00:00Hiya, we are four members of the cast of Aladdin the Rock and Roll Pantomime.
00:05Yes, playing at the world-famous City Varieties.
00:08Yes, with music, song and dance until the 11th of January.
00:12That's right, another one!
00:14Well, what to expect from us.
00:18Lots of rock and roll music, great fun for all the family.
00:22Classics, hits, a bit of Whitney.
00:26Good Whitney.
00:28And yeah, a bit fallen over from me.
00:32A little bit, I don't know.
00:34This is my first time doing the Rock and Roll Panto, so I'm very excited.
00:39And I'm learning what you can expect as well as audience, I think.
00:43And it's definitely an excellent, fun show in lots of ways.
00:49You can expect lots of music, lots of instruments.
00:51We all play instruments, different instruments throughout the show.
00:54We're all playing the main characters in the traditional story of Aladdin.
00:57Although set in Leeds this year.
00:59So the lamp had moved to Leeds thousands of years ago.
01:03And the evil Abanaza is on the search for it.
01:06And enlists the local Leeds lad to try and find him at the lamp.
01:11But the added benefit, as I'm sure you all know with City Varieties, is that it's a live band.
01:17So when we're not playing our scenes and our character at the front, we're in the band supporting everybody else with the eclectic mix of pop, rock, Motown this year.
01:29It's not just amazing for the kids and, you know, it's all really funny, like Panto is and should be, but it's also like a concert.
01:37So people come and people come to specifically rock out with us and hear these amazing hits played by a ten piece band.
01:46So it has that mix that you don't really expect, but it works.
01:51I wish that we all have the stamina to get through what is a really challenging schedule so that we're able to sing and dance and act to our best to give everyone the Christmas fantasy that they deserve every single show.
02:08There's something so lovely about being part of someone's Christmas.
02:12And so my wish is that those families that come and it's part of their tradition, that would be my wish, that it's everything they wanted to be.
02:22And we're doing the best to create that.
02:26So the director Rob says it's like one third is us, one third is the script and the other third is the audience.
02:32So kind of it doesn't exist. It doesn't exist without the audience and especially the lead's audience.
02:38I mean, you've both been lucky enough and maybe you guys have to do them elsewhere and it's just a different experience at different places.
02:45I wish that during the show, throughout all the performances, that the audience get up and dance with us because we love that.
02:54Like when we see it on stage, we see the audience getting up and having a great time and that's just the best feeling ever.
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