The weather outside was frightful. But Aladdin, Sheffield Lyceum’s 2025 pantomime, was delightful, so much so that my five-year-old asked to see it again, before we’d even left the theatre.
We’d just enjoyed two hours of pure, giddy escapism. There were belly laughs, zany costumes, confetti cannons, water pistols, groanworthy puns and a life-size elephant, all part of a dazzling set. But what was it all about?
Well, Strictly Come Dancing star Kevin Clifton was outstanding as villain Ivan Tochacha who recruits poor boy Aladdin (Sario Solomon) to steal a magical lamp from the ‘pyramids of Attercliffe’. His evil plan? To become the ruler of Sheffield city centre and the best ballroom dancer of all time, naturally. Clifton still has the moves, and he busted plenty of them while quoting King Lear and making us laugh uproariously. His brilliant and, I must confess, oddly sexy performance was matched by that of Sheffield panto legend Damian Williams as Dame Dolly.
By the time you read this, Williams will have notched up 1,000 shows as a panto Dame since 2008, making Sheffield history. One can only guess how many outlandish costume changes there have been. At one point in Aladdin, he was dressed in a pork sandwich wrapper from the Sheffield institution, Béres. And nobody was safe from Dolly’s digs. She mercilessly ribbed a hapless dad from the audience, poked fun at the Crucible’s A Christmas Carol, and even at Aladdin: “Don’t laugh at him, he’s had a perm for this.”
Photo by Pamela Raith
Meanwhile, the writing and directing from Paul Hendy was superb. Jokes were multi-layered to hit different age groups seamlessly and inexorably. There was an early mention of the viral 6-7 slang that kids went wild for, and my daughter gasped in joy at the surprise inclusion of the KPop Demon Hunters’ hit Golden.
Oh, the music. As their earnest love story unfolded, Solomon and Lauren Chia as Jasmine sang beautifully throughout, while a hilarious scene involving Tochacha’s ex-girlfriend, Lorraine, had so many songs punning on her name that I lost count. Throw in a high-octane Arctic Monkeys’ track with a modified Bruce Springsteen hit Born to Pun, and all generations had a singing-in-their-seat moment.
At two-and-a-half hours, this is a tightly timed production whose second half includes a jaw-dropping flying carpet scene. And special mention must be made for Joey Wilby as Aladdin’s charming brother Charlie, and Evie Pickerill as the loveable Spirit of the Ring.
While the story gets slightly lost in the mayhem of the show’s conclusion, we left buzzing with an afterglow, truly warmed up for Christmas.
Main image by Pamela Raith
Aladdin is at the Lyceum in Sheffield until January 4, 2026. For more information, click here.
