Traditional pantomime all about the audience
MACKAY Musical Comedy Players is preparing to take audiences on a high flying adventure when it presents Aladdin the Pantomime this weekend.
Mackay
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MACKAY Musical Comedy Players is preparing to take audiences on a high flying adventure when it presents Aladdin the Pantomime this weekend.
Sue Dalton, the directer of the production, said audiences could expect to see a traditional pantomime full of fun and laughter.
"It is a comedy, with a lot of audience interaction,” Ms Dalton said. "They can expect to see colourful costumes and sets, people of all ages, from children as young as nine to adults. There will dancing, singing and lots of dad jokes.”
"A pantomime is traditionally put on at Christmas time and it is entertainment for the family. It is a type of theatre where the cast involves the audience in the action.”
The traditional Aladdin pantomime is quite different to the Disney story many people know and and love.
"The Disney story was actually written based on the pantomime and changed,” Ms Dalton said.
"This one is set in China... not set in Arabia like the one Disney wrote.
"Aladdin is a young man whose mother runs a Chinese laundry. Aladdin is what we call in pantomime a principle boy, which is a young woman playing a young man.”
There are 33 people in the cast, with adults and children as young as nine, who have been rehearsing for six weeks to learn their lines, songs and dances.
Volunteers have also given up their time to create sets and costumes to ensure the show looks spectacular.
The performance will be at the Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music theatre, at CQUni Ooralea campus, which seats 199 people, ideal for a pantomime production.
"It is actually quite an intimate space and so it is very good for pantomimes because it mean everyone in the audience feels very much a part of the action,” Ms Dalton said.
Aladdin is Ms Dalton's second production as director and she said she loved seeing what she had imagined being brought to life on the stage.
She has enjoyed working with people of all ages and looks forward to seeing them shine over the weekend.
"It's amazing how the young people step up to the mark, and the way the older people very much bring their expertise and the young ones learn from them,” she said.
ALADDIN
Mackay Musical Comedy Players presents Aladdin the Pantomime
When: Friday, February 9 - 2pm
Saturday, February, 10 - 2pm and 7pm
Sunday, February 11 - 2pm
Where: CQ Conservatorium of Music theatre, CQUni Ooralea campus
Originally published as Traditional pantomime all about the audience
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