Skip to main content

THE STAGE REVIEW | ALADDIN


Aladdin

Published Wednesday 21 December 2011 at 15:43 by Susie Wild
Jimmy Osmond, the youngest member of 70s pop act the Osmonds arrives in Swansea as Wishee Washee ahead of the band’s biggest ever UK tour in March.
The addition of this retro, chart-topping pop star makes this story of Aladdin and his lamp one that is bound to please the city’s grandmothers yet leaves song choices rather bewildering for younger viewers. Still, while they sing along to Little Darling and join in on a ditty about how they think Jimmy is dishy, there are other more universal treats in store for the rest of the audience.
3D glasses offer moments of in-your-face special effects, which feel all the more magical for occurring in a theatre environment. From the genie to the magic carpet ride, all these effects work well, although some might want to use one of their three wishes to delete the spider from the story. Moving from the virtual to the actual, the ever popular pantomime dame Kevin Johns is the real Ga Ga-esque star of the show as Widow Twankey, while Gavin Woods makes a convincingly weird baddie as Abanazar.
Grand Theatre, Swansea, December 16-January 15
Author/producer:
Jonathan Kiley
Director:
Andrew Lynford
Cast includes:
Jimmy Osmond, Kevin Johns, Zoe George, Gavin Woods, David Lawrence, Paul Rivers
Running time:
2hr 25mins

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I'm on the Edge Hill Short Story Prize long-list

'Some of the biggest names in the literary world have entered their works in the prestigious Edge Hill University's Short Story Prize 2011.' 'The unique accolade, now in its fifth year, is the UK's only literary award that recognises a published collection of short stories and has attracted entries from a number of distinguished writers and newcomers all competing for the winning title.' I'd be one of those newcomers then. Yay! http://www.edgehill.ac.uk/news/2011/03/big-names-revealed-in-edge-hill-short-story-prize Literature Wales ran a story too: Three Welsh Writers longlisted for Edge Hill Short Story Prize Three Welsh Writers on Long List for Prestigious Award Welsh writers  Vanessa Gebbie ,  Susie Wild  and  Martin Bax  are on the long list for the prestigious Edge Hill University's Short Story Prize 2011. The unique accolade, now in its fifth year, is the UK's only literary award that recognises a published collection of short storie
Post a Comment
Read more

Gig Alert: Bad Ideas\Chemicals Cosmic Relaunch

I'll be reading a few poems at Lloyd Markham's event at the Full Moon with other performers and musicians... Come along! Here's the poster: Following that I will be giving a lunchtime reading at Can Openers in Bristol on 1 December, and then hosting and reading at Brown's Poems & Pints in Laugharne on 7 December... Then I'm taking a little festive season break before returning with gigs in Carmarthen, Bristol, Cardiff, Newport and more in 2018. Susie x
Post a Comment
Read more

Buzz Blog: The Passion | Stage Review

> REVIEWS THE PASSION | STAGE REVIEW BY  SUSIE WILD   ⋅  APRIL 27, 2011  ⋅   POST A COMMENT FILED UNDER    MICHAEL SHEEN ,  PORT TALBOT ,  THE PASSION **** Various locations, Port Talbot Fri 22 – Sun 24 April Cast includes: Michael Sheen, Matthew Aubrey, Nigel Barrett, Francine Morgan and Matthew Woodyatt. Michael Sheen became a Messiah of his home town over the Easter weekend with his leading role in a 72-hour epic retelling of The Passion, yet is was Port Talbot that was the real star of the show. For the sheer numbers in the audience (6000+), and national and international press attention  The Passion  is an ambitious event sure to go down in folklore. Two years in the planning and several months in community build up,  National Theatre Wales  joined forces with Cornwall’s  WildWorks  to create a multi-platform delivery of an age-old tale co-directed by local-boy-done-good  Michael Sheen  and the innovative  Bill Mitchell . In this version of The Passion, poet and author  Owen S
Post a Comment
Read more