Aladdin at St Helens Theatre Royal

2^nd January 2020

Well, 2020 certainly started with a bang for those people lucky enough to spend an afternoon at the Theatre Royal, St Helens.  Having watched previous pantomimes at the theatre over the years, I was expecting the same high standard.  For me, it is easy to keep churning out the pantomimes without updating or tweaking but St Helens have certainly not rested on the standard from previous years.  In fact, this was by far the best one!  Superbly written by resident dame Si Foster, who manged to keep all the old favourite jokes and routines in.  He was also clever enough in his writing to include local references and opportunities for it to go wrong, which is very important for any pantomime.

Robin Windsor was the big draw and played the main part of Aladdin.  Of course, we knew he could dance from his ‘Strictly’ days but, to my surprise, he can offer much more than this.  He was a perfect for his ‘comedy’  partner Scott Gallagher.  I had never seen Scott perform before and, for me, he was one of the best I’ve seen in this role.  He had great comic timing and was so into his role that he even forgot one or two lines! I have to admit, I do like to see the performers trying to make each other laugh as this keeps the performances fresh.  Scott did very well with the four young girls during the ‘Floss’ routine and thought of some great lines on the spot.

Speaking of making others laugh on stage, I have to say the actor playing the police officer was terrific and perfect for the role.  He had a very good singing voice and did a great ‘Sing Off’ with Phillip McGuinness.  The actors name I don’t recall as not on the poster but I have to say he was superb and a joy to watch.  He had a real connection with the audience, which can be difficult with an afternoon show. Jenna O’Hara as the ‘Slave of the ring’ and Kai Jolley as ‘Genie’ gave very good performances too.

No pantomime can be great without a great ‘baddie’ and we certainly had that with Phillip McGuinness.  He brings a physicality to the role that others don’t simply have.  His mannerisms are superb and the audience loved to boo him especially when he was trying to ‘woo’ the Princess, Olivia Sloyan.  In all my time watching pantomimes, I have never seen a more perfect princess.  She is beautifully stunning and a genuine triple threat – Dancing, singing and acting!  What I enjoyed the most in her performance was the laughing she did on stage at other actors. 

And finally, a massive well done to the support cast of singers, dancers and technical staff.  I genuinely think that this theatre keeps giving audiences great pantomimes and this is certainly the best yet!  There is still time to go and see it and a must if you love live theatre.