Aladdin (1979 musical)

Aladdin
Original cast recording
Music	Sandy Wilson
Lyrics	Sandy Wilson
Book	Sandy Wilson
Basis	The Arab fable of the same name
Productions	1979 London

Aladdin, is a musical/pantomime written by Sandy Wilson for the inaugural Christmas Pantomime at the newly refurbished Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. It played during the Christmas pantomime season of 1979/80 at the theatre, (opening on 21 December 1979) and starred Richard Freeman as Aladdin, Joe Melia as Tuang Kee Chung (Widow Twankey), Aubrey Woods as Abanazar, Ernest Clark as The Emperor, Martin McEvoy as The Genie, Elizabeth Welch as Fatima and Christine McKenna as Badr-al-Badur.

The Aladdin story (sometimes combined with Ali Baba and other Arabian Nights tales) had already been a traditional pantomime subject in England for nearly two hundred years, and numerous versions of this tale have been presented. Sandy Wilson was apparently asked to write a conventional pantomime in this tradition, but (quoting from the sleeve notes he wrote for the cast recording):

"Instead of writing a pantomime — a form of theatre about which I know very little — I decided to make Aladdin a musical, and based it on the original story in the Arabian nights"

Despite this, the show actually does follow the traditional pantomime presentation of the Aladdin story quite closely — including the "pantomime dame" character of Widow Twankey (renamed Tuang Kee Chung for the programme). In fact, as a cast recording was released, this is a valuable record of what a traditional Aladdin pantomime (albeit one by a composer/lyricist/playwright of superior talents) is like. To be fair, the plot has fewer completely gratuitous twists, and the songs a little more to do with the plot, than is usually the case with a "pure" Aladdin pantomime.

The wicked wizard Abanazar, in his desert home in Morocco, summons the spirits to tell him how he may obtain the magic lamp — source of all power. He is somewhat bemused to discover that the source lies in a Chinese Laundry in Peking, and the launderess' ne'er-do-well son Aladdin. The ghostly chorus of the spirits takes us into the next scene, where Aladdin himself is discussing with his mother the virtues of idleness.