Aladdin, at the Lincoln Theatre Royal. Cannon and Ball starred as the Chinese Policemen.
The story of Aladdin and his wonderful lamp is one of the most popular tales of all time. Cannon and Ball will be returning to the Lincoln Theatre Royal with their wonderful brand of archaic banter and knock-about humour to play the Chinese Policemen. Joining them is Robin Askwith, one of the best ‘baddies’ ever to appear in pantomime. Also starring is Michelle Hardwick (Lizzy Hopkirk in The Royal) and Rob McVeigh (star of TV’s ‘Any Dream Will Do’).
Dates, times and prices
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December Wednesday 15th 11am |
January Saturday 1st 2pm 5pm |
Front Stalls and Front Circle: £17.50
Rear Stall and Rear Circle: £15.50
Upper Circle: £12.50
Children and Over 60’s: £3.50 off all ticket prices
Family tickets and group discounts available
Newspaper articles
Cannon and Ball in city’s Christmas panto
The Lincolnite, September 15th 2010
This year’s pantomime at Lincoln Theatre Royal, Aladdin, promises to be as entertaining as ever, starring returning comedy duo Cannon and Ball.
The Christmas panto, starting December 16, will have the typical goodies and baddies, “He’s behind you!” antics, fun music and spectacular costumes.
Pantomime baddie Robin Askwith, The Royal’s Michelle Hardwick, and Rob McVeigh from Any Dream Will Do, will join Cannon and Ball on stage for the play.
Aladdin is the story of a young man who discovers a magic lamp. Inside is a genie, who will grant him three wishes.
One of Aladdin’s wishes is to become a prince, so he can marry Princess Jasmine. However, the evil Jafar will stop at nothing to get in Aladdin’s way.
Despite the show not ending until January 16, 2011, Lincoln Theatre Royal advise anyone who is wanting to watch this year’s pantomime should book their tickets now, as spaces are selling out fast.
Tickets start at £12.50, with school and group discounts available. Tickets can be bought from the Theatre Royal Box Office, or by visiting the website.
Cannon and Ball: Why we love performing in city that’s adopted us
Lincolnshire Echo, 26th October 2010
One of the country’s best-loved comedy duos Cannon and Ball will bring their own brand of family-friendly entertainment to Lincoln Theatre Royal’s annual pantomime production, Aladdin. Ryan Butcher met them.
You’re returning to Lincoln to star in the Theatre Royal’s panto for the second year in a row. How does it feel to be back?
Tommy Cannon: “Lincoln is quickly becoming our second home, really. At one time, it was Blackpool. We used to go there every couple of years when pantomimes were running for 15 weeks. But now it seems like we’ve been adopted by Lincoln, which is lovely.”
Bobby Ball: “I love Lincoln. We always get a good reaction from the audience – it’s full of nice people, and we couldn’t wait to get back again. When you walk down the street, the people know us, and they like to stop and talk to us. It’s nice. I love the Christmas Market as well – I’d never been to one before since last year, and loved it. I can’t wait to bring my wife this year.
You’ve been on the pantomime circuit for 28 years. How have things changed?
Cannon: “At one time, pantomimes would run on and on, virtually until Easter. For me, that was always too long. We associate pantomimes with Christmas and now they’re all about five weeks – tops.”
Ball: “We still enjoy panto, though. Where else can you go out there and entertain the whole family?”
Will you be injecting some of your own brand of comedy to this year’s panto?
Ball: “We do an opening five or six-minute routine, where we get to know the audience and warm them up. Then we’ll go into the plot, but come out of it every now and again for more of our own comedy.”
Cannon: “We’re a very traditional act, and we’ll try and be funny all the way through.”
The landscape of comedy has changed so much since you first came on the scene in the 1960s. How does your act stand up against the comedians of today?
Cannon: “We’ve always been family entertainment. That’s what we grew up with. In our day, if you swore you were off the show, so we don’t have any f’ing and jeffing on stage – especially if there are ladies present.”
Ball: “It doesn’t suit us to do anything other than family entertainment. It’d be wrong.
“People such as Peter Kay and Lee Evans have caught our eye as great comics though. There’s a few good lads out there.”
After 28 years doing panto, what’s one of your favourite memories?
Ball: “One year, it was my birthday, and Tommy had decided to get me a kissogram. It came to the finale and she came on stage to her own music – and she turned out to be a stripper. The place was rammed with kids and this woman started stripping off. We had to run over and put a cloak over her. I’ll never forget that.”
Oh yes it was! A great performance from the panto
The Linc, University of Lincoln
The pantomine is always guaranteed to put you into a good mood over the festive season and this year’s was no exception. On Thursday 16th December, the cast put on a spectacular performance of “Aladdin” at the Theatre Royal, a rarity for one of the first shows of the season.
It is easy to see why the show’s organisers gave the most publicity to Cannon and Ball as at times, it seemed like it was just another Cannon and Ball show. It wasn’t until someone else came on stage that you remembered it wasn’t. Despite this, the other cast members gave a captivating performance that entertained all ages.
PC Ping and PC Pong, Cannon and Ball, forgot their lines in some places and weren’t able to continue in others because they were laughing too much. The audience participation when these two were on stage was more than any other actor in the performance. They provided comedy value to the pantomine and got a laugh every time they appeared on stage.
Robin Askwith also interacted well with the crowd as the bad guy, Abanazar, especially when the audience shouted things out at him during the performance. Widow Twankey, played by Steve Barclay, was another highlight, coming out in an array of costumes that made everyone laugh at one point or another.
The script itself was changed so that the jokes involved different aspects of Lincoln. It seemed that this was something which had been done before and everyone saw the funny side of them. The story was loosely similar to the classic that we all know and although there were differences, the story flowed well and it didn’t matter to the audience that they had changed it.
The costumes were what tied the whole thing together. From the little dancers’ to the main characters’ costumes, you could tell that each one had been thought out and that great care had been taken to make sure that they were right for their wearer. The costumes were a definite highlight of the night, especially during the last scene where everyone came out wearing the same colour.
It seemed that the audience were pleased with the performance that at one point all you could hear was laughter. They shouted and chanted as much as they could and really got involved in the panto spirit. A great pantomine that kept you entertained right up until the end.