| aladdin_programme_notes.rtf |
Aladdin Programme Notes
The Settings
There are a number of locations within the story of Aladdin. When we enter the theatre a midnight blue curtain, sprinkled with sequins like stars, is closed over the stage. The word Aladdin, written in silver sequins, twinkling as they catch the light, curves like a constellation across the deep blue of the night sky. A large circle with an abstract pattern in crimson and blue is marked out on the floor of the stage throughout all the scenes. The orchestra play live music from a pit below the stage.
Abanazar’s Lair:
Before the curtain rises we see through it to Egyptian hieroglyphics in vertical lines, to indicate we are in Egypt. A huge head of a Pharaoh dominates the centre back of Abanazars lair, with a tomb or sarcophagus patterned with geometric designs, in front of it. When we revisit the lair the tomb has gone and a gold throne with a silky green cushion, a fan of purple feathers at the back is centre stage. Behind to left and right are two gold braziers, from which coloured smoke pours.
Old Peking
This is a hotchpotch of brightly coloured buildings festooned with flowers. On each side, red and yellow Chinese-style houses with steeply sloping green roofs are built into the rocky mountain face. In the centre, stone steps lead up to a green and white tiled temple with a tiered red roof. On each side of the steps, white oriental pillars with ornate roofs are covered with leaves and blue forget-me-nots.
Outside the City
We briefly visit other streets in Peking, where steep alleyways are connected by wooden rope bridges. Houses are tightly packed together. Narrow red banners with yellow Chinese writing line the streets and at the sides tall, slanting parasols protect wicker baskets full of spices and other goods, laid out on rugs. These images are all painted on a backcloth and the action takes place in front of them.
Twankey’s Laundry
Twankey’s Laundry is a motley collection of wooden buckets and wheels, joined by metal pipes to create a huge contraption, overflowing with soap suds. It’s painted onto a backcloth where are also painted shelves, stacked with towels and sheets and clean washing waiting to be collected. One bucket is labelled WASH, another RINSE, an old fashioned mangle is set to the left with rollers which actually turn. Sticking out centre stage is a recognisable front loading washing machine, with a door that opens.
A Peking Backstreet
Later there’s a different view of Peking which also features high houses, this time made of wood and reached by ladders as well as narrow curved bridges over streams.
The Royal Palace Gardens
At home in her Peking Palace, Princess Jasmine sits on an ornate bench in a moonlit oriental garden in shades of lilac. Behind her, is a pair of covered bridges, draped with purple jasmine flowers. Two golden lanterns nestle among the blooms. Some of the windows in the surrounding buildings, which are covered with lush vegetation, are lit up. A central flight of stairs leads up to the interior of the palace.
Outside the Cave
There are rocks painted on the right and real steps lead up to an archway, which is blocked by a large rock. Mountains are painted behind it. On the left is a painted bridge, with painted river beneath and snow covered mountains beyond.
The Cave of Wonders
Inside the cave the steps, hewn out of rock, descend on the left. The interior is surrounded by dark grey, solid rock. All is dim and gloomy until the treasure is revealed.
The Egyptian Desert
This is another painted backdrop with onion-domed buildings, tents, palm trees and an actual pointed Arabic arch centre stage.
The Cast
We first meet the villain, the wizard Abanazer. Abanazar is tall and imposing, dressed all in black. His slim-fitting tunic has dull gold buttons down the front – over it he wears a floor-length leather coat and black leather fingerless gloves. His black trousers are tucked into his knee length black boots. Abanazer has sleek, short, fashionably cut light brown hair and a small beard of the same colour and regular, manly features. He stands with his feet wide apart and throws his arms in the air, striking a dramatic pose. For the wedding scene his black tunic is covered by a patchwork cloak in shades of pink and lines with deep pink. Abanazar’s part is played by Earl Carpenter.
Scheherazade, the enchantress, wears a sparkly white chiffon outfit. The skirt, which is calf length, reveals her belly button. Her bodice, very low cut, with small capped sleeves, comes to below her bust and is covered in glittering jewels. The skirt starts on her hips, so her bare midriff and belly are revealed. She wears harem pants under the skirt. She has a high white feathered headdress which springs from a bejewelled cap on her head and she wears her long blonde hair is a side pony tail. Her outfit is completed by silver bangles and high heels. She has delicate features and a kindly expression. Later in the play she wears an almost identical outfit in a pretty shade of pink. Faye Tozer takes the part of Scheherazade.
Aladdin
Aladdin wears a brown waistcoat and a white shirt, with brown velvet trousers tucked into brown, knee-length boots. He is a pleasant faced, slender young man with short, dark-brown hair and regular features. Later he is transformed, appearing in an all gold outfit, gold trousers tucked into gold boots, a gold tunic and gold cloak. The tunic is encrusted with sparkling jewels and he wears a small gold hat with a gold feather, on his head. Another outfit features a pale blue tunic trimmed with gold and pale blue trousers. The hero, Aladdin, is played by Aaron Hayes Rogers.
Princess Jasmine, played by Jayne Wisener, is richly dressed in a floor-length, red brocade dress, seamed under the bust, and falling in a straight line to the floor. It’s decorated with gold. The sleeves are narrow to the wrist then end with long wide cuffs, which hang down to the ground. She has high heeled gold sandals and a red and gold headdress. Around her neck is a deIicate ruby necklace. Later she wears a similar outfit in blue and gold and later still she wears a gold brocade gown. The princess has long, straight dark hair. She is slim and petite with delicate features and large eyes.
The Emperor is a shortish man with a commanding manner. He has heavy black eyebrows, a Chinese mandarin’s long black moustache which droops down on either side of his mouth and a thick black pigtail. The Emperor wears an impressive full length scarlet robe, with a dragon picked out in gold sequins on the front. The robe is trimmed with gold and he wears with a huge matching headdress with a wing on each side and a central column. Later he wears a deep blue robe trimmed with silver, with a large Chinese character appliquéd in silver on the front of his torso and an equally extravagant headdress. When it comes to the wedding scene the Emperor is resplendent in silver. The part of the Emperor is taken by Paddy Jenkins.
PC Ping Pong is played by Jimmy Tamley. He is a talented ventriloquist and appears with a variety of ventriloquist’s dummies, for whom he speaks, seemingly without moving his lips at all. He wears a Chinese style police uniform. It’s a light blue Chinese tunic over loose trousers. Both tunic and trousers are trimmed with blue and white check. On his head he wears an English-style hard police helmet with a flashing light on top. He wears small black boots on his feet and has a pleasant open face, fairish hair and is of medium build. For the wedding his uniform is silver trimmed with pink and he wears a silver helmet.
Ping Pong’s ventriloquist dummies. PC 68 wears an identical outfit to PC Ping Pong but it is all in miniature. PC 68 is the size of a large doll about ¼ the size of PC Ping Pong. He has a shock of white hair which stands up on his head. Another dummy is a boxer. He has long skinny legs, and long red satin boxer shorts with red boxing gloves and red boxer boots with white laces. His torso is bare and he has a tuft of orange hair, as well as cauliflower ears. His body looks as though it could be made from stuffed brown tights. Later Pong brings on a baby dummy in a multi-coloured baby-grow with hood. He also introduces an orang-utan with a ruff of orange hair around a happy face with an enormous smile. His only piece of clothing is a bright, boldly patterned tie around his neck.
The undoubted star of the show is May McFettridge, who plays the part of Widow May Twankey. May’s face is square with big cheeks and a large nose and she has a beauty spot close to her mouth on the right of her face. Two of her front teeth are missing. Hers is a dumpy figure, almost as broad as she is long. May Twankey is dressed in a series of extravagant and fantastic costumes. First we see her in a hooped skirt, the hoop itself a rotary clothes line, supsended from her waist, with socks and other articles of clothing pegged to it. Under this hoop she wears yellow trousers and her bodice front, which is also yellow, has ‘scrub up’ written across it in large letters. The bodice has huge leg of mutton sleeves in yellow and the top is decorated with black and white check bunting. She wears white stockings and black pumps. Her hair is styled in stiffly sculpted coils of black over each ear and the small hat perched on her head is in the form of a washing line emerging from a basket of laundry with clothes suspended from the line. Later she wears an orange striped outfit comprising a loosed tunic with blue frills at the bottom, and also on the ends of the sleeves and a blue collar. Her frilly drawers show underneath the hemline and a fabric washing machine appliquéd to the front. With it she wears white stockings and flat pumps. Another outfit of May’s consists of a short hooped skirt in patchwork colours of white and blue and greenish grey with a white apron over it and striped green and grey caps to her sleeves. The dress is trimmed with mustard and she wears pantaloons beneath it. She is stunning in a bright pink chiffon sequinned dress with a purple chiffon scarf round her neck and prominent large bosoms. Her hair is still black but this time it falls straight to her shoulder with a fringe and her bright red lipstick matches the vibrant red flower in her hair. She sports gold slippers on her feet. As part of the court she appears in a full length bright blue robe embellished with large silver butterflies and tied with a silver belt. The robe has a slit up one side and she sports a silver bow in her long, straight black hair. For the wedding she is splendid in a full-length purple and silver robe with an enormous head dress over her sculpted blonde wig.
The genie is a large puppet, twice the size of Aladdin. His features are large and caricatured, very ugly, with a huge nose, big curled lips, prominent eyes and sticky-out ears. He has a blue body trimmed with gold and a gold belt round his middle. His torso seems solid but below the belt is a waft of fabric which narrows at the bottom as though a wisp of smoke has emerged from the lamp and spread out as it rises. The puppeteer is never visible.
The chorus consists of four men and four women and eight children from the McMaster stage school. The women all wear straight black wigs in a bob with a straight heavy fringe across the forehead. The men have conventional hair styles and colours. To start with they all wear brightly coloured Chinese tunics with loose, wide trousers. The bright yellow, red and blue costumes are decorated with contrasting patches and trimmed in contrasting colours. The children of the chorus also wear coolie style hats perched on the back of their black bobs. The princess’s attendants, all women, wear elegant, tight straight silver dresses with slits up the side to reveal a deep pink lining. They are trimmed with sparkly sequins. At one point they all become policemen, even the children, and wear the same outfit as PC Pong, a light blue Chinese tunic over loose trousers. Both tunic and trousers are trimmed with blue and white check. Later in the Magical cave the chorus becomes the jewels which Aladdin finds, with their gold costumes embedded with huge sapphires, rubies and emeralds. The women wear gold yokes at their necks, also encrusted with jewels and their headdresses are high and loaded with gems. The men have naked torsos over their rich loose pants and small hats. Sometimes the chorus become Abanazar’s guards. Then they all ape their leader, wearing long black coats and knee high black boots. The men have dark trousers underneath, the women black tights. They wear silver helmets and glittering silver breast-plates. When Aladdin appears in his gold outfit the small members of the chorus are also in gold, with gold cloaks and tunics and small hats. There’s a dual between some of Abanazar’s guards and Scheherazad’s belly dancers who are dressed in blue and yellow chiffon harem pants, with sequinned belts around their hips and bra tops from which dangle golden discs and which reveal their midriffs. Their dark hair is decorated with an encircling band. For a dance routine the women wear gold leotards with a flurry of red feathers emerging from behind and red feathers on gold caps on their heads. They have long gold gloves, gold sandals and fans made from red feathers. For this sequence the men wear top hats and tails with red cummerbunds matching the red trim on their top hats and their red bow ties. As members of the court some of the chorus wear deep blue robes, decorated with silver, which match the Emperor and May’s robes. Finally for the wedding scene the children are tricked out in purple chiffon suits with gold yokes and gold hats. The adult chorus wear pink harem pants, and bra tops, if women and slaves trousers with bare torsos, if men. The women wear enormous pink feathers in their head-dresses.
Aladdin was directed by Jonathan Kiley, Mark Dougherty was the musical director and lighting design was by Mark Clutterham. We hope you enjoy the show. Please remember to be in place 10 minutes before the show starts if you wish to hear these notes. It’s also very useful to test out your headset to make sure it’s working before the lights go out.
The Settings
There are a number of locations within the story of Aladdin. When we enter the theatre a midnight blue curtain, sprinkled with sequins like stars, is closed over the stage. The word Aladdin, written in silver sequins, twinkling as they catch the light, curves like a constellation across the deep blue of the night sky. A large circle with an abstract pattern in crimson and blue is marked out on the floor of the stage throughout all the scenes. The orchestra play live music from a pit below the stage.
Abanazar’s Lair:
Before the curtain rises we see through it to Egyptian hieroglyphics in vertical lines, to indicate we are in Egypt. A huge head of a Pharaoh dominates the centre back of Abanazars lair, with a tomb or sarcophagus patterned with geometric designs, in front of it. When we revisit the lair the tomb has gone and a gold throne with a silky green cushion, a fan of purple feathers at the back is centre stage. Behind to left and right are two gold braziers, from which coloured smoke pours.
Old Peking
This is a hotchpotch of brightly coloured buildings festooned with flowers. On each side, red and yellow Chinese-style houses with steeply sloping green roofs are built into the rocky mountain face. In the centre, stone steps lead up to a green and white tiled temple with a tiered red roof. On each side of the steps, white oriental pillars with ornate roofs are covered with leaves and blue forget-me-nots.
Outside the City
We briefly visit other streets in Peking, where steep alleyways are connected by wooden rope bridges. Houses are tightly packed together. Narrow red banners with yellow Chinese writing line the streets and at the sides tall, slanting parasols protect wicker baskets full of spices and other goods, laid out on rugs. These images are all painted on a backcloth and the action takes place in front of them.
Twankey’s Laundry
Twankey’s Laundry is a motley collection of wooden buckets and wheels, joined by metal pipes to create a huge contraption, overflowing with soap suds. It’s painted onto a backcloth where are also painted shelves, stacked with towels and sheets and clean washing waiting to be collected. One bucket is labelled WASH, another RINSE, an old fashioned mangle is set to the left with rollers which actually turn. Sticking out centre stage is a recognisable front loading washing machine, with a door that opens.
A Peking Backstreet
Later there’s a different view of Peking which also features high houses, this time made of wood and reached by ladders as well as narrow curved bridges over streams.
The Royal Palace Gardens
At home in her Peking Palace, Princess Jasmine sits on an ornate bench in a moonlit oriental garden in shades of lilac. Behind her, is a pair of covered bridges, draped with purple jasmine flowers. Two golden lanterns nestle among the blooms. Some of the windows in the surrounding buildings, which are covered with lush vegetation, are lit up. A central flight of stairs leads up to the interior of the palace.
Outside the Cave
There are rocks painted on the right and real steps lead up to an archway, which is blocked by a large rock. Mountains are painted behind it. On the left is a painted bridge, with painted river beneath and snow covered mountains beyond.
The Cave of Wonders
Inside the cave the steps, hewn out of rock, descend on the left. The interior is surrounded by dark grey, solid rock. All is dim and gloomy until the treasure is revealed.
The Egyptian Desert
This is another painted backdrop with onion-domed buildings, tents, palm trees and an actual pointed Arabic arch centre stage.
The Cast
We first meet the villain, the wizard Abanazer. Abanazar is tall and imposing, dressed all in black. His slim-fitting tunic has dull gold buttons down the front – over it he wears a floor-length leather coat and black leather fingerless gloves. His black trousers are tucked into his knee length black boots. Abanazer has sleek, short, fashionably cut light brown hair and a small beard of the same colour and regular, manly features. He stands with his feet wide apart and throws his arms in the air, striking a dramatic pose. For the wedding scene his black tunic is covered by a patchwork cloak in shades of pink and lines with deep pink. Abanazar’s part is played by Earl Carpenter.
Scheherazade, the enchantress, wears a sparkly white chiffon outfit. The skirt, which is calf length, reveals her belly button. Her bodice, very low cut, with small capped sleeves, comes to below her bust and is covered in glittering jewels. The skirt starts on her hips, so her bare midriff and belly are revealed. She wears harem pants under the skirt. She has a high white feathered headdress which springs from a bejewelled cap on her head and she wears her long blonde hair is a side pony tail. Her outfit is completed by silver bangles and high heels. She has delicate features and a kindly expression. Later in the play she wears an almost identical outfit in a pretty shade of pink. Faye Tozer takes the part of Scheherazade.
Aladdin
Aladdin wears a brown waistcoat and a white shirt, with brown velvet trousers tucked into brown, knee-length boots. He is a pleasant faced, slender young man with short, dark-brown hair and regular features. Later he is transformed, appearing in an all gold outfit, gold trousers tucked into gold boots, a gold tunic and gold cloak. The tunic is encrusted with sparkling jewels and he wears a small gold hat with a gold feather, on his head. Another outfit features a pale blue tunic trimmed with gold and pale blue trousers. The hero, Aladdin, is played by Aaron Hayes Rogers.
Princess Jasmine, played by Jayne Wisener, is richly dressed in a floor-length, red brocade dress, seamed under the bust, and falling in a straight line to the floor. It’s decorated with gold. The sleeves are narrow to the wrist then end with long wide cuffs, which hang down to the ground. She has high heeled gold sandals and a red and gold headdress. Around her neck is a deIicate ruby necklace. Later she wears a similar outfit in blue and gold and later still she wears a gold brocade gown. The princess has long, straight dark hair. She is slim and petite with delicate features and large eyes.
The Emperor is a shortish man with a commanding manner. He has heavy black eyebrows, a Chinese mandarin’s long black moustache which droops down on either side of his mouth and a thick black pigtail. The Emperor wears an impressive full length scarlet robe, with a dragon picked out in gold sequins on the front. The robe is trimmed with gold and he wears with a huge matching headdress with a wing on each side and a central column. Later he wears a deep blue robe trimmed with silver, with a large Chinese character appliquéd in silver on the front of his torso and an equally extravagant headdress. When it comes to the wedding scene the Emperor is resplendent in silver. The part of the Emperor is taken by Paddy Jenkins.
PC Ping Pong is played by Jimmy Tamley. He is a talented ventriloquist and appears with a variety of ventriloquist’s dummies, for whom he speaks, seemingly without moving his lips at all. He wears a Chinese style police uniform. It’s a light blue Chinese tunic over loose trousers. Both tunic and trousers are trimmed with blue and white check. On his head he wears an English-style hard police helmet with a flashing light on top. He wears small black boots on his feet and has a pleasant open face, fairish hair and is of medium build. For the wedding his uniform is silver trimmed with pink and he wears a silver helmet.
Ping Pong’s ventriloquist dummies. PC 68 wears an identical outfit to PC Ping Pong but it is all in miniature. PC 68 is the size of a large doll about ¼ the size of PC Ping Pong. He has a shock of white hair which stands up on his head. Another dummy is a boxer. He has long skinny legs, and long red satin boxer shorts with red boxing gloves and red boxer boots with white laces. His torso is bare and he has a tuft of orange hair, as well as cauliflower ears. His body looks as though it could be made from stuffed brown tights. Later Pong brings on a baby dummy in a multi-coloured baby-grow with hood. He also introduces an orang-utan with a ruff of orange hair around a happy face with an enormous smile. His only piece of clothing is a bright, boldly patterned tie around his neck.
The undoubted star of the show is May McFettridge, who plays the part of Widow May Twankey. May’s face is square with big cheeks and a large nose and she has a beauty spot close to her mouth on the right of her face. Two of her front teeth are missing. Hers is a dumpy figure, almost as broad as she is long. May Twankey is dressed in a series of extravagant and fantastic costumes. First we see her in a hooped skirt, the hoop itself a rotary clothes line, supsended from her waist, with socks and other articles of clothing pegged to it. Under this hoop she wears yellow trousers and her bodice front, which is also yellow, has ‘scrub up’ written across it in large letters. The bodice has huge leg of mutton sleeves in yellow and the top is decorated with black and white check bunting. She wears white stockings and black pumps. Her hair is styled in stiffly sculpted coils of black over each ear and the small hat perched on her head is in the form of a washing line emerging from a basket of laundry with clothes suspended from the line. Later she wears an orange striped outfit comprising a loosed tunic with blue frills at the bottom, and also on the ends of the sleeves and a blue collar. Her frilly drawers show underneath the hemline and a fabric washing machine appliquéd to the front. With it she wears white stockings and flat pumps. Another outfit of May’s consists of a short hooped skirt in patchwork colours of white and blue and greenish grey with a white apron over it and striped green and grey caps to her sleeves. The dress is trimmed with mustard and she wears pantaloons beneath it. She is stunning in a bright pink chiffon sequinned dress with a purple chiffon scarf round her neck and prominent large bosoms. Her hair is still black but this time it falls straight to her shoulder with a fringe and her bright red lipstick matches the vibrant red flower in her hair. She sports gold slippers on her feet. As part of the court she appears in a full length bright blue robe embellished with large silver butterflies and tied with a silver belt. The robe has a slit up one side and she sports a silver bow in her long, straight black hair. For the wedding she is splendid in a full-length purple and silver robe with an enormous head dress over her sculpted blonde wig.
The genie is a large puppet, twice the size of Aladdin. His features are large and caricatured, very ugly, with a huge nose, big curled lips, prominent eyes and sticky-out ears. He has a blue body trimmed with gold and a gold belt round his middle. His torso seems solid but below the belt is a waft of fabric which narrows at the bottom as though a wisp of smoke has emerged from the lamp and spread out as it rises. The puppeteer is never visible.
The chorus consists of four men and four women and eight children from the McMaster stage school. The women all wear straight black wigs in a bob with a straight heavy fringe across the forehead. The men have conventional hair styles and colours. To start with they all wear brightly coloured Chinese tunics with loose, wide trousers. The bright yellow, red and blue costumes are decorated with contrasting patches and trimmed in contrasting colours. The children of the chorus also wear coolie style hats perched on the back of their black bobs. The princess’s attendants, all women, wear elegant, tight straight silver dresses with slits up the side to reveal a deep pink lining. They are trimmed with sparkly sequins. At one point they all become policemen, even the children, and wear the same outfit as PC Pong, a light blue Chinese tunic over loose trousers. Both tunic and trousers are trimmed with blue and white check. Later in the Magical cave the chorus becomes the jewels which Aladdin finds, with their gold costumes embedded with huge sapphires, rubies and emeralds. The women wear gold yokes at their necks, also encrusted with jewels and their headdresses are high and loaded with gems. The men have naked torsos over their rich loose pants and small hats. Sometimes the chorus become Abanazar’s guards. Then they all ape their leader, wearing long black coats and knee high black boots. The men have dark trousers underneath, the women black tights. They wear silver helmets and glittering silver breast-plates. When Aladdin appears in his gold outfit the small members of the chorus are also in gold, with gold cloaks and tunics and small hats. There’s a dual between some of Abanazar’s guards and Scheherazad’s belly dancers who are dressed in blue and yellow chiffon harem pants, with sequinned belts around their hips and bra tops from which dangle golden discs and which reveal their midriffs. Their dark hair is decorated with an encircling band. For a dance routine the women wear gold leotards with a flurry of red feathers emerging from behind and red feathers on gold caps on their heads. They have long gold gloves, gold sandals and fans made from red feathers. For this sequence the men wear top hats and tails with red cummerbunds matching the red trim on their top hats and their red bow ties. As members of the court some of the chorus wear deep blue robes, decorated with silver, which match the Emperor and May’s robes. Finally for the wedding scene the children are tricked out in purple chiffon suits with gold yokes and gold hats. The adult chorus wear pink harem pants, and bra tops, if women and slaves trousers with bare torsos, if men. The women wear enormous pink feathers in their head-dresses.
Aladdin was directed by Jonathan Kiley, Mark Dougherty was the musical director and lighting design was by Mark Clutterham. We hope you enjoy the show. Please remember to be in place 10 minutes before the show starts if you wish to hear these notes. It’s also very useful to test out your headset to make sure it’s working before the lights go out.
