Written by Marion Rogers - first performed in 1990
Directed by Marion Rogers
These are the first words that come to mind, next of course the excellent acting of all those dedicated members of the Medstead Players, including lovely children. Above all, one must see that none of this could happen without their talented writer and director - Marion Rogers. How she does all the things she does, I do not know, but please Marion, don't ever stop!
I attended the first night, and as I well know, despite months of preparation, things don't always go perfectly. However, there were only a few 'things' which could have been better, and I am sure they were corrected by the second performance - like the music being too loud over the tuneful voices of the principals and the occasional long gap between actions - happens to us all. Widow Twankie's skirt falling down was a bonus!
Special effects - well, everyone was awed by the cave of dreams scene, darkness around rocks edged with silver light, gorgeous dancers in black and silver, the audience's silence was one of fascination. And I have never seen the magic carpet actually fly - very clever the way the two actors sat on it, leaned back out of sight, then the projection of the carpet slowly flying - fabulous. Congratulations to the back stage crew, a lot of hard work and imagination paid off.
Stan Whitcher was his usual effervescent self as the Dame, adding unaccompanied singing to his repertoire and his amusing rapport with the audience, as always, was great. A comedy duo, Wishey and Washey, kept us laughing at their uninhibited fooling about, making intelligible sounds, and joining in the songs. Dobbin the horse was great, super dancer! The Grand Vizier and Abanazer were suitably hissable, and good singers too. Jeannie of the Lamp was 'something else', very funny, powerful actor, lovely legs. Fairy Liquid, sweet but 'in charge', Princess Lychee and Aladdin very good, lovely songs. The Emperor, believably autocratic. And as for the children, a pleasure to see them on stage, acting and dancing, knowing every word of the songs, brightening up every scene in which they appeared.
The finale was again, something I have never seen before, extremely innovative in its choreography and beautifully moving.
Please Medstead Players, please do another panto next year.
[Jean Gebbett]
It was pantomime as it should be - colourful, funny, slapstick and brimming with ingenuity.
Written and directed by Marion Rogers, Medstead Player's version of Aladdin transported the audience on a carpet of unadulterated escapism to a land of good fairies and evil spirits, and from larger than life pantomime dames and mini-skirted genies, to wicked 'baddies' and dancing horses.
From the moment the curtain went up the atmosphere was one of cracking good humour with the entire hall being used as an extended stage, paving the way for the Emperor's rickshaw and the march of the palace guards and providing all-round sound with back-up singers giving depth and volume to the performers on stage.
On Saturday evening the audience was in fine form, eager to join in and egging on the performers to give of their best.
The cast, while predominantly adult, included some promising young talent, each one taking a lead from the professionalism of the players as a whole.
The costumes were smart and imaginative - no more so than the modern outfits modelled by 'Jeannie with the light brown hair' (alias Mark Aston). Never before has a genie taken on such a raucous feminine persona - nor has a good fairy looked so "glam" than in the gleaming white flounces of the piclure-book wedding dress worn by 'Fairy Liquid' (Pam Kercher).
And rarely has there been a more polished performance by a pantomime horse (Lesley Rae and Anita Prior) - even to the point, according to one cast member, of having to complete a 'meet the audience session' totally blind when somebody inadvertently patted Dobbin's head and closed his mouth, and viewing hole.
In fact, the casting worked extremely well. Stan Whitcher had the role of pantomime dame firmly sewn up, while David Rae made a convincing 'Abanazer', supported by Mike Overy as the somewhat arrogant 'Grand Vizier', Marilyn Jones as the labour-grabbing 'Emperor Chop Suey', Michael Fletcher as 'Chop Chop', who was responsible for pulling the rickshaw, and Josephine Legg as the attentive 'Palace Guard'.
The young dancers made a particularly good job of the 'cave' scene - they were Kate and Alex Tindale, Bethany and Emily Magennis-Prior, Josephine Legg, Francesca Gillard and Esther Andrews.
The set design was colourful and attractive and the special effects outstanding - in particular the 'Cave of Dreams' with its dancing spirits and a flying carpet that achieved 'lift-off' thanks to the magic of modern technology.
It was a delightful performance with some nice touches - the reversing of the rickshaw, the modern idiosyncrasies of 'Wishey' and 'Washey' (Sue Ovell and Val Coombs), the use of Chinese mannerisms in the developing relationship between 'Aladdin' (Sue Millet) and 'Princess Lychee' (Kerry Magennis-Prior).
The cast, backstage and front of house crews worked together as a team to
provide a truly enjoyable, family-friendly experience - a hard act to follow
at the beginning of the panto season and one for other am-dram companies to
aspire to. A real feather in the cap for writer/director Marion Rogers and
her producer Carol Bedingfield.
[MH]
I went to watch the dress rehearsal and thoroughly enjoyed it. The age of the cast ranged from five to around seventy and they all did brilliantly. Nobody forgot their lines and I thought this was really professional of them. The two characters I liked the most were Widow Twankie and Genie, because they were so funny. The funniest bit was when they started fighting over Uncle Abanazar. Widow Twankie kept getting Uncle Abanazar's name wrong - she called him 'Avabanana'.
Wishy and Washy made an excellent duo, they had me in stitches of laughter. They were really sarcastic and did a good Vicky Pollard impression from Little Britain.
Throughout the show Widow Twankie was cracking quick witty jokes, which required the audience to be quick off the mark.
All the sets were good but the best one was the cave, because when the children did the dance their costumes glowed against the set. This particular set was very dark and gloomy compared to the rest of them.
The show had a lot of songs in it such as, 'Is This The Way To Abanazar's hideout', 'The Ugly Duckling' and 'Jingle Bell Rock'. These were all performed in a lively style and allowed audience participation. Everybody joined in really enthusiastically and willingly.
Although I enjoyed the show, I found some of it too predictable. Aladdin and Lyche were a prime example because they were in love. This is a typical pantomime ritual and I personally feel it's wearing a bit thin, as pantomime is not my first choice in theatre. However it was an entertaining evening and everybody enjoyed themselves, including me.
[Jenny Musselle, Treloar College]
Altogether it was a great show. I liked the way the performers used the auditorium as part of the stage to give the production a much more interactive feel.
I thought that the performers acting skills were excellent, considering that they are an amateur theatre group. I rather enjoyed the performance, despite it being a pantomime which is a genre I don't really tend to enjoy.
The characters wore a lovely array of brightly coloured costumes, which I thought tied in very well with the overall theme of the production and looked very good on stage. Some elements of traditional pantomime attire were used to the full effect, in particular the Dame's costume was very flamboyant and colourful, which adds to the whole comical side of the production.
I wasn't expecting to see such detail as I did on the sets. I think that the pale colours added a light cheerful atmosphere to the whole production. I thought that the sets complimented each other nicely. I liked the way the Players used drapes and ultra violet paint which helped to create an eerie effect during the cave scene.
The lighting was rather good, I especially liked the fact that the lighting depicted the mood of the characters. During the cave scene the special effect of the hand made gobo of the flying carpet worked rather well. Also the flashing lights used for Abanaza's entrance was in my opinion a very good idea. I thought the music and sound effects for the production were rather splendid, I liked the way they imitated certain well-known songs to tie in with the overall theme of the production - e.g. 'Is this the way to Abanaza's hideout' (Amarillo). The use of classical music helped to bring romance, sadness and horror into the production. The vocalists managed to hit all the right notes, but in my opinion didn't quite have the amount of power that was required for the particular songs.
I personally feel that the Medstead Players portrayed Aladdin marvellously well. I think that this production has been a big hit, which is wonderful. I look forward to seeing other productions by the Medstead Players.
[David Whitehead, Treloar College]
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Widow Twanky - Stan Whitcher
Aladdin - Sue Millet
Princess Lychee - Kerry Magennis-Prior
Emperor Chop Suey - Marilyn Jones
Abanazar - David Rae
Grand Vizier - Mike Overy
Jeannie (with the light brown hair) - Mark Aston
Wishey - Sue Ovell
Washey - Val Coombes
Fairy Liquid - Pam Kercher
Chop Chop (the executioner) - Michael Fletcher
Guard - Josephene Legge
Dobbin - Lesley Rae, Anita Prior
Dancers: Esther Andrews, Francesca Gillard, Josephine Legge, Bethany Magennis-Prior, Emily Magennis-Prior, Alex Tindale and Kate Tindale.