The last time “Aladdin” was seen in a major London theatre (it was the Old Vic) Sir Ian McKellen played Widow Twanky. In true panto fashion, the role was full of smutty innuendo. “You’ve heard of my former husband, Saddam al-Twanky? Well his weapon of mass destruction took a lot less than 45 minutes.”There’s none of that below-the-salt humour in a new stage version of Disney’s “Aladdin” (score by Alan Menken), which has just opened at the Prince Edward Theatre. For British audiences more used to transvestite dames, audience participation, and “he’s behind you!”, that might be a touch alienating, as might the American accents employed by the almost entirely British cast.But if you can get over those hurdles, there are some eye-popping moments and ear-tickling tunes. Designer Bob Crowley’s magic carpet for the Oscar-winning number “A Whole New World” is a gasp-inducing miracle of illusionist stagecraft – I’m still trying to work out how it flew - and Gregg Barnes’s Arabian-Nights-meets-Bollywood costumes are simply wondrous. The lavish processional number “Prince Ali” has more costume-changes than seem humanly possible, and then some.There’s a gigawatt performance from American performer Trevor Dion Nicholas as Genie too, which mixes childlike fun with Vegas-style razzmatazz. His number “Friend Like Me”, a dazzling compendium of all Genie’s magical talents, is an absolute blast. I don’t recall a production number ever getting its own standing ovation before, but this one blew the theatre apart.The rest of the show is enjoyably efficient in the safe, corporate way you’d expect from a Disney production, and director Casey Nicholaw keeps the action speedy and slick. Dean John-Wilson and Jade Ewen sing and dance pleasantly as the lovers Aladdin and Jasmine, and Don Gallagher injects some amusing villainy as the antagonist Jafar.For such a traditionally-structured show, it’s curious that there’s no eleven o’clock number, and it leaves the production feeling a fraction short-changed and hurried at the end. But there’s enough magic elsewhere to keep you smiling as you leave.“Aladdin” is at the Prince Edward Theatre.
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