THE magic of the Disney classic Aladdin was brought to life as a musical pantomime for children of all ages by a local production company over the Christmas holiday.

Aladdin was the all-action panto for a collaboration between Spontaneous Productions and the Savoy Youth Theatre shown at the Savoy Theatre last Wednesday and Thursday (3rd and 4th January) with Kevin Tillett making his third appearance as Widow Twanky. His rendition of the Tina Turner hit ‘Simply the Best’ was just one of the many musical treats the audience enjoyed.

Once again the Savoy Youth Theatre created a wonderful chorus for the professional cast, and stepped up this year with extra lines. Luca Lawson and Jack Thomson both played Kickbum, the poor sidekick to Abanazer, and got one of the biggest laughs on stage. And local youngster Josh Watkins won the hearts of all with his outstanding dance solo in the Sand Dance.

Newcomers to Spontaneous Productions, Martin Atkinson (Genie) and Stuart Ash (Aladdin) were loved by all and fitted straight into the company’s family. Sarah Hancock was back as the beautiful Princess Jasmine and all the girls want to ‘be her’! Joel Daffurn returned to Spontaneous as the evil Abanzer, bettering his first ever role with the company when he played Aladdin the first time it was performed in Monmouth. Not to forget the Spontaneous Band with Richard Wadley and Chris Lovett who bring the whole production together with their talent and banter.

The company would like to congratulate Emma Macnab on successfully sparkling even brighter this year and for not giving birth on stage, Emma (playing Diamante the Spirit of the Ring) and her husband, Peter Scott (Wishy Washy) announced the pregnancy in November and are awaiting the birth of a baby boy in March. Peter originally played the role of Wishy Washy and audiences were delighted to see him once more with ‘pants on his head’!

This year, the production of Aladdin battled the snow to bring the magic; the company did their best to make sure no school lost out on their Christmas treat after the weather closed so many down. To avoid disappointing the young children of Picklenash School in Newent, the company drove all the way to the school to perform the show in their school hall. Director and producer Sam Densham said: “We could not disappoint hundreds of little faces just before the Christmas holidays, as soon as all the cast agreed, we cancelled our Friday plans for Picklenash!”For more photos read this week's Beacon (10th January).