Nick’s first experience of panto had been when he was 12 watching his sister dance in their local hall, and he felt no connection to the show. But at the age of 30, when he was doing children’s television, he found himself in Plymouth working with Chris, Bernard Cribbins and other great performers, creating new routines and bringing the age-old story to life. He “realised that pantomime was something quite magical.”
It seems fitting that Nick has now established a great rapport with Jon Monie at Bath Theatre Royal, where Chris was the much-loved and admired Dame for so many years, regularly teamed with the rubber-faced comedian in one of the great panto partnerships.
Soon after the death of Chris Harris, who was one of the greatest dames of all time, as well as a supremely knowledgeable panto historian, Nick came to Bath to play the dame. He and Jon hit it off and went on to make pantomime magic for the next four years. A Covid-enforced break and last year’s Cinderella (with no dame) meant that Nick missed two years at Bath, but it is good news for local fans that they are back together again this year in Jon’s new version of Aladdin, running from 8th December to 8th January.
Nick is a touching and lovable Dame, (Widow Twankey this year), cuddly and sweet-natured, but with a nicely acerbic edge, while Jon is the archetypal “village idiot” style knockabout comic (Wishee Washee in Aladdin).
The trio of leads in Aladdin is completed with the arch-villain, the wizard Abanazar, played by Tom Lister, a long-time star of television’s Emmerdale, with a wide-ranging list of stage plays and musicals to his name. His early acting career included a leading role in the powerful drama, The Accrington Pals, in Leeds. He was spotted by the Emmerdale producers and auditioned successfully for the role of Carl King, a part he played for nearly 10 years, ending with a dramatic death in an episode that was broadcast live.
More recently, Tom had the leading role for two years in an acclaimed production of 42nd Street at Drury Lane, which was screened at theatres and arts centres around the country.
He always dreamed of having a major role in the West End and 42nd Street saw his dream come true – performing on London’s biggest stage, with a huge cast, orchestra and back stage crew. “I really had to pinch myself,” he recalls.
In pantomime, you take off the shackles, he says, “and have the best time of your life. You can be as camp as a row of tents and enjoy every moment.” It is “one of the most rewarding things you can do on stage.”
In preparation for his role as Abanazar – one of pantomime’s most glamorous villains – he has been chatting to members of the Magic Circle and is really looking forward to Christmas in Bath, which he calls “chocolate box heaven.”
Jon Monie, who lives in Wiltshire and has been a star of Bath pantomime since 1996, has established himself as a successful and in-demand pantomime writer. As well as a one-off Little Mermaid for Butlins, he has written four pantos, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Peter Pan and this year’s Aladdin. All are in production this year, with Aladdin also at Sunderland and Aylesbury. He has tweaked the familiar Arabian Nights story – the Bath audience doesn’t want radical reworkings: They want a good traditional story-led family panto.” So we can expect the Spirit of the Ring, the Genie of the Lamp and a magic carpet. But he has made some subtle changes – Princess Jasmine, played by panto debutante Kaysha Nada, will be more feisty and have more to do than the usual rather shallow love interest for Aladdin (Alex Aram, in his first full professional panto). There is no PC Pong, but the Emperor (Michael Chance, returning after Baron Hardup in last year’s Cinderella) has a much-expanded role.
Predictably, pantomime is Jon’s busiest time. The rest of the year, (when he isn’t writing a new Christmas show) he is, he says, “a jobbing actor, a bit hand-to-mouth,” picking up work here and there. This year that has included a “very small” part in a period drama being filmed in Bath (no spoilers – we don’t know which!)
But now, for Jon, Nick, Tom, Kaysha, Alex and Michael, it’s full on for the pantomime – oh yes it is!
Photographs by Freia Turland
