Writer and Director: Michael Harrison
While there’s something to be said for casting named celebrities in your pantomime, a far better way to gain audiences and keep them coming back year after year is by building a regular set of returning performers who consistently deliver the goods. This is perfectly illustrated by Newcastle’s Theatre Royal who now regularly has the fasted selling panto in the UK and for the past few years has had to increase the number of dates it offers it’s seasonal show. There are a number of factors that contribute to this success, but headlining it is the fantastic father and son duo of Clive Webb and Danny Adams who, with Aladdin, are celebrating 20 consecutive years at this venue in style.
Since Danny and Clive first appeared in 2005, the Theatre Royal panto family added to its regular troupe so that by 2025, the team, format and the catchphrases have all been firmly set, resulting in a reliably spectacular and hilarious night at the theatre that’s at a level all other pantomimes in the land should aspire to reach.
The rest of the regulars are of course also here. Chris Hayward delivers his usual glamourous turn as the dame with an array of costumes that are as impressive for how fast he changes into them as they are for their splendid detail and flamboyance. Joe McElderry also returns to deliver his turn as sort-of-narrator, but mainly as the butt of most of Danny’s jokes. The (literally) silent third member of Danny and Clive’s team, Mick Potts continues to steal the show without uttering a word, and Wayne Smith is back in the authoritarian role that generally leads to him being the straight man to the other wild characters. The last member of this established dream team, while neither seen nor heard on stage, has a presence very evident in the final production: Michael Harrison may be behind some of the UK’s biggest theatrical productions, but he takes time every year to return to his roots in Newcastle to write, direct and produce the Theatre Royal panto. This amazing set of seven people are all masters of their craft and long may their flawless collaboration continue.
Anyone who has seen a Theatre Royal pantomime in recent memory will know exactly what to expect and should stop reading this now to go and buy tickets. Anyone who hasn’t should continue reading, and then go and buy tickets.
This panto is Aladdin by name but bears little resemblance to what you would expect. Harrison’s scripts regularly side-line the plot in favour of giving his stars room to do what they do best, but this year he has taken it to the extreme! Yes, Danny plays Aladdin who must find a lamp which contains a genie that grants three wishes… but beyond that, all bets are off! Aladdin’s parents are Mother Goose (Hayward) and Mr Goose (Webb) and they all live in Pantomania which is ruled over by Old King Cole (Smith) and is home to a host of fairytale characters. Aladdin wants to marry Princess Jemima (a lovely Billie-Kay) but is waylaid by the Wicked Witch of Wallsend (Rachel Stanley – excellent) who needs him to find the magic lamp. With the help of The Spirit of the Ring (McElderry) and the Genie of the Lamp (Potts), Aladdin manages to defeat the villain and win the hand of the princess.
However, all of that plot takes up around five minutes of the two hour plus running time. After all, who wants plot when you can have a completely unrelated but pant-wettingly funny haunted bedroom scene complete with Hayward’s Mother Goose doing a strip tease? Or what about a totally irrelevant but gut-bustingly silly magic act featuring Adams, Webb and Potts? Or McElderry’s attempts to sing Silent Night while accompanied by Adams’s enthusiasm on a drum kit? Not to mention the random appearances of a beanstalk giant, an enormous crocodile, a giant fire-breathing dragon, a flying carpet and a wonderfully charming dancing goose called Priscilla (Oliver Moriarty). It’s all here and so much more – fabulous sets, dozens upon dozens of spectacular costumes, and superb special effects and lighting.
As the years pass, it’s difficult to continue to come up with superlatives to describe the pantomime at the Theatre Royal. Suffice to say, you will be hard pressed to find a funnier, more spectacular, more downright entertaining show this Christmas. Here’s to the next 20!
Are you still here? Why aren’t you off buying tickets?!
Runs until 18th January 2026
