Aladdin Daft

I've never been to Watford before - I've been through it on the train, but never actually pounded the quiet, dark and oddly empty streets. Until tonight that is, when we ventured out of London to see one of the last performances of 'Aladdin', this season's panto featuring Nicola Blackman who was also the reason for the trek since she's off to America soon to try her luck over there.

Now, I haven't actually seen a pantomime since I was about 10 but it soon comes flooding back since they all follow the same formula, and that's probably part of the fun of panto - you know what you're going to get. The cast put their all into it, hamming it up no end with melodramatic poses and exagerated gestures, laying it on thick. Widow Twanky had ridiculous dresses (but ended up marrying the Emperor anyway), Wishy Washy was very energetic and great fun, Abanazar was suitably distant but I thought he could have been far more evil and nasty (if you're gonna hiss it needs to be worth it), the Genii had baggy trousers and a turban and a nice pot belly (all three are mandatory) and Aladdin and the Princess were exactly what you'd expect, young, pretty and not very interesting - it's what goes on around them that is most exciting!

Nicola played the role of the 'Spirit of the Ring' (a new one on me) and Lotus Blossom, the Princess's handmaiden who, in this production, was also her personal security officer. She seemed to be having great fun and it was obvious as soon as she sung her verse in the opening song ('Downtown') that at least one person on the stage was a proper singer.

I happily joined in with the 'behind yous' and was suitably vocal when we stood up to sing along with Wishy Washy (and doing the actions as well, of course):

Hats, jackets, pants and socks

pants and socks

Hats, jackets, pants and socks

pants and socks

Dry clean only frilly party frocks

Hats, jackets, pants and socks

pants and socks

... to the tune of... well, I'm not sure, but you know the tune (o yes you do!). The words were written on an enormous pair of underpants suspended from the ceiling.

Every cliche in the book was not only included and fully exploited but in some cases was detonated across the stage. The comic policemen were, of course, called Ping and Pong and Pong seemed to have personal hygiene or intestinal problems since every other mention of his name was associated with a reference to smell. What could that mean, I wonder? Actually, the only cliche missing was any joke around the name of the town the action is set in - Ying Tong. I immediately expected a rendition of the Goons song but we were spared that. Obviously, the kids in the audience wouldn't recognise it but I suspect neither would their parents...

After the high art of 'Swan Lake' this theatrical experience was a little different - brash, colourful, loud (in every sense), silly and just plain daft fun. I enjoyed it immensely and couldn't help grinning quite a lot. Yes, I'm a big kid at heart!

It then took what seemed like 347 hours to get back into and across London...