FROM THE HASTINGS OBSERVER - FRIDAY 18th DECEMBER 2009

Panto is back in Hastings and Friday's opening night suggested Aladdin could be excellent - but this season's curtain-raising performance was a mixture of the good, the bad, and the baffling.
 
The time - worn tale of the young Aladdin trying to win the beautiful princess's heart is a familiar festive favourite, and the producers have wisely not tinkered too much with a winning formular.
 
Much has been made of Leslie Grantham's star turn as the dastardly Abanazar - and it takes just ten seconds for the first EastEnders gag of the evening.
 
Grantham stalks the stage with evil aplomb and at his best is a tremendous villan. Elsewhere Neil Toon's Aladdin has the powerfull voice and boyband goodlooks befitting of a leading male and is well matched with Seanette Garcia's Princess Jasmine, who is sweet and sassy in equal measure.
 
Noel Andrew Harron brings an endearing enthusiasm to Wishee Washee, as well as some smart physical comedy, and Drew Baker's Widow Twankey is everything a panto dame should be and more (but his When Harry met Sally moment - which mercifully goes over the heads of the kids in the audience - will linger in the memory)
 
And body-popping, ghetto wannabes Ping and Pong keep proceeding bouncing along with their Ali G style schtick, and Neil Brennan is great as the Genie.
 
Add in a superb set, which whisks us from the royal palace to the Peking market place, and some slick topical references and some belting musical numbers and Aladdin should have been superb.
 
But on the night the Observer was there, problems with the microphones persisted throughout, cutting out during songs to the apparent frustration of the cast and audience alike, and when lines were fluffed the cast did not seem quick enough to banter through it with any success.
 
And one joke in particular crossed the line from bawdy panto humour into clumsy racism - the producers would be well advised to cut it from future performances.
 
But maybe these are grumbles that can be ironed out - young Axal Kelly of Rye, who was sitting behind me, shouting and screaming to his heart's content and said it was the best panto he had ever seen. So what do i know?