Aladdin (King's Lynn, Corn Exchange)

For the third year in succession, Jordan Productions as producers and Cook to Perfection as sponsors have brought a pantomime to King's Lynn's Corn Exchange. Like all such converted spaces, the Corn exchange has its drawbacks as far as multi-scene changes are concerned. Jack and the Beanstalk and Cinderella were both excellent productions but Aladdin alas fails to measure up to the standards they set.

It's been written by Chris Jordan and directed by Ian Marr, who also plays Widow Twankey. On the official opening night, the sound system took some time to settle down, so that most of Raquel Jones' introduction to the story as the Genie of the Ring was a mere blur of words. This was a pity as, later on, Jones displays an excellent voice and stage personality.

Abanazaar is a character who's been working his way up from a mere villain to something of a star of the show over the past few years. Todd Carty doesn't, on this showing, really deserve his star billing. Tyrone Huntley as the Genie of the Lamp outshone him – and everyone else for that matter. His Genie is a flamboyant master of ceremonies and no mere imprisoned slave and his songs wooed and wowed the audience.

Jordan Productions play to tradition with a female Principal Boy. Here it's [Charlene Ford, who puts in the requisite thigh-slapping and has an attractive duet with Claire-Marie Hall's Princess So Shi. Sott Cripps is Wishee Washee, submitting to being mangled as Marr tickles our ears with a sequence of tongue-twisters. Junix Inocian is a definitely with-it Emperor and Mark Connell completes the cast as the accident-prone PC Pong. Jame Cleeve is the musical director.

- by Anne Morley-Priestman