Review of Aladdin at the Sunderland Empire - Celebs Go Dating star Gary Lucy flies into Wearside for panto season

Fresh from filming the current series of Celebs Go Dating, Gary Lucy stars in this year’s festive offering where he meets his match with plenty of boos from the audience as resident baddie Abanazar.

All the panto ingredients are there: the age old tale of good vs evil, slapstick comedy, plenty of audience participation, shout outs to birthday boys and girls (look out for the panto shout out box at the Empire foyer and fill in a sheet for a mention on stage) and bucketloads of innuendo that only the mams and dads will get.

It’s a really colourful production this year, with the Empire stage framed with fretwork and drenched in colour that whisks you away from the cold snap outside, while also bringing it home with some Mackem references.

There are always familiar pop tunes in the mix, but this year’s were particularly good – The Twankies’ reinterpretation of Hey Hey We’re The Monkees was a real ear worm, as was their Easy Scrubber number to the tune of Phil Collins’ Easy Lover.

Meanwhile, there was some really energetic dancing from this year’s ensemble from the Kathleen Davis Stage School and The Worx Dance Theatre Arts in numbers such as Late Night Talking by Harry Styles and Robbie Williams’ Let Me Entertain You. Some little stars in the making, there.

Special mention too for Liam Morris as Genie of the Lamp, one of the most athletic genies I’ve seen in a long time, as he and his glittery torso bodypopped around the stage.

While most of the cast changes each year, rib-tickling duo Miss Rory and Tom Whalley have become an annual booking at the Empire panto and it’s not hard to see why. They’re a great pairing.

Miss Rory, already a favourite on the North East comedy scene thanks to her residency at Newcastle cabaret club Boulevard, is a deliciously tongue-in-cheek panto dame – and arguably the region’s most glamorous with her enviable outfits.

Larger than life, she’s a real commanding presence on stage – all 7ft of her in heels.

Yes, 7ft!

This year she’s stepping into the stockings of man eater laundry woman Widow Twankey, with Tom as her slapstick son Wishee Washee, so called because they “wished ‘e washed.”

Tom’s got physical comedy down to a tee, and his one liners are the best in the show.

Post-Covid restrictions, young audience members can join him on stage and he’s got a great rapport with them, singing them back on stage with “the bairns are back on stage” to the tune of The Boys Are Back in Town.

He provides some of the biggest laugh out loud moments of the night with the yells of “Why aye Washee” really raising the roof, no wonder the bairns love him.

The Empire has already announced next year’s panto, Beauty & The Beast, which will see the bring their cheeky brand of comedy back to the stage.

*Aladdin is at Sunderland Empire until Monday 2 January 2023. Tickets are available from the Ticket Centre on 0844 871 7615 or online at www.ATGtickets.com/sunderland