Over the Summer, my boyfriend was sweet enough to treat us to tickets to see Disney's Aladdin on the West End at the Prince Edward Theatre! I adore going to the theatre and it was truly magical to see one of my all time favourite Disney films brought to life.
The illusion design of the sets (the magical cave scene in particular) was breathtaking. The sets were lavish and detailed and the use of special effects brought the magic of the original 1992 film to life (the genie in the lamp and the flying carpet scenes were incredible!)
At times, it was slightly confusing how the largely British cast fostered bland 'Disneyfied' American accents, to play Middle Eastern characters. In addition, I found Jade Ewen's doe-eyed performance of Jasmine slightly troubling, as the Princess Jasmine of my childhood always symbolised a heroine who had strength in her own convictions. But overall, I adored the pantomime effect of the production, with Don Gallagher who plays Jafar as more of a panto villain caricature. Contrary to what many other reviews have said about the production, I definitely think it works. While the show is most definitely not a pantomime, there are several references to popular culture which makes for light-hearted and humorous viewing.
But it was Trevor Dion-Nicholas' performance of Genie which truly stole the show. It was always going to be hard to fill the [genie] shoes of the late Robin Williams's iconic portrayal in the film, but Nicholas was staggeringly good in his gloriously OTT showstopper 'Friend Like Me'. For me, his performance had many echoes of all-singing, all-dancing numbers in the iconic Singin' in the Rain and his energy was electric.
Aladdin was a light-hearted and fun performance and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it!
Antonia x
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