It’s the busiest season at Norwich Theatre Royal, with rehearsals for Aladdin in full swing!
I had the pleasure of witnessing them in action, seeing these incredible actors and dancers in action, and getting the chance to interview some of the lovely cast members. On day two of rehearsals, everyone was thrown in the deep end…
In one room, the main cast was running their lines, practising their vocals and learning their numbers. In another, the ensemble put all their energy and lots of sweat into learning impressive choreography.
In the first few days of rehearsals, the main task is trying to learn the songs and the dances, which can be quite challenging, especially if you are new to panto. Owen Evans, who is playing the dame in his first-ever panto, said the hardest bit about panto is the singing and dancing, “and all these young people are exhausting me! But I’m trying to keep up.” He is most looking forward to getting up on stage and being silly in front of lots of people over Christmas, as “it’s such a joyful thing to do.”
The cast is getting excited about their costumes and learning their musical numbers and lines, but they’re most looking forward to seeing the young people’s faces light up when they see them perform. Tarik Frimpong, who is playing Aladdin, says his favourite thing about panto is “how accessible it is for young people” and how it’s so many people’s first experience of panto as a child.
I delved more into the process of learning the singing and dancing with Joe Tracini, who is playing Aladdin’s brother Reg in his fifth performance at Norwich Theatre Royal. He told me, “I’ll learn the singing pretty quickly, usually around five to ten minutes, if not quicker, but the dancing takes me ten days to learn fifteen seconds. So, to do a full dance, you’re talking over a month to learn a three-minute routine.” A lot of work goes into making the high-energy performances look flawless, although the bit Joe finds the hardest about rehearsals is waking up early!
It is also the first panto for Meesha Turner, who plays one of the main characters, Jazz. She is excited to see how it plays out on stage, and she loves the high energy of rehearsals and seeing all the fun costumes. “I had my first fitting today, and I just knew I was born to wear big dresses! The spectacle of it all is just incredible.” There are so many costume changes within the panto, another thing for the cast to grasp, and costume designer Kirsteen Wythe has gone above and beyond this year. Tarik expressed his excitement about this, saying, “The costume design is amazing; there are so many colours and sparkles, but what I really like is how current the costumes are.” So, if you see Tarik wearing his costume around Norwich, he’s probably stolen it for his own wardrobe!
In total, the cast gets only three weeks to rehearse the lyrics, melodies, and harmonies of their songs, all their lines and choreography, as well as their blocking and costume changes. There is so much to do, which can be daunting and can leave them feeling overwhelmed. However, in the first few days of rehearsals, they get to meet their co-performers and find their spark with each other, which many of them agreed helps to ease the stress and makes the whole process a lot more fun.
I then got to watch the ensemble rehearse their dance routines, which were full of energy! This year, the songs are lots of mashups of some classic favourites, so you can expect to be amazed when you see them in action on stage. The pure enthusiasm of the ensemble whilst they are performing is what really brings the performance alive on stage.
We cannot wait to see the cast on the stage doing their thing and from the sneak peek, I have seen it is going to be amazing!
Written by Evie Creek, UEA Student
