FLYING carpets, magical jewellery, daring adventures and a flamboyant evil villain. What’s not to like about the evergreen tale of a lad on a quest to woo the girl of his dreams.
A project of Enfiniti Academy (Enact’s Youth-On-Stage musical theatre apprenticeship programme), Aladdin: A Musical Comedy is back for a second run (hence the Reloaded moniker) and is still, if not more, a fun and stimulating experience.
Currently running at Petaling Jaya Live Arts in Jaya One till Sunday, director Joanna Bessey, music director Llew Marsh and choreographer J. Redza, spared no expense in making sure that the colourful production would be an interactive treat for the young ones that filled the venue.
From a huge dazzling digital screen that portrayed the various settings in the background and various props setup in the audience area to an actual flying carpet and heady dance routines, it was a cosy staging packed with loads of production values.
The musical numbers both big and small had the children dancing and cheering along (catchy tunes, including Uptown Funk, Thriller and the mandatory Disney hit, A Whole New World, were some of the showstoppers).
There was plenty of audience participation as well and the young ones were encouraged to make a whole lot of noise, something that they didn’t really need much prompting to do!
One of the highlights of the show was certainly the jokes. For the children, there were slapstick, simple non sequitur and in-your-face gags. But parents and adults were also treated to more mature humour, hilarious innuendoes and stand up-like laughs — all very Malaysian and touching on current local and global issues.
This rendition of the classic tale saw Mixed Martial Arts exponent Peter Davis channeling Mike Myers’ Dr Evil persona as the entertainingly over the top power-hungry wizard Abanaza. On a quest to attain the legendary magical lamp, he seeks out a pure-hearted lad (Aladdin, played by Jayson Phuah) who is the only one capable to physically retrieve it.
This brings him into contact with Aladdin’s mother, the Widow Twanky, a role hilariously realised by Rashid Salleh and his brother Wishee Washee (Brian Chan).
Along the way, Aladdin gets help from the Genie of the ring, played by Tria Aziz and has to save the love of his life, Princess Kim K (Alesia Dhana who showcased a terrific singing voice).
The core cast delivered the goods as expected but the ensemble of Enfiniti Academy’s children and youngsters did a great job too. There was much cheering for the good guys and booing of the villains during the two-hour musical (with a 15-minute intermission).
The cast clearly enjoyed themselves onstage and their infectious comedic energy certainly spilled over to the audience, which made for a fun and memorable outing to the theatre for all of the families in attendance.