''Aladdin'' is a

musical Musical is the adjective of music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact def ...

written by

Sandy Wilson Alexander Galbraith "Sandy" Wilson (19 May 1924 – 27 August 2014) was an English composer and lyricist, best known for his musical '' The Boy Friend'' (1953). Biography Wilson was born in Sale, Cheshire, England, and was educated at Harrow ...

for the newly refurbished

Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on Lyric Square, off King Street, Hammersmith, London.

. Although not a

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speakin ...

, it played during the theatre's inaugural Christmas pantomime season of 1979/80, opening on 21 December 1979, and starred Richard Freeman as Aladdin, Joe Melia as Tuang Kee Chung (

Widow Twankey Widow Twankey (originally Twankay, sometimes Twanky) is a female character in the pantomime ''Aladdin''. She is a pantomime dame, played by an older man. History The story of Aladdin is drawn from the ''Arabian Nights'', a collection of Midd ...

Aubrey Woods Aubrey Harold Woods (9 April 1928 – 7 May 2013) was an English actor. Biography and career Woods was born on 9 April 1928 in Edmonton, Middlesex and grew up in nearby Palmers Green. He was educated at the Latymer School. His first fil ...

as Abanazar,

Ernest Clark Ernest Clark (12 February 1912 – 11 November 1994) was a British actor of stage, television and film. Early life Clark was the son of a master builder in Maida Vale, and was educated nearby at St Marylebone Grammar School. After leaving sch ...

as The Emperor,

Martin McEvoy Martin McEvoy (born 21 April 1951) is an English opera singer, producer, presenter and broadcaster. He has specialised in playing light baritone roles in opera and operetta especially those in the Gilbert & Sullivan repertoire. He broadcasts r ...

as The Genie,

Elisabeth Welch Elisabeth Margaret Welch (February 27, 1904July 15, 2003) was an American singer, actress, and entertainer, whose career spanned seven decades. Her best-known songs were " Stormy Weather", " Love for Sale" and "Far Away in Shanty Town". She was ...

as Fatima and

Christine McKenna Christine McKenna (born 1951) is a British actress active during the 1970s and 1980s, best known for playing "Christina" in the television series '' Flambards''. McKenna was a drama student at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in G ...

as Badr-al-Badur.

Background

The Aladdin story (sometimes combined with

Ali Baba "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" ( ar, علي بابا والأربعون لصا) is a folk tale from the ''One Thousand and One Nights''. It was added to the collection in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who heard ...

and other ''

Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...

'' tales) has been a traditional

subject in England for nearly two hundred years, and numerous versions of this tale have been presented. Sandy Wilson was apparently asked to write a conventional pantomime in this tradition, but he demurred. "Instead of writing a pantomime – a form of theatre about which I know very little – I decided to make ''Aladdin'' a musical, and based it on the original story in the Arabian nights." Despite this, the show closely follows the traditional pantomime story line, including the "

pantomime dame A pantomime dame is a traditional role in British pantomime. It is part of the theatrical tradition of '' travesti'' portrayal of female characters by male actors in drag. Dame characters are often played either in an extremely camp style, or els ...

" character of

, renamed Tuang Kee Chung. In fact, the cast recording memorializes several rarely-recorded aspects of a traditional ''Aladdin'' pantomime, although the plot has fewer gratuitous twists, and the songs are more concerned with plot development than is usually the case in these productions.Sleeve notes, cast recording of ''Aladdin'', President Records, 1980

Synopsis

The wicked wizard Abanazar, in his desert home in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...

, summons the spirits to tell him how he may obtain the magic lamp, the source of all power. He is somewhat bemused to discover that the source lies in a Chinese Laundry in

Peking } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

, and can be retrieved only by the launderess's ne'er-do-well son Aladdin. The ghostly chorus of the spirits takes us into the next scene, where Aladdin himself is discussing with his mother the virtues of

idleness Idleness is a lack of motion or energy. In describing a person, idle means the act of nothing or no work (for example: "John Smith is an idle person"). A person who spends his or her days doing nothing could be said to be "idly passing his or he ...

. The emperor's

herald A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of arms. Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen ...

proclaims that anyone looking upon the Princess

Badroulbadour Badroulbadour / Badr ul-Badour / Badr al-Badur ( ar, بدر البدور ', "full moon of full moons") is a princess whom Aladdin married in ''The Story of Aladdin; or, the Wonderful Lamp''. Her name uses the full moon as a metaphor for female beau ...

as she passes on her way to the baths will be instantly executed. This is just the kind of challenge that Aladdin likes, so he rushes off to try to catch a glimpse of the Princess. When he returns from his quest the Widow is relieved that he is alive, but very concerned that the young couple are in love. Everyone, including the emperor himself, has a pretty shrewd idea of what has happened – but, as he explains in song to his daughter, "Loves's a luxury" that royals must forgo for reasons of state. Abanazar's arrival seems like just the thing. He quickly convinces the widow and her son (neither of whom is very bright) that he is the boy's long lost uncle and that he will make Aladdin rich. The upshot of this finds Aladdin trapped in the cave — where he inadvertently summons the

genie Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic m ...

of the ring — a sympathetic young lady who readily agrees to take him to his mother's house, after a few tears over the sad fact that "Genies have no mothers". The Widow Twankey starts to clean the rusty old lamp which is all her son has brought home — thus summoning another, much more powerful genie who makes it clear he will do anything for anyone unless they make unkind remarks about his green colouring. In no time at all Aladdin is a prince, and happily married to the princess of his dreams. The Widow Twankey is now the Royal

Mother-in-law A parent-in-law is a person who has a legal affinity with another by being the parent of the other's spouse. Many cultures and legal systems impose duties and responsibilities on persons connected by this relationship. A person is a child-in-la ...

— and manages to dispose of that rusty old lamp to Abanazar (disguised as a pedlar). He is now the Genie's new master – and he quickly takes the palace (complete with the princess and her mother-in-law) to Morocco. Under sentence of death from the emperor, Aladdin follows the palace to Morocco with the aid of the genie of the ring, and, obtaining the lamp, he gets the palace and the princess back to their wonted places. Abanazar however follows Aladdin back to China, where it becomes apparent that in a contest of

brains The brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head ( cephalization), usually near organs for special ...

our hero hasn't a chance. A bit of old fashioned violence ("the old

Kung-Fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common t ...

") is the remedy, Abanazar is carried off by the Great Roc and all ends happily.

Songs

* The spell * Aladdin * Hang-Chow * The proclamation * Tuang Kee Po * It is written in the sands * There and then * Love's a luxury * Dream about me * Song of the genie of the ring * Song of the genie of the lamp * Chopsticks * All I did * Wicked * The dirge * Life in the laundry * Give him the old kung fu

References

Original Cast Recording — President Records PTLS 1072 (1980)

External links

Aladdin (Original London Cast) album
(1979)
Musicals at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith
{{Aladdin and the Magic Lamp 1979 musicals Works based on Aladdin Musicals based on secular traditions British musicals Plays based on fairy tales Roc (mythology)

Background

Synopsis

Songs

See also

References

External links