Aladdin - Experience of watching a professional pantomime

Though I have never been to a professional pantomime before, I always wanted to watch one sometime. Not that I didn't have a chance but it is just that I am not much into pantomimes and dramas.

Once I heard about the pantomime 'Aladdin' which will be performed at Ipswich Regent Theatre (UK) for the Christmas and new year season, I booked the tickets along with couple of my colleagues for saturday evening performance of 'Aladdin' to watch a professional pantomime for the first time ever. Though I was excited about the pantomime as I already knew the Aladdin story, I must admit that I had bit of apprehension that the show should not be serious and boring. The theatre was packed with almost 60% plus crowd with most of them being families.

From the moment the pantomime started it was absolute entertainment. The crowd was loving every bit of it. So did I. The pantomime was scripted in an entertaining way to keep the spectators participating with loads of jokes and dialogues. The children were cheering loudly whenever Aladdin and the comedians (Harper brothers) as chinese policeman showed up on the stage. The kids were booing whenever the villian (Abanaazar) showed up on the screen. I noticed only after sometime that I was also clapping along with everyone whenever a scene got over. I found it bit strange when I noticed that the protagonist role of Aladdin was being played by a beautiful and versatile UK actress and singer - Debra stephenson. A lady playing a male role? Weird isn't it? But she was very entertaining and did full justice to the lead role.

The performance was having lot of dances for catchy tunes throughout. The dances by the students (including kids) of suffolk academy of dance and perfoming arts with nice costumes were good. The UK TV legendary fox (Stuffed fox) character 'Basil Brush' was playing the role of the chinese emperor and he was splendid with its jokes and 'Boom boom' catch phrase. Kids absolutely loved him. I saw so many kids buying the Basil brush stuff toys and dancing with it during the interval. There was a high speed car chase scene where Aladdin and the princess were goibng in a car on roads in the video projected on the screen. It was just brilliant. The setup of flying magic carpet on which Aladdin literally was flying on the stage, was the highlight of the pantomime. Full kudos to the arrangements.

The stage setup, flying palace setup, background screens, strobe lights, sound effects, specatular costumes and were all brilliant. I was thrilled to see the kids and parents standing up and dancing to the last dance number of the show. It was a lovely sight. After giving a standing ovation at the end, I walked out of the pantomime with smiles and thoughts that I should definitely recommend 'Aladdin' to all my colleagues and friends as I don't want them to miss this joyous experience.