LEE MEAD

by Joan

 

Here I am back home after a fab Christmas with family.

After such wonderful hospitality I decided to treat my hosts

to the panto in Brum only 30miles away - so almost local.

 

We set off early just in case there were hold ups on the motorway.

This meant we arrived early and had time for a drink. It was lovely

to see lots of Chitty posters and flyers with Lee’s name on them

as well as the panto posters. It was a nod to what we have to look

forward to next year.

 

I am jealous after reading Jane’s review because our seats were

in the rear of the stalls. Still central and a good view to enjoy the

magic carpet ride with Aladdin.

 

The lights went down and the action started with a very dramatic

Abanazar, aka Marti Pellow as we have never seen him before.

 

It was not long before our humble hero appeared on stage looking adorable and a bit boyish in his blue costume.

However beneath that blue tunic there was a man filling the blue velour tights. #faint  Lee can pull off boyish charm but even in those boyish costumes his manly body is not hidden.

 

References to 'Any Dream Will Do' were peppered throughout the show and of course The Keeper of the Ring, aka Julian Clary had some teasing one liners during Lee singing it. I don’t know how Lee manages to keep a straight face sometimes.

 

The duet with Aladdin and the Princess was hilarious.

 

Matt Slack is perfect as Wishee Washee. He was still recovering from his sore throat but he threw himself into the role. #Literally

 

I love the Genie of the Lamp. Tall, dark and with a funny black country accent. Yes, it’s Black Country NOT brummie.

(ed's note: spoken like a brummie girl.)

 

At the end of the show my family was enthusing about the whole show. They loved it. #phew They were even talking about it the next morning so I recon this proves Aladdin is a hit.

 

I hope I didn’t reveal too many spoilers. I encourage everyone to see this no matter what age you are -

you will love it!

 

by Petrus

 

I'll start by saying I don't think I'm a panto lover, so I'll just comment on the Lee bits!

 

He was in mighty fine shape and voice; he can carry off a tunic and crushed velvet leggings like few others in my well-studied opinion.  ;)

 

I would have loved to hear more singing, but this really was a panto about the special effects and wizardry and the actors supported that. Julian Clary even made the dry comment that they would vacate the stage for the 3D, though why wouldn't we prefer to see actors? But it is all about the mix of styles for this show, whereas last year was more traditional. I liked the dark start, but that wasn't the flavour of the show, so don't worry if that's not your thing. It soon lightens and gets very silly. I was bemused about it being China and the Pyramids, but its Panto, so I decided to drop any historical accuracy of reference and opt for 'in the moment'. 

 

My advice for this show is that if you have yet to get tickets and if there are any more available, gravitate to the stalls, front left. It's a 'Lee' corner and *ahem* if there are going to be any costume malfunctions during a certain scene, he may need your support.  ;)

 

I think Jane summed up how he handled the above scene!

 

Lee's a good sport; they use him to bounce all their jokes off, most at his expense, and he pulls the faces and keeps in time with them. He's a good comedy straight man, like Ernie Wise was. You don't have the great comedians like Eric unless you have an Ernie.

 

I see why Matt Slack is so popular, he is likeable too. JC, I wonder if he's just there for the money this year (my opinion), and Marti as the baddie - great shot at it; he's just got to decide whether he's Scottish or not (that's my Mother's opinion). I couldn't care less as he filled panto villany pretty well.

 

For me, I wish Lee had spent the whole show in the final white costume - both the blue and gold had their highlights.

But the white one, that was panto perfection!