abanazar made his entrance and from then on the enthrallment and enthusiasm of the kids was palpable and they never missed an opportunity to increase the volume.
They warmed to Kristian Cunningham’s cheerful and friendly Aladdin and loved the antics of his playful monkey Marmaduke, delightfully performed by Olivia Stockdale and Darcy Manning gave a much more feisty and believable edge to Princess Amirah plus credit to Ella-Jane Thomas who raced breathlessy around the stage tripling up as the Genie, Siri of the Ring and a policeman!
And so to James Peake, fresh from his win as the UK’s reigning ‘best dame’ and it was easy to see why, he commanded the stage, never missed a chance to chuck out hilarious ad libs and his facial expressions with his unbelievable brilliant costumes deserve an Oscar of their own.
I won’t spoil the mesmerising UV flying carpet scene (yet again congratulations to the back stage crew) except to say that it is truly stunning as is the whole show so if you only can see one pantomime this Christmas season, fly on down to Loughborough’s Town Hall for a guaranteed night of enchanting true traditional pantoland!