New Wimbledon Theatre treat Naima Khan to some blow-out panto.
It's the big one kids! Panto of the highest budget. International celebrities, chart toping songs, stellar dancing, a script full of both wit and cheese, the whole sh-bang. Well done writer Eric Potts for updating a classic pantomime for kids and grown-ups alike.
Aladdin casts our hero (Ashley Day) as the ladies' man of Old Peking, getting into trouble with PC Pong when he's supposed to be working with his brother Wishee Washy (Paul Thornley) and their hilarious mother Widow Twanky (Jonathan D Ellis) at their family laundrette.
Credit goes to dance co-ordinator Sarah Dean for filing the stage with superbly choreographed citizens of Peking. The stunning dance sequences accompanied creative musical medleys including a mash-up of Dolly Parton's '9 to 5' and Aleisha Dixon's 'The Boy Does Nothing'. Other unexpected auditory treats are sung by the squeaky clean Aladdin and Jasmine. Their rendition of Will Young's 'Leave Right Now' and Bryan Adams' 'Heaven' sung in the present tense ("Oh thinking about how young we are"), are perhaps not meant to be as funny as I found them. Whilst there is certainly something to be said for simple, well crafted children's entertainment, a big blow-out party on stage like this is going to have the kids buzzing for ages.
The highlight of the show was of course Ruby Wax, who falteringly swings into view and relentlessly reprimands the stage hands from the start. Part dutiful slave, part irrepressible comedienne, her grumpy but earnest Genie of the Lamp needs to get home by 9:30 and has no problems telling Brian Blessed when he's overacting. Her run as Genie preceeds that of Pamela Anderson, Paul O'Grady and Anita Dobson.
Playing the ultra villain Abanazar, Blessed is animated, completely detestable and smaller on stage than I'd imagined. Encouraging any and all booing he's at his best during his few scenes with Ruby. It's a shame there can't be more of these but since the lamp is his unattainable object of desire, and the genie is essentially a magical servant, there's not much room for a showdown. The other notable mystical helper is the slave of the ring, yeah there's a ring in this one. She's Abanazar's sexy, midriff bearing assistant with an alluring, amped up generic foreign accent that turns out to be Brazilian.
Be warned, there's an audience sing-a-long to 'There's A Worm At The Bottom Of My Garden'. Not the most energetic nursery rhyme, perhaps it was featured as a favour to parents whose kids needed winding down. After some awkward mangling of long forgotten lyrics, the children are up, singing dancing as the cast joins the crowd for a farewell party in the aisles.
New Wimbledon Theatre itself is extremely impressive. It's a hell of a trek from central but is well worth it. One of the biggest theatre venues in London, it holds up to 1,700 and can count on this year's pantomime to get bums on seats.
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