Aladdin at Lyric Hammersmith

Aladdin at Lyric Hammersmith

05 December, 2011
by: Naima Khan

Naima Khan reviews Aladdin at Lyric Hammersmith as panto season gets underway. 

A blue monkey called Wishy Washy is the star of this show. Played by the hyperactive Steven Webb, he is cute, funny and creative. He loves to dance and he loves his audience even more. And to his credit, we love him back. Big time. So while director Steve Marimon's decision to turn him into a silent panda is amusing for a while, it doesn't do wonders for the energy of this show, which is an issue for this otherwise bold, bright, hilarious production. 

While Aladdin and Princess Karen attempt to get it on the way kids do, (he only likes her “kind of a bit sometimes”), the evil Abanazer  and his fantastically loud side-kick Ringo, the spirit of the ring (who has a crush on the genie of the lamp), attempt to thwart his plans. In the hands of Simon Kunz, Abanazer is classically dastardly and effortlessly raises boos just by sauntering around and we quickly love to hate him. 

Much like Princess Karen who thankfully forgoes the sickly sweet panto princesses format we're so used to, and so bored of. Played by the indomitable Dominique Moore, she is stubborn, loud and a firm favourite with her big grin and even bigger voice. Her independent attitude steers the brilliant magic carpet scene away from the schmaltzy and makes it as funny as it is captivating. 

Hammed Animashaun is just as familiar and a lot more laid back in his role as Aladdin. The two make a sweet pair and their conversations mock romance with the same bluntness that Shaun Prendergast's superb Widow Twanky mocks everything. 

Sound designer, arranger and composer Tom Scutt does a great job of intertwining quirky takes on recent chart toppers but doesn't do it enough. The ratio of classics familiar to parents to the stuff familiar to their kids is imbalanced. If you've raised your children on a diet of Queen and MC Hammer, they'll love this but the Bieber generation might feel a teeny bit miffed. They'll recognise Cee-Lo Green's Forget You, Wishy Washy's all too brief ode to Willow Smith and Here Come The Girls from the Boots advert but a genie in parachute pants seems a little lost on them. Still, they've got a hyperactive blue monkey to entertain them, they'll hardly be complaining. 


Image by Tristram Kenton



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Naima Khan