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Aladdin
Thank you to all our previous sponsors with out their support it would be difficult to continue. Perhaps you would consider being a sponsor for future productions. email: drparkinsonb@aol.com
Dorset ECHO Monday 16th March 2009 Panto filled with laughs for young and old If there's one thing I love it's a good panto - yes I know, I'm just a big kid at heart but then all the other people who came to the matinee of Aladdin must be big kids too! I'm sure there were a few more adults than children in the audience. There wasn't a spare seat left for the performance. The Milborne Players had done it again - another successful panto, which was sold out long before the opening night. Directed by John Riddle (and kindly sponsored by Loders Motor Group) the traditional panto lives on, with all the old corny jokes, larger than life characters and everybody talking in rhyme. Enriched with plenty of good songs and some dancing, this Aladdin followed the familiar story with a few little twists to it. The evil Abanazar (Roy Sach) was a wonderfully wicked character. I looked along the front row to see a line of children sitting spellbound with big wide eyes when he came on. They were soon booing and hissing at him and telling us he was a mean and nasty man! The Slave of the Ring (Caroline Nobbs) was never quite ready when summond by her master and arrived on stage in some interesting states of attire but still managed to save the day and pull off a few magic moves! Widow Twanky was, of course, very much larger than life. Played by Peter Casemore in his own inimatable style and with outragous costumes, you are never quite sure what is script and what is ad lib when he gets going. Emma Whiting made a charming Aladdin and Gren Elphinestone-Davis played the loveable fool Wishee Washee with great humour. Jo South and Sally Potter were Daz and Ariel - the glamorous blond bombshell laundry maids supposedly helping Widow Twanky. Ariel certainly displayed hidden talents when she performed a perfect headstand in one scene. No panto is complete without the hero finding true love and for Aladdin it was the Princess Baldroubador (Alice Brock) daughter of the Emperor of China (Bill Preston). Mrs Wok (Maureen Lock) added to the fun as Widow Twankey's neighbour and of course the awesome Genie of the Lamp (Brian Parkinson) was suitably impressive. A large chorus of local children sang and danced, Ben and Sam Sach made a great job of being Mustaphacarrot, the donkey. All in all it was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon, with some really good laughs. Of course there is a huge list of people who were beavering away in the background making it all happen and they are far too many to mention here but may I just say thank you to them all - without them it would never happen, and we would not have had such an entertaining afternoon. The Milborne Players can now have a well deserved rest - well for a few weeks at least until rehearsals start for their next production on 3rd, 4th and 5th July later this year. |
5th, 6th and 7th February
2009 |
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Aladdin This performance took place during the "credit crunch" and when snow made it feel very wintry. Audience figures reflected how the local community were appreciating and enjoying Players efforts, thank you everybody. The Directors notes from the programme read, "I'm very pleased to welcome you all to Aladdin, our 2009 pantomime. This is my first panto as Director for the Milborne Players and it has been a very engaging and enjoyable activity. I hope you will find it the same! Months of plotting and planning which part I fancied all went awry when Melva (Director of previous productions) took a well earned holiday in Australia for most of December and we needed a director. I must learn to duck more swiftly!" Very well done Jon Riddle from all the cast and support team, we look forward to future productions under your guidance. Poor old Widow Twankey’s (played by Peter Casemore) amazing new washing machine keeps breaking down, and her customers are all getting shirty! Her sons, Aladdin (played by Emma Whiting) and Wishee Washee (played by Gren Elphinstone-Davis) do their best to help, but one’s a dreamer and the other’s a little bit dim (but ever so nice!). Her two laundry maids, Daz & Ariel (played by Jo South & Sally Potter), always seem to have other things on their minds too, so they’re not a lot of help either. How will she ever pay the Emperor (played by Bill Preston) the rent? Could Aladdin’s long lost “Uncle” Abanazar (played by Roy Sach) possibly hold the answer…or will Aladdin end up between a rock and a hard place never seeing the beautiful Princess (played by Alice Brock) ever again? With a supporting cast made up of Peking peasants, dancers, scary guards, Mrs Wok (played by Maureen Lock) and runs the local takeaway, the donkey Mustaphacarrot (trotted by Ben & Sam Sach) and some characters who just pop out of nowhere when objects get rubbed up the wrong way, ALADDIN promises to leap from laugh to laugh, with plenty of well known songs were enjoyed as well! A very big thank you to Loders Motor Group for their generous sponsorship of this production it is greatly appreciated especially in the current economic climate. If you need a new car Loders in Dorchester is the place to go. Thank you also to The Oak public house in Dewlish and to Dickinson Manser Solicitors in Poole and Broadstone. This version of “Aladdin”, written by John Cummings & Richard Grafton and directed by Jon Riddle, ably assisted by Caroline Nobbs, and occupied almost the whole society with thirty members of the cast adding to the fun and laughter of the story. All tickets for the Friday evening and Saturday matinee & evening were sold out weeks before the performance took place, so be aware next year and buy your tickets early! Performances were at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday 5th and Saturday 7th February 2009. There was also a Saturday Matinee at 2:30 p.m. The Friday evening performance was cancelled due to a power cut and poor weather conditions as snow had left many roads unpassable. An extra performance on the evening of Monday 9th February saw another near capacity audience and made sure nobody missed the show due to the Friday cancellation. All performances took place in the Milborne St Andrew Village Hall. Friday evening and Saturday matinee & evening SOLD OUT To secure your seats in future productions make sure you buy your tickets early. Sponsors
A traditional friendly village pub.
Dickinson & Manser Solicitors www.dickinsonmanser.co.uk Margot Snell
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Watch a slide show of this production by clicking on the image above
