It’s been a busy few weeks and my run on visits to the theatres for this year’s pantomimes came to an end last night with Aladdin at Theatr Colwyn and what an amazing night of music, magic and fun it was.
Those of you that have been reading the articles here on Blazing Minds over the last few years will have seen me reviewing the pantomimes each year and Theatr Colwyn in Colwyn Bay is always the last one that I do in December and quite frankly it’s always one of my favourites.
Magic Light Productions have always brought the warm cosy family feeling to the pantomimes over the years and this year is no exception, the team have certainly brought all the delight from previous years into this production and along with it they show their passion for the age-old tradition of a great night out for all ages and a place for families to enjoy quality time together, which can be rare these days.
I caught up with Stuart, Libby and the rest of the cast earlier in the week to chat about Aladdin a pantomime of magic, laughter and plenty of “Twankey” Pankey and some new UV puppet delights for the audience at Theatr Colwyn.
As always Stuart Loughland brings pantomimes dame to life with outfits and comedy that had everyone laughing, Stuart plays Mrs Twankey this year and like other years, Stuart shows everyone that he can bring a smile to faces of young and old at the theatre with not only his wonderfully over the top costumes but also he comical timing and humour.
This year we had a bit of a cast change, Libby told me earlier in the week, “unfortunately, Jay Beadle who was set to play the genie of the lamp is unwell, which we’re all very sad about. So that means I was the guardian of the ring. So now I have been promoted to the genie of the lamp, now the slave of the ring will now or guardian of the ring will be a puppet in the cave. And so that’s how we’re dealing with that. That unfortunate cast change“
As always Libby Edwards brings her theatre talents to the production, I have to say that I really enjoyed seeing Libby as the Genie, it is such a shame that we haven’t Jay doing the show this year, we wish him a get well soon, but Libby has stepped in brilliantly bringing her own touch to the Genie, very much as Jay does to the role and I have to say I loved the puppet, I was in stitches when it was giving hints to the lamp.
Interaction is always key to panto and Steve Boor brings that to the stage as Wishee Washee, well not just the kids, all the audience got involved with the back and forth with “Hiya Kids” to which everyone shouted back, “Hiya Wishee”, brilliant. It’s always a joy to see Steve bringing his touch to the panto and this year was another great performance, just watch out for those water pistols.
Back for his fourth pantomime with Magic Light Productions, Lukas Kirkby brings his talent with stand-up to the part of The Emperor, I have to admit that I’ve always praised Lukas for his performance at Theatr Colwyn and yet again Lukas hasn’t let me down, another great performance.
The Emporer’s daughter, Prince Jasmine, is played by the wonderful Rhiannon Petrou who is perfect for the role and let’s face it Rhiannon certainly has a touch of a princess about her, she is always a delight to watch and over the years her passion as bloomed and she now even runs her own entertainment company ‘A Little Magic Parties’.
With any Panto comes the villain and in Aladdin, it’s Abanazer played by Brendon Riley, one thing that a pantomime baddy has to do is bring the audience to the loudest boos and hisses they can get, suffice to say as soon as Brendon came on to the stage, right at the start of the show, he oozed villain and the audience erupted into boos. Now, this is what we like to see in pantomime, a character that we love to hate.
Back for another year with Magic Light Productions is Stephen Owen and although his character, PC Stoppem, doesn’t really have that much stage time, I enjoyed every moment that the character was on stage, it’s not very often that a policeman can have you laughing so much.
We certainly couldn’t have Aladdin at Theatr Colwyn without the lead character and this year the lead of Aladdin is played by Tomas Bohanna, now I do believe that this is Thomas’ first pantomime and I have to say well done, I thought he did very well as Aladdin and his timing with Stuart and Steve was brilliant, I also really enjoyed his musical numbers especially the duet he did with Rhiannon.
Joined on stage for the musical numbers are the Pearl Shaw School of Performing Arts, the Babes and the Seniors brought some wonderful choreography to Aladdin and they are really talented bunch, they brought a real spark to the moments that they were on the stage and were a real delight to watch.
Panto and Puppets
One of the differences that we have with the Magic Light Productions pantomimes is when the second half of the show starts and we are always treated with an amazing UV puppet show and I don’t mean a simple small puppet show, now this is a full-on musical number with huge puppets that are seen via the UV lights and it loos amazing, this year saw some new pieces to the performance, but I’m not going to tell you what, you’ll just have to go to the show and see for yourself.
But suffice to say the Magic Light Puppets look fantastic and I really can’t wait to see what they do next year, yes I’m booking myself in for next years pantomime, I wouldn’t miss it.
Tickets for Aladdin are available from theatrcolwyn.co.uk or via the box office on 01492 556 677.
A Magical Night from Magic Light Productions
Event Title: Aladdin at Theatr Colwyn
Event Description: Magic Light Productions take us in a magical journey with this years pantomime, Aladdin.
Start date: December 21, 2019
End date: January 4, 2020
Location name: Theatr Colwyn
Address: Abergele Road, Colwyn Bay, LL29 7RU
Performer: Magic Light Productions
Summary
Another brilliant pantomime from Magic Light Productions bringing the feeling of a good old fashioned family show that has you leaving with a smile on your face and warm festive feeling inside.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
