Bournemouth Pavilion
7th December- 5th January 2020
Take a journey on a magic carpet ride as Aladdin flies into Bournemouth Pavilion and is unlike any pantomime you have seen before. Heading to a pantomime at Christmas is a total tradition for most families, including mine and I have to say it's been a long time since we went to the Bournemouth Pavilion to see what they had to offer.
With a good line up including Amelia Lily (from The X-Factor and many touring musicals including American Idiot and Shrek) and TV legend Richard Blackwood, it was set to be a fun filled night as we watch the story of Aladdin and his wish to find his true love Princess Jasmine unfold.
Loosely following the story that we know, you are introduced to The Spirit Of The Ring (Amelia Lily) who acts as the role of the Fairy Godmother for Aladdin in the show. She wows the audience with her singing and I can honestly say that she stole the show. I knew she would be good as we have seen her live a couple of times before, but she was spot on and hit the right balance of professional and engaging.
We are then introduced to the villain of the show, Abanazar (Richard Blackwood) who has the perfect wicked stage presence that had Max booing throughout. He was such a good sport taking all the heckling from the kids in the audience and really playing the part well! Noel Brodie and David Ball took the comedy in their stride as Wishee Washee and Widow Twankey. And whilst I feel that a few of the jokes were a bit on the edge for a family pantomime, they had the audience in stitches no matter what they did. Especially with all the local references and jokes they threw in.
As with all pantomimes, the story is loosely held together with big songs, comedy inserts and show stopping dancing. We loved the modern songs added including Old Town Road and songs by Ed Sheeran and they really engaged all the kids in the audience who were encouraged to sing along with the cast. I was a tad concerned when several of the cast members seemed to have forgotten their lines, but they seemed to hold it together well and the wonderful thing about a pantomime is that improvisation is always welcome when needed.
The staging worked well and moved seamlessly with some fantastic visual effects and pyrotechnics. The flying carpet scene where Aladdin (Anthony Rickman) flew to find Jasmine (Kelly Agredo) was fantastic, and with a soundtrack from Amelia Lily probably left it being one of my favourite parts of the show. Max absolutely loved the washing machine scene that was full of slapstick comedy that had him almost crying with laughter.
Whilst the story wasn't the strongest and I do feel like it was a tad on the long side (nearly 3 hours including an interval) it was still thoroughly enjoyable. It was still a show that had the whole audience in fits of laughter, dancing in their seats and smiling from ear to ear. Well done Bournemouth Pavilion on a great show. Tickets are available to buy in the box office, on the phone or online at the link below:
Please note, tickets were gifted but all opinions are my own.
No comments