Posted: 12/26/08 at 8:35am
Cardiff this year has a very spectacular production of 'Aladdin' as its annual offering.
It may be spectacular but it is totally empty of any heart and bares little resemblance to the original story. It stars Chris Gascoyne as Abanazar and he looks very uneasy in the part in which he looks more like an extra from Rocky Horror than the traditional turban wearing Abanazar we all know. Anthony Costa plays his first panto since leaving boy band 'Blue'. Again he just cant relax into that god old panto spirit and just looks lost.
The genie is a 3D projection that was premiered in Bradford 3 or 4 years ago and something I've been curious to see. It doesn't disappoint! 4 or 5 times during the show the audience are asked to put on the special 3D glasses and the effect is brilliant. It had audience members reaching out for the genie and the flying objects. It really was quiet amazing.
The must see of this production is the dame. Widow Twankey is played by female impersonator, Ceri Dupree, in a very, very rare pantomime booking. This guy brings to stage the old style glamour of the Danny La Rue and Stanley Baxter in their heydays and some!!! His costumes at times take up the entire stage space and each one gets more outrageous and more stage filling as the night goes on. Worth the price of the ticket alone Mr Dupree will now be a serious contender for top panto dame from next year as he signs a deal with Qudos Ltd.
Updated On: 12/26/08 at 08:35 AM
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