Merry Christmas!!

Merry Xmas from The Citrus Brothers and the rest of the Aladdin cast! There's still time to come and see us all in action - you'll love it!!

Matt and Mike

Ali has entered the Green Room

Ali is the Marketing Manager at Watersmeet and she's popped into the Green Room
to share her thoughts with us.
And the picture on the left isn't rude but if you can think of any caption ideas do let us know!
This was taken in one of the dressing rooms and she's holding a piece of dame costume!



Watersmeet(wmt): How many pantos have you been a part of?
Ali: Aladdin will be my 21st professional panto.


wmt: What's been the best moment of rehearsals so far or the build up to opening night?
Ali: There's been loads. Seeing Matt Blossom try to dance was hilarious but working with Waitrose Rickmansworth on their community performance was very special. It was great to see so many new faces experience panto for the first time.


wmt: Have you had anything testing, tricky or particularly difficult to do this week or during the run?
Ali: Working on panto is always great fun and I get to do some really fun work with the cast in the build up to opening. I took the Citrus Brothers to five different schools to do assembly and they made me laugh so much I nearly wet my pants! Another funny moment was back in May when we entered the Ricky Carnival. We don't have a budget for things like that so we made a float from a Waitrose trolley, a washing machine from an old box, the box office ladies dressed up and we borrowed a man from the council to dress up as Widow Twankey. He'd never been a dame before and I had do to his make up, which was a first for me too. We laughed so much though and took first price in the commercial category for floats! You can see our carnival adventure on You Tube - just type in being dragged up!
wmt: If you had to identify to a character from Aladdin, who would it be and why?
Ali: Probably Abanazar because he's mean and moody but comes good in the end!
wmt: What's you favourite panto and why?
Ali: Cinderella because I was Cinders in a school panto, because its the easiest panto to sell and because when we did Cinderella last year, Mark Speight was our Buttons and we will always have very special memories of him and Natasha.
wmt: How will you be feeling at the opening performance of Aladdin and how will you feel when the curtain comes down on the final performance?
Ali: I was extremely nervous on the first night, in fact I'm nervous most times I watch the show because I want it to be a good and want everyone to enjoy it so it's hard to just watch it and enjoy it myself.
Once it's all over I always say never again but after 21 pantos I guess I don't mean it! It's pretty awful once all the cast have gone and the decorations have come down. The venue goes from being full of life with the cast around and a thousand people passing through the doors everyday to post Christmas blues and it's quite depressing but we start work on the next panto in February so in some ways it feels like a panto is for life...not just for Christmas!

Pants! Pants! Pants!

Oh how rude! You can't say that.

Oh yes we can and we say it everyday at Watersmeet and last Friday night was no exception.

In fact we probably said it more because our very talented designers of our Big Pants came to the show to see their pants in action!

Kloe and Amber joined Widow Twankey for mince pies and spiced apple juice and got to see their designs up close and personal, after the evenings performance.

Well done girls. Your Big Pants have become part of panto history at Watersmeet!

Guess who's coming to panto today?

Yes there can only be one visitor we are all so eagerly awaiting today...Father Christmas!
Yippee!
And the old man of Christmas has promised to take time out from his hectic round the world in some many hours journey to make an appearance in old Peking during today's performances of Aladdin.

So let the bells ring out for Christmas and if you see a sleigh being pulled by Rudolph hovering over the Watersmeet roof you'll know why...

Our reviewer from The Stage said...

Aladdin
Published Monday 22 December 2008 at 12:40 by Scott Matthewman

Rickmansworth’s latest pantomime starts off well even before curtain up, as The Citrus Brothers warm up the audience and ensure their full engagement with the story as soon as the principal characters arrive.

Maurice Thorogood is suitably demonic as Abanazer, while John Brenner plays Widow Twankey as a Bristolian Amy Winehouse lookalike that is extremely likeable, with a natural pace to the humour that is complemented, rather than overshadowed, by the outlandish costumes.

As the romantic leads, Jonathan Eio and Kelle Bryan are suitably sweet, but when the musical numbers start they really shine. Eio’s musical theatre experience allows him to wring every nuance from the bland pop numbers Aladdin is given, while former Eternal singer Bryan demonstrates an astonishing voice that X Factor winners could only dream of.

Real star of the show, though, must be Peter Duncan as Wishee Washee. Demonstrating a boundless energy that is as infectious as it is exhausting to watch, he helps propel the audience along, which comes in especially useful at the end of the rather-too-long first act.
Combined with dynamic choreography from Louise Travis, who also plays a dual role as two very distinct Genies, the result is a delightful piece of family entertainment.

Worried of Watersmeet...

This observer had the pleasure of accompanying Widow Twankey on a shopping spree to Waitrose last Friday night.

The glamorous dame dressed for the occasion! Big Pants, outrageous hat, shiny boots and a dress that wouldn't have been out of place in Gone with the Wind.

Did she cause a stir?

No. Not a second glance, not a double take, not any looks of horror or amusement which can only mean one thing... this has to be normal attire for Rickmansworth shoppers!

Waitrose Community Performance

It's a very special time at Watersmeet today.
Our sponsors Waitrose Rickmansworth have donated over £3000 of tickets for this evenings performance of Aladdin to families who would not normally get to see a pantomime.

Waitrose Rickmansworth have also arranged for a special visit from Father Christmas this evening who will be giving all the children a gift.

We will also have our two competition winners Lauren and Kloe joining all our special guests, along with many councillors and reviewers of the show.

But, before we get to this evenings performance, the cast have another show at 2pm and then Widow Twankey will be calling into the Waitrose store to do some Christmas shopping so if you're in the aisles around about 5pm this evening, be scared...be very, very scared! This observer has been to Waitrose with the Dame before and I can only say it is an experience...