Tuesday 2 December 1997

Aladdin (Cabaret), Capers, Dec 2, 1997


Aladdin (Cabaret)
at Caper's Dinner Theatre until Dec 24, 1997
Reviewed by Kate Herbert around Dec 2, 1997

The Silly Season is upon us and theatre restaurants such as Caper's in Hawthorn are the venue for large groups of tipsy bank tellers to compete for attention with the performers on stage.

Collette Mann has leapt from the little screen to a box set not much larger to feature in a bizarre version of Aladdin with John Finlayson, Paul Baden and Steve Kidd. Mann plays the lusty Genie and doubles as Mini Lee, a Chinese Princess.

Things Chinese may seem out of context with Aladdin, but this show is full of incongruities. Aladdin (Kidd) is the son of Widow Twanky (Finlayson), owner of a Peking Chinese takeaway shop. The villainous Lebaneezer (Baden) arrives to wreak vengeance on Peking by using the genie of the lamp to turn all take-away into Lebanese felafel and hommus. Strange? Indeed it is.

Mann is at her best when she is left alone with the audience to prattle, tease and ad lib with the vocal drunks who seem to think they are funny. It would have been beneficial to the show is she had been given more freedom to detour from the script.

 There were a few missed opportunities to drop in 'Prisoner' references, the most obvious being when Mann was chained in a dungeon. We awaited with baited breath a chorus of "You used to bring me roses" but Bert Newton and 'Good Morning Melbourne/China' were the butt of all the asides.

This panto, written by Babs McMillan and Gary Down and bastardised by the cast, is very old hat but nonetheless manages to be entertainingly trashy. "This is a helluva way to earn money," quips Mann. Finlayson does his wacky bit in drag as the panto dame dropping in his favourite Flanagan and Allen songs and routines.

The show is riddled with old vaudeville routines and tunes, bawdy jokes, painful puns, ˆtrashy choreography, musical comedy songs and some mildly racist gags such as "I'm not as dim as I sim". Pauline Hanson would love it - if she could keep up with the pace.

Mann is at her best when she is left alone with the audience to prattle, tease and ad lib with the vocal drunks who seem to think they are funny. It would have been beneficial to the show is she had been given more freedom to detour from the script.

 There were a few missed opportunities to drop in 'Prisoner' references, the most obvious being when Mann was chained in a dungeon. We awaited with baited breath a chorus of "You used to bring me roses" but Bert Newton and 'Good Morning Melbourne/China' were the butt of all the asides.

There are a few witty political references such as 'putting poker machines into all the remaining Victorian primary schools' but the musical numbers are the most successful component of the show. Steve Kidd, a talented singer/ entertainer, does a terrific musical comedy medley with Mann. The other drawcard is the fabulous menu.

KATE HERBERT

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