This weekend, with tickets bought sometime back in June or July, C. and I went to Birmingham to see Aladdin, starring - among other people - John Barrowman. And
Oh, and parts of it were in 3D! With 3D glasses awaiting us on every seat! It wasn't overused, but it was used enough to be satisfying, like everything else in this production. I wasn't terribly excited at having a 3D genie, but the effects worked well for a waterfall and the cave itself, plus the first part of the travel sequence in the second act. The dame was well-acted, the villain was superb, the backup dancers were eye candy, and the incomprehensible emperor was quite funny.* There was a first act finale whose choreography was out of Wicked, there were umbrellas shaped like cocktail umbrellas, there were lots of costume changes. (My only costuming objection: Aladdin's initial Tudor outfit looked really out of place amongst the faux Chinese and entirely modern outfits.) The Grumbleweeds, a comedy duo, played the Chinese policemen, in an effective series of impersonations/disguises.
There was, however, no principle boy. (
It's on for another week. Who knows? Perhaps there are a few tickets left.
* Except for how intensively ironic it was that he sang "Nessun dorma" in the process of marrying off his daughter.