The Magic of Aladdin

I saw this play live many moons ago when I was in my early teens. This was one of Ross Petty's yearly pantomine productions held in Toronto over Christmas. The event is excellent and certainly maintains a family focus...the actors know their audience and display the appropriate level of wit and charm. Unfortunately I have to say that this play is intended to be seen in person, and looses most of its character being show on TV (as most plays do). I'm not sure if they are still married, but world famous ballerina Karen Kain was Ross Petty's wife at the time of this filming.

Regretfully, I never got to see this play live, but I still loved it on television. My mother taped "The Magic of Aladdin" when I was eight years old and my whole family watched it repeatedly until we wore the tape out in the late '90s. Though I grew up attending amateur productions and have seen several of Ross Petty's recent productions on television, this remains my favourite pantomime of all those I have encountered. I can still quote many of its jokes verbatim.

The marvellous thing about this show is that it can be appreciated on many different levels depending on one's age. As a kid, I liked the singing, dancing, physical humour and broad jokes. But as I watched it over the years, I kept discovering acting subtleties, references and innuendos that had previously gone over my head. The topical humour and eighties fashions aged, to be sure, but everything else stayed fresh.