Aladdin (Cabaret)
at Caper's Dinner
Theatre until Dec 24, 1997
Reviewed by Kate
Herbert around Dec 2, 1997
The Silly Season is upon us and theatre restaurants such as
Caper's in Hawthorn are the venue for large groups of tipsy bank tellers to
compete for attention with the performers on stage.
Collette Mann has leapt from the little screen to a box set
not much larger to feature in a bizarre version of Aladdin with John Finlayson,
Paul Baden and Steve Kidd. Mann plays the lusty Genie and doubles as Mini Lee,
a Chinese Princess.
Things Chinese may seem out of context with Aladdin, but
this show is full of incongruities. Aladdin (Kidd) is the son of Widow Twanky
(Finlayson), owner of a Peking Chinese takeaway shop. The villainous Lebaneezer
(Baden) arrives to wreak vengeance on Peking by using the genie of the lamp to
turn all take-away into Lebanese felafel and hommus. Strange? Indeed it is.
Mann is at her best when she is left alone with the audience
to prattle, tease and ad lib with the vocal drunks who seem to think they are
funny. It would have been beneficial to the show is she had been given more
freedom to detour from the script.
There were a few
missed opportunities to drop in 'Prisoner' references, the most obvious being
when Mann was chained in a dungeon. We awaited with baited breath a chorus of
"You used to bring me roses" but Bert Newton and 'Good Morning
Melbourne/China' were the butt of all the asides.
This panto, written by Babs McMillan and Gary Down and
bastardised by the cast, is very old hat but nonetheless manages to be
entertainingly trashy. "This is a helluva way to earn money," quips
Mann. Finlayson does his wacky bit in drag as the panto dame dropping in his
favourite Flanagan and Allen songs and routines.
The show is riddled with old vaudeville routines and tunes,
bawdy jokes, painful puns, ˆtrashy choreography, musical comedy songs and some
mildly racist gags such as "I'm not as dim as I sim". Pauline Hanson
would love it - if she could keep up with the pace.
Mann is at her best when she is left alone with the audience
to prattle, tease and ad lib with the vocal drunks who seem to think they are
funny. It would have been beneficial to the show is she had been given more
freedom to detour from the script.
There were a few
missed opportunities to drop in 'Prisoner' references, the most obvious being
when Mann was chained in a dungeon. We awaited with baited breath a chorus of
"You used to bring me roses" but Bert Newton and 'Good Morning
Melbourne/China' were the butt of all the asides.
There are a few witty political references such as 'putting
poker machines into all the remaining Victorian primary schools' but the
musical numbers are the most successful component of the show. Steve Kidd, a
talented singer/ entertainer, does a terrific musical comedy medley with Mann.
The other drawcard is the fabulous menu.
KATE HERBERT
No comments:
Post a Comment