The Helix, Dublin
"What's your name?" "Janowah." "Wha'?""Not d'ya know wha'? It's Janowah. Me name." "Wha'?" This exchange at the start of Aladdin has my co-reviewers, and the whole of the Helix, rolling around in their seats. The setting in Chinatown is more meat market than street market, as Aladdin (George McMahon) launches into a version of
Forget Youto announce that he's looking for love. The audience engages almost immediately: the first "he's behind you!" is yelled within five minutes, when Aladdin's Ma appears. Barry Manilow's anthem ushers "her name was Lola" Twankey (Frank Mackey) on the scene, and in no time, to the tune of
Chiquitita, she bellows the first of her topical barbs: "Tell me Taoiseach, tell me what's wrong." The quick humour includes a fleeting Joan Burton ("Can I just say?"), malapropisms ("she is anaesthetically pleasing to the eye") and Darth Vader (long story) suggesting a wedding date of "May the fourth".
The genial genie (David Latham) makes an unforgettable entrance, in golden glory and glam-rock splendour, and remains an engaging character. The baddie Jafaah (Eoin Cannon) is properly evil, even though his singing is very likeable, and a lengthy exchange at the city walls with his nephew, Janowah "Wha'?" (Aidan Mannion), brings the house down. The small boys by my side are repulsed by the boy-girl proceedings until their more seasoned panto-going friend remarks sagely that, well, that's just romance and it must be endured.
It's a lavish production, with liberal changes of rich, detailed costume, especially in the Suitor Factor scene, where prospective husbands for the princess Jasmine (Martha Christie) are examined, and the talented, versatile dance crew is impressively choreographed. David Hayes's clever musical direction frames the show, with big, punchy numbers and snatched phrases from classics punctuating and filling out the story; and Jewel (Jacqueline Brunton) makes every song her own.
The show is more than two hours long, ending with an extended Benny Hill-type descent into chaos and an audience dance-along-athon curated by Janowah and Wishee Washee (Colin Hughes). But with the well-paced action, written and directed by Karl Harpur and produced by Claire Tighe of TheatreWorX, lots of stage changes, and strong musical talent, it zips along. And d'ya know wha'? It's a scream.
runs until January 15th
