Aladdin, at the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford. Cannon and Ball starred as the Chinese Policemen.
The review below is from Bradford’s Telegraph and Argus.
The first night of an Alhambra pantomime is Bradford’s equivalent of a West End opening. The theatre is never more alive than when it’s filled with a thousand screaming voices.
This year’s show gave them plenty to shout about. Traditional, northern pantos are what the Alhambra does best – and this show topped even last year’s blockbuster.
That can’t have been easy; the Chuckle Brothers are a hard act to follow, especially given the dearth of TV performers prepared to consider panto these days. However, in this year’s stars, Cannon and Ball, the Alhambra has got probably the best in the business. Not all the children out front knew who they were at first. Two and a half hours later they were old friends.
Their wonderful three-on-a-wall routine, performed on TV in the Eighties and originally conceived for Morecambe and Wise, is worth the admission price just by itself.
The producers have clearly been at pains to assemble a ‘someone for everyone’ cast; Kulvinder Ghir from BBC2’s Goodness Gracious Me pops up as the genie, and Heartbeat’s Tricia Penrose is the princess.
But the most interesting casting is that of Sooty and Sweep, in their first pantomime appearances. Their puppeteer, Liana Bridges (pictured below), is an excellent comic foil for Tommy and Bobby.
The staging is lavish even by Alhambra standards, and there’s an effective flying carpet sequence towards the end. (Though, of course, there’s no fooling the kids. “Look – I just saw the strings.”)
The little Sunbeam dancers are as much a Bradford tradition as fish and chips on a Friday, and this year, looking as if butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths, they twirled their paper parasols to a cute arrangement of George Formby’s Chinese Laundry Blues.
It’s Cannon and Ball who make the show what it is, though. Bradford is their heartland; they and the audiences work in the same key. If the youngsters didn’t know them it was because they’re not on telly as much these days – but that’s telly’s loss. Northern comedy, sadly, is a lost art outside cities like ours.
David Behrens
Brochure
Cast (in order of appearance
Jafar – MAURICE THOROGOOD
Bellony – LIANA BRIDGES
Soluzen – KULVINDER GHIR
Aladdin – JOHN CUSWORTH
Widow Twankey – MICHAEL SHARVELL—MARTIN
Chinese Policemen – CANNON & BALL
The Emperor – TREVOR JONES
Princess – TRICIA PENROSE
Dancers
Nathan Clarke, Caroline A Fallis, Carol Finch, Ben Hand, Alison Higgins, Kristian Jenkins, Eric Larsson, Kelly Stapler
Sunbeams
Blue Team – Sam Packham, Eleanor Greenham, Christopher Richardson, Emma Seward, Fiona Spencer, Ruth Parfett, Sophie Bohanna, Heather Slammon, Bethany Smith, Holley Burns
Purple Team – Alex Brown, Amy Gibson, Sam Brown, Catherine Anderson, Katie Stanley, Tessa Greeman, Jessica Marsden, Phoebe McDowell, Catherine Rayner, Imogen Fisher, Jessica Berrisford, Joshua Packham, Alexandra Green, Lorna Fisher, Heather Still
Director / Choreographer – ALAN HARDING
Musical Director – SIMON COLES
Lighting Designer – GRAHAM McCLUSKY
Company Stage Manager – PHIL HARRISON
Deputy Stage Manager – DEE LE CARR
Assistant Stage Manager – JAMES WELSH
Wardrobe – T1MOTHEA BENFIELD
Act One
SCENE ONE – The Magic Sphinx
SCENE TWO – The Market Place in Bangkok
SCENE THREE – A Street in Bangkok
SCENE FOUR – The Palace Gates
SCENE FIVE – Outside the Palace Gardens
SCENE SIX – Palace Gardens
SCENE SEVEN – A Ravine in the Mountains
SCENE EIGHT – The Cave of a Thousand Sighs
Act Two
SCENE ONE – Window Twankey’s Laundry
SCENE TWO – The City Wall
SCENE THREE – Aladdin’s Palace Garden
SCENE FOUR – Outside Palace Gardens
SCENE FIVE – Aladdin’s Palace Garden
SCENE SIX – The Flying Carpet
SCENE SEVEN – Jafar’s Lair in Arabia
SCENE EIGHT – Finale
Production Acknowledgements
SOUND EQUIPMENT supplied by The Music Co
LIGHTING EQUIPMENT supplied by Playlight
TRANSPORT supplied by Paul Mathew Transport
DRY ICE supplied by Ice Cooling
MAGIC CARPET supplied by Flying By Foy
Musicians
MUSICAL DIRECTOR/KEYBOARD – Simon Coles
BASS GUITAR – Barry Rickarby
DRUMS – Alex Yates
TRUMPET – Dale Gibson Snr
TENOR/FLUTE – Gary Hargreaves
Cannon and Ball
Tommy Cannon and Bobby Ball are one of Britain’s funniest and most successful double acts. In a career spanning over 25 years they have achieved a string of honours that includes them among the all-time greats of show business.
On television they have starred in their own series practically every year since 1979. They have also ‘guested’ on all major shows including Wogan, Parkinson, Des O’Connor, Sunday Night at the Palladium and several Royal Variety Shows. They featured in a BBC documentary Funny Business based on double acts, which also included footage of comedy legends Martin and Lewis, Laurel and Hardy, and Morecambe and Wise.
To add to their pedigree, they remain the only act to have won three separate National Club Awards and be named as the Variety Club ‘Personalities of the Year’. Their feature film The Boys in Blue, in addition to its cinema success, has gone on to become a video best seller. The boys have also been the subject of This Is Your Life!
During the 1970’s they built a strong reputation around the UK cabaret club circuit for being a great live act. They also toured extensively in the hotel circuits of Australia and South Africa.
Tom and Bob have broken records in theatres all over the UK, including London. In 1981 they played a six-week season at the Dominion Theatre. Every seat was sold before the show opened, and in 1988 their pantomime Babes in the Wood broke all previous
pantomime records at the world-famous London Palladium, where Cannon and Ball created the record for the largest box office amount taken in one week in British theatre history.
Rock With Laughter ’96 fulfilled Tommy and Bobby’s ambition to star in their own rock ‘n’ roll spectacular, their first summer season for producers AMG.
After an extensive autumn tour and a trip to Israel, the boys played the Chinese Policemen in Aladdin at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle and again at the Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton.
They have appeared on many major TV shows including The Des O’Connor Show, Noel Edmonds’ House Party, Talking Telephone Numbers and The Generation Game.
In the spring of 1999 the boys appeared at various theatres across the country starring in An Evening at the Music Hall, whilst continuing their tour of An Audience With.
The boys played full houses at their summer season at the Blackpool Grand Theatre last year; the season was one of the most successful summers Blackpool has ever had!
The 1999/2000 pantomime season saw the boys play the Regent Theatre, Stoke on Trent in the production Cinderella, with Melinda Messenger and Britt Ekland. This Christmas they are delighted to be performing as the Chinese Policemen in Aladdin here at the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford.
Even after nearly 30 years of making people laugh, Tommy and Bobby are still enjoying every minute and are looking forward to entertaining for many years to come.
Tricia Penrose
Tricia has played the role of Gina Ward in Heartbeat since 1992.
Tricia first found fame at the age of 14 starring as Damon Grant’s girlfriend in Brookside. She then appeared in Boon for Central Television and further acting roles included Split Ends and How To Be Cool for Granada Television, Cresta Run for Park Village, Katy’s Story for WDR Germany, Isn’t Life a Pain for S4C Wales and Help for the BBC.
Tricia’s most recent television work includes roles in hit programmes such as Medics, Emmerdale and Coronation Street. She also appeared in Terraces for the BBC and Coasting for Granada Television, and in a special feature for This Morning with Richard and Judy called ‘Pardon My French’.
Tricia had a fantastic time appearing as Lisa Stansfield in Granada Television’s Celebrity Stars in their Eyes, and her performance attracted over 17 million viewers!
Tricia has extensive musical experience. Before joining the Heartbeat cast she fronted a band that toured the club circuit, and she often performs at charity events and corporate nights. Tricia’s cover version of the Supremes classic ‘Where Did Our Love Go’, as featured on Heartbeat, was a hit single in December 1996, and she would love to pursue the musical side of her career further.
The 1998/99 pantomime season saw Tricia play the lead in Snow White at the Tameside Hippodrome, a role she reprised for the 1999/2000 season at the Billingham Forum Theatre. Tricia is delighted to be playing the Princess in Aladdin at the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford.
Kulvinder Ghir
Best known for the hit comedy series Goodness Gracious Me, Kulvinder Ghir has enjoyed an extensive career in television, film and theatre.
Most recently Kulvinder was seen in The Waiting Room at the National Theatre. Other theatre credits include The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Royal National Theatre, Theatre deComplicite), The Tempest, Who Shall Be Happy, Uganda at the Royal Court Theatre, and Blue Helmet at the Edinburgh Festival. Kulvinder has also starred in Thatcher’s Children (Bristol Old Vic), The Winter’s Tale (Royal Exchange, Manchester), Blood (Royal Court Theatre, Manchester), The Mystery Plays (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield), Romeo and Juliet (Albany Theatre), South Pacific (Belgrade Theatre, Coventry), Torpedoes in a Jacuzzi (Leeds Playhouse) and Hot Summer (National Theatre).
Television appearances include Food for Ravens (BBC), The Bill (Thames TV), Out of the Blue (BBC), Chef (Crucial Films for the BBC), The Chief (Anglia TV), Casualty (BBC), G.B.H. (Channel Four), A Sense of Guilt (BBC), At Home With the Braithwaites (Yorkshire Television), and True Crimes (Granada TV). He has also appeared in two series of Waterfront Beat, two series of Howard’s Way and five series of The Real McCoy.
Kulvinder has also appeared in It Won’t Change My Life, Samsara, and Goodness Gracious Me, all for BBC Radio. Film credits include Rita, Sue and Bob Too, Lucky Sunhil, and Northern Crescent.
Kulvinder is delighted to be playing Soluzen in Aladdin here in Bradford this Christmas.
Liana Bridges and Sooty
Liana, along with Richard Cadell, took over as Sooty’s co-presenter in July 1998, and has been engaged on a hectic schedule ever since. She has appeared with Sooty on countless television and radio programmes, in hundreds of newspaper interviews, and has accompanied him on many public as well as private visits to hospitals and schools all over the United Kingdom. They have been special guests at No 10 Downing Street!
In autumn 1999 she and Richard joined Sooty on his annual theatre tour Sooty’s Treasure Hunt and also presented his new Granada Television series Sooty Heights which is currently in its second series.
In 2000 Liana has been on the road again in her one-woman show—The Sooteries, followed by another tour with Richard of Sooty’s Magic Farm.
A lifelong fan of the little yellow bear, she was brought up in Harwich, Essex, where she spent her childhood performing with drama and musical theatre groups. After taking her A-levels, Liana went on to train at Mountview Theatre School in London, where she received a.diploma in Theatre Arts. Her first job took her to Manchester where she now lives.
Other roles include Louisa Phillips in the first interactive CD ROM movie, The Darkening, and Lily in the boy band TV series The One. She has also appeared in the film Julie and the Cadillacs, several TV commercials and national tour of Aspects of Love.
Liana is a regular pantomime performer around the country—last year she played Genie of the Ring in the E&B production of Aladdin at the North Wales Theatre, Llandudno.
John Cusworth
John comes from Hartlepool where he qualified as a FA Referee. He gained a BA (Hons) degree in Performing Arts before training at the Mountview Theatre School where he was awarded the singing scholarship. Recent theatre credits include Eddie Lyons in Blood Brothers for Bill Kenwright, Kenickie in the national tour of Grease with Luke Goss, John Hinkley in Assassins at the Man in the Moon Theatre and Robin Hood in Babes in the Wood at Kilmarnock Theatre.
Michael Sharvell-Martin
Michael is probably best known for his portrayal of Trevor, the sherrydrinking neighbour in BBC TV’s No Place Like Home. He has appeared in a wide range of popular television shows including The Dave Allen Show, Yes Minister, The Two Ronnies, Terry and June, Are You Being Served?, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, Dad’s Army, The Benny Hill Show, Mike Yarwood, Little and Large and The Kenny Everett Show. As well as these credits he also recently appeared in The Alexei Sayle Show, Murder Most Horrid, Close Relations, Prince Among Men and Out of Sight for Carlton.
Theatre includes Twelfth Night, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Lady Windermere’s Fan, Middle Age Spread, The Secretary Bird, What the Butler Saw, Don’t Rock the Boat and A Bedful of Foreigners for the Mill at Sonning. He has also toured with Derek Nimmo’s Company to the Far East in Don’t Dress For Dinner and Absurd Person Singular.
Michael’s West End appearances include When Did You Last See Your Trousers at the Garrick and Don’t Dress for Dinner at the Duchess Theatre.
For the last twenty-five years he has shaved off his moustache and played Dame in pantomimes such as Aladdin in Oxford and Lincoln, Cinderella in Wimbledon, Stoke, Richmond and Newcastle, Goldilocks and the Three Bears in Canada, Bournemouth and Newcastle, Dick Whittington in Bristol and Bournemouth, Mother Goose in Chichester and is delighted to be playing Widow Twankey in Aladdin here in Bradford.
He collects theatrical memorabilia concerning Henry Irving and Ellen Terry and he is Chairman of the Irving Society.
Maurice Thorogood
Maurice was a television film editor before winning a scholarship to RADA where, as an honours graduate, he won the Ronson Award. From acting and directing in children’s theatre, he moved into repertory. Theatre appearances include Relative Values (opposite Anna Neagle), My Giddy Aunt (Mollie Sugden), Pyjama Tops and Bedside Manners (John Inman). Favourite roles are Frank (Educating Rita), Owen (Clouds), Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights) and Dracula (title role). In summer 1996 he appeared in Same Time Next Year and The Tilting Ground premiere at the Mowlem Theatre, Swanage.
Film and television include The Bitch, The Jigsaw Man, Chance in a Million, Up the Elephant and Round the Castle, Let There Be Love, Grandad and Rentaghost. In 1994 he filmed The House That Mary Bought (with Susan George) and The Way to Dusty Death (mini-series). He also narrated History’s Mysteries for the Discovery Channel. Maurice worked with Michael Caine in the feature film Shadow Run and more recently appeared in the popular television series Heartbeat.
Maurice recently completed a summer season of Run for Your Wife playing Sgt Troughton at the Mill at Sonning. He has appeared in pantomime with Frankie Howerd, and played villain roles in Dick Whittington, Aladdin, Babes in the Wood (two seasons with Cannon and Ball), Robinson Crusoe (four seasons with David Essex), and played an Ugly Sister in Cinderella at the Grand Theatre, Swansea. Maurice has directed and appeared in Dick Whittington at the Lewisham Theatre, The Three Bears at Reading and Robin Hood at Darlington. Last season he returned to the Alhambra where he opened in Dick Whittington.
During the summer, Maurice directed and appeared in Let’s Go Pantomime and Hot Chef Show for Haven Holiday Parks. He has his own production company, Splice, and throughout the year has been directing promotion videos. He has appeared in four previous pantomimes at the Alhambra, and is delighted to have been asked back to his favourite venue for a fifth season.
Trevor Jones
Trevor was lucky enough to star opposite the legendary Phil Silvers in the UK production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Prior to this Trevor had appeared as a schoolboy in the film Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush directed by Clive Donner. His West End appearances include Jesus in the original production of Godspell at the Duchess Theatre and Sandy Wilson’s The Boy Friend at the Comedy. He is particularly proud of the fact that he was chosen by Steven Berkoff to play the role of Mum in East during its run at the National Theatre and in the West End.
Trevor is no stranger to regional theatre where he has played Brabantia in Othello and Lord Fellamar in Tom Jones at Worcester; Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest and Teddy Deacon in The Ghost Train at Colchester; Roger in Outside Edge at Leatherhead; Osric in Hamlet at Nottingham Playhouse and Leo Hubbard in The Little Foxes with the late Jill Bennett, Hero in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; Bobby in Company; Count Carl Magnus in A Little Night Music; three productions of Side by Side by Sondheim and Buddy in the Dublin production of Follies.
National tours include Rooster in Annie and Judus in Jesus Christ Superstar.
Television appearances include: Private Schultz; The Bill; Clare and Auntie’s Niece directed by John Gorrie; Happy as a Sandbag for the BBC and Thorn in the Flesh directed by Mike Newell for Granada. He also appeared in a second film for director Clive Donner, the epic Alfred the Great.
He was guest singer on the highly successful concert tour Hollywood and Broadway starring Lorna Luft and has recently completed a workshop production and recording of Dracula— The Musical playing Van Helsing.
Trevor has been a principal member of Miss Helen Watson’s Olde Time Music Hall for the second year running at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury, and has just returned from headlining Enter the Guardsman on the QEII.
Dancers
Nathan Clarke
Caroline A. Fallis
Carol Finch
Ben Hand
Alison Higgins
Kristian Jenkins
Eric Larsson
Kelly Stapler
The Sunbeams
The Sunbeams have been selected from Sara Packham Studios and West Yorkshire Dance Academy. The schools pride themsleves on their strong RAD training and offer pupils a wide choice of dance and theatre skills including ballet, tap, modern, jazz, pas-de-deux, drama and singing.
The teachers — Sara Packman, Mary Fielding, Gail Marsden, Nikki Bohanna and Christopher Houseman believe every child is special and endeavour to help each and every one to fulfil their potential. Former pupils have gone on to further their training at the Royal Ballet School, Elmhurst, Hammond School and Central School of Ballet, to name but a few.
The girls and boys are very excited to be performing here at the Alhambra, and hope you enjoy Aladdin.
Alan Harding
Alan’s experience covers all aspects of the industry from commercials and videos to trade, fashion, television and theatre. He has in the region of 30 theatre shows and in excess of 40 television series and specials to his credit. The shows range from children’s television to household favourites like Live at the Palladium; Summertime Special, six series of Barrymore and no less than 10 Royal Galas including VE Day “Live for Peace”; The Queen Mother’s 90th Birthday Show and Prince Charles’ 50th Birthday Celebration, which was recorded live at the Lyceum Theatre in London with appearances by Robbie Williams, Geri Haliwell and Peter Ustinov to name but a few.
Recent theatre credits include the highly acclaimed Spirit of the Dance which is currently enjoying sell out tours of America and Europe; Boogie Nights starring Shane Richie; Happy Days – The Musical, working closely with the star of the television series, Henry Winkler and One World, the new show, directed and choreographed by Alan, produced by the Spirit of the Dance company.
Jon Conway
Jon was born on a circus, and his early career as a performer took him from there to comedy magic and straight acting in TV soaps, before becoming a producer/director at the tender age of twenty-four. Since then, together with Nick Thomas, their Qdos Entertainment Group company has become one of the major production houses in the country and is also responsible for managing many of today’s leading performers.
He is particularly proud of helping to develop the stage careers of many of the today’s top comedy performers, most notably: Bobby Davro, Brian Conley, Shane Richie, Billy Pearce, Joe Pasquale and The Chuckle Brothers.
Jon has personally staged innumerable summer shows, concert tours and pantomimes, including a gala at the RSC and the Blackpool Centenary Spectacular before Her Majesty the Queen.
Every year, over one million people see a live show he has written or directed. Jon’s favourite form of entertainment is pantomime and he is acknowledged as one of the leading authorities on the subject with over one hundred of his scripts being staged. His favourite production is Peter Pan with Leslie Grantham and Joe Pasquale, which has run for seven years.
He has also devised many shows for BBC TV including Public Enemy, Rock With Laughter and the children’s hit for • The Chuckle Brothers, To Me…To You.
In collaboration with Shane Richie and Terry Morrison, Jon wrote (and also directed) Boogie Nights — the 70’s Musical, which toured the UK several times and enjoyed a successful run at the Savoy Theatre in London’s West End. Jon was also responsible for the first ever stage production of Happy Days, based on the hit TV series which toured Britain, Australia and America.
Simon Coles
Since leaving York University in 1994 after three years of making weird noises, Simon took the logical step of making not weird noises as a dance band keyboard player. Since then, things have improved, taking him to the dizzy heights of Halifax Victoria Theatre and Scarborough’s Tap and Spile public house to name but two.
More recently he had been working on a number of recording projects in his home studio. Simon’s ambitions include Film/TV work, expanding his studio to a full professional facility, and world domination by next April.
Graham McClusky
Graham works as a freelance Lighting Designer from his hometown of Lincoln. He lives in a quiet village just outside the town, next to one of the most active RAF bases in the country. He also owns a Lighting Consultancy which deals with architectural and interior decorative projects and travels a great deal around the UK and abroad.
His theatre work includes a wide variety of productions, concerts, musicals, pantomimes, comedies and plays. He has lost count of the total number of shows but over 300 to date would be a reasonable estimate! Graham has worked on productions throughout the British Isles, London’s West End, Canada, the USA and on Broadway. Some of his architectural lighting work is conducted in the Middle East consulting on major building projects.
Graham started his career at the Northampton Rep, having successfully completed a technical and lighting design diploma course at LAMDA. He joined the reopened and refurbished Lincoln Theatre Royal in 1976. Later, he was invited to take the post of Lighting Designer at the Harrogate Theatre about two years later, where he stayed for several years.
Graham lit the smash hit musical Buddy currently at the Strand Theatre, London. He has also lit several overseas productions including USA tours, Minnesota, the Broadway production, Canada and all UK tours. More recently Graham has spent a great deal of time working in Blackpool preparing a season of summer shows which included Goosebumps the stage version of the highly popular children’s books and TV productions, Legends a long running season of lookalike star acts and The Comedy Zone, a comedy club style cabaret with star turns, magic and dancing. Recently Graham lit the ever popular Little Shop of Horrors for the Haymarket, Basingstoke and Run For Your Wife at Bournemouth and it’s national tour.
Recently Graham acted as consultant for the US tour of Buddy.
He is delighted to be involved with E&B Productions again this Christmas on three of their Pantomimes: Snow White, Belfast; Jack & the Beanstalk, Nottingham and Aladdin, Bradford. He is a member of the Association of Lighting Designers and the United Scenic Artists Local 829 New York.