It’s Panto Time By Lucy Gray
Following the successes of last year’s Pantomime ‘Snow White’ St Albans eagerly anticipate this year’s ‘Aladdin’ at The Alban Arena. With some returning cast members and an original script The Sticks got the chance to meet those involved with the show ahead of its run in December. We were lucky enough to meet with the characters in their costumes and straight away it’s easy to see that it will be a fun, colourful show. Jemma Carlisle was a beautiful Pantomime princess, and Bob Golding wore huge glasses and a fake moustache. Widow Twanky’s costume was undoubtedly the best- with Sam Rabone struggling to fit through the door in the washing powder headdress! If the costumes alone are anything to go by- the show is going to be simply hilarious. Playing the villainous character ‘Abanazar’ in the show is returning cast member Shaun Williamson. Shaun is best known on screen for playing ‘Barry Evans’ in Eastenders for nine years, but also starred alongside Ricky Gervais in the BBC’s Extras, and starred in other shows including The Bill, Holby and Inspector Morse. Despite being most famous for his on screen appearances, Shaun’s passion for singing and Cabaret performance has stuck with him, leading him to West End productions and of course, Pantomime. Shaun left Eastenders to give him more opportunity to perform on the stage, and has since been in a stageshow every year - with pantomimes being a personal highlight! His favourite shows are ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ and ‘The Producers’. Shaun’s describes his character in Aladdin as a ‘frustrated actor’. Abanazar is constantly quoting Shakespeare and thinks he is the greatest actor that has ever lived. He is of course a very evil villain but has his soft side and is guaranteed to make you laugh. Jemma Carlisle will be playing ‘Princess Jasmine’ in the show. Having been a performer since the age of seven, Jemma has been in fourteen Pantos. She has played the title role in Annie for its 2002 National Tour, as well as being critically acclaimed for her performance of Alice in Wonderland in 2003- a show she told us was a particular highlight. More recently Jemma has been working as a singer mainly for professional recordings. Her favourite West End musical is ‘Wicked’. Jemma loved playing the lead role in last year’s Snow White. She said her favourite part of pantomime is getting involved with the audience. This year you can look forward to a really fun show, with plenty of participation from the audience! The lead role of ‘Aladdin’ will be played by Phil Gallagher. Phil started working in children’s television at Disney fourteen years ago and has been doing production work, writing, acting and presenting since. Phil is most famous for presenting hit CBeebies show ‘Mister Maker’ which now plays in over 100 countries, and was nominated for Best - 10 -