Yesterday (12th Dec 09) I went to go and see Sam in Aladdin at the Theatre Royal in Windsor with my family. This was my fourth time meeting Sam and I had a very weird feeling in my stomach all day. I kept feeling ill and didn't eat anything til after the show. When we got there we went straight to find the stage door so we could run round to it in the dark after the show.
We decided to go and have a look inside the theatre and I found there were lots of flashing things to buy! I made my dad buy me a green flashing snowman, a big foam hand (like the ones from gladiators) and a programme.
After having a little walk to the shops near by it was time to go in!! As we sat waiting in our seats we sang along to christmas songs which was amusing. Then suddenly the lights went down and the curtain lifted!!
The first thing I noticed on stage was the group of girls all had wigs on that reminded me of Sam's Sally Bowles haircut, that amused me for the first few seconds and then I suddenly realised someone was singing. I looked to the right of the stage and there she was, Sam in her Aladdin costume singing 'Good Morning Oh Peking' (yes, taken from Hairspray and adapted). After an amazing first song, she introduced herself 'Hi, I'm Aladdin (slaps thigh) and this is my brother Wishee Washee (Steven Blakeley from Heartbeat).
As the show went on there were a few links to past things, such as in her second song she sang the words 'I'd do anything' and 'life is a Cabaret (sound familiar?).
It was hard throughout the show to think of her as a boy, no wonder all the little kids there were confused. Anyway, she did an amazing job at pulling it off, and anyone that said in Cabaret reviews that she can't dance, go and see Aladdin!!! She'll prove you all wrong then!!
During singing 'A Whole New World' I'm pretty sure she saw me as I was singing along and waving my flashing green snowman in the air along with my foam hand. She then looked straight at me three times during the next 10 seconds or so.
Then the magic carpet bit came!! At first they just had a normal rug on the stage, then the lights went down and she was the only one left on stage, then a 'floating' magic carpet came from the left and she jumped on it with a huge grin on her face. I knew what was coming and had said as soon as I knew she was doing Aladdin this would happen. The music began and she started singing 'So if you care to find me, look to the western sky......' yes, no points for guessing, she sang Defying Gravity!! By this time I was waving my flashing snowman (appropriately green) in the air as high as I could and singing my loudest! She kept looking my way during this song too which highly amused me haha.
The rest of the show was very amusing but extremely good! I just want to go into detail about what happened at the end as this was the most exciting bit for me (apart from the defying gravity bit).
They all came down the stairs at the back of the stage for the 'wedding of Aladdin and Jasmine scene' so when Sam and Poppy Jhakra (Princess Jasmine) came down the stairs me and my mum jumped up to give her a standing ovation! I still had my flashing snowman on and she gave
me a huge smile and then nodded at me. They then had to sing and dance and at the end they ended up being picked up. She looked straight at me and gave the biggest smile ever just before the curtain came down.
They then did the classic kids going up on stage, getting prizes bit with Toby Hull and Emu. We all had to sing Old Macdonald Had A Farm. Then the curtain went back up again as it was the end.
They all came back on and the crowd went wild. I was doing my wooing (well as well as I could as my voice had nearly gone by this point). They sang 'We're All In This Together' from High School Musical and Sam kept looking at me and smiling, and almost winking at me. This amused me and I was in hysterics. She then had to sing another song and she just about did it without laughing. Then all the cast waved to the audience and she waved at me so I waved back which made her laugh again.
I then had to get up, grab the bags of presents for her and run to the stage door. When I got there she was standing there with the door open waiting for me. I had a lovely catch up with her and gave her the presents. She signed twelve pictures I had printed off as well as the programme and flyers and she even went to go and get her little dog, Lily, to show me. I really appreciated the fact that she had given up some of her very short break between shows to see me and chat. It was awesome!!
Well done on another amazing role Sam and remember you are a star and I'll always be here supporting you through everything!!
Hats off to director Julius Green, a passionate fan of traditional pantomime, who this year brings back a Principal Boy in the title role, the wonderful thigh-slapping Samantha Barks of recent Cabaret fame. Her Aladdin can sing and dance up a storm, act the handsome hero and yet she never once leaves us in doubt that this young chap is also a truly gorgeous girl.
