A tale of two Aladdins

10:05am Friday 21st December 2007

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Well, tis the season to be jolly and with the current crop of pantos on offer, there is no excuse not to spend Christmas with a big smile on your face.

This year, I've been lucky enough to see two - very different - productions of Aladdin, at the Swan Theatre, Worcester, and at the Birmingham Hippodrome.

And while their budgets may be a million miles away from each other, the end result is exactly the same - lots of people having a brilliant time.

Many of the cast in the Swan's Aladdin appeared in last year's hugely successful Snow White and it was a joy to see them back again.

In particular, Richard Curnow delivered another star turn as Widow Twanky, with just the perfect amount of cheeky ad-libs, saucy humour and fab costumes.

Ben Humphrey and Claire Rimell were great leads as Aladdin and Princess Jasmine, while Daniel Whitley as Wishee Washee and Amy Booth Steel as the genie provided plenty of laughs.

Throw in Jonathan Darby, who was clearly relishing his role as the nasty Abanazar, and a few unbelievably cute kids who were plucked from the audience, and you have the right ingredients for a great family night out.

The Hippodrome's Aladdin had John Barrowman as out eponymous hero - and he brought every bit of his star quality with him to a cold Birmingham night.

Aside from his matinee-idol good looks and his amazing singing voice, we saw a new and charming side to him as he proved himself to be a bit of a giggler throughout the show!

He was backed up by a superb cast. Perennial panto favourite Don Maclean was Widow Twanky, Lila McConigley was Princess Jasmine, with a tremendous voice which could easily match Aladdin's, and bags of silly laughs were provided by The Grumbleweeds, including an unmissable skit of Cher.

Pete Gallagher provoked much booing and hissing from the audience as Abanazar but the real star of the show was the computer generated genie and his assorted special effects.

While we all felt a little bit silly wearing the special glasses which allowed us to see the 3D spectacle (watch out for the spider), it was most definitely worth it.

So a tale of two Aladdins, yes, but one with a happy ending - and a happy Christmas - for everyone.