Word: aladdin
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...Pamela Anderson, the weight of expectation must seem pretty light. After all, the former Baywatch star has been heralded more for her infamous sex tape with ex-husband Tommy Lee than for her acting ability. Perhaps that's why, starring as the genie in the Christmas pantomime of Aladdin at London's New Wimbledon Theatre, she comes off so carefree and jubilant and manages to upstage a cast of two dozen actors and dancers, some of whom obviously have far more stage experience than her. "I'm here to serve you, Master," she says to an awestruck Aladdin after...
...those living outside Britain, the pantomime (or panto for short) can seem like a bizarre, and perhaps inappropriate, Christmas tradition. In the shows, theater companies take popular children's stories such as Aladdin, Cinderella and Snow White and spice them up with audience participation, cross-dressing, double entendres, sexual innuendo and deliberately hammy acting. Big stars have become a staple of the most lucrative shows in recent years - Henry Winkler, a.k.a. the Fonz, is currently starring as Captain Hook in a pantomime of Peter Pan in Liverpool, following in the footsteps of actors like Steve Guttenberg and Mickey Rooney. When...
...Aladdin, the gags come thick and fast - and that's even before Anderson wiggles and writhes across the stage in black stockings and pink platform shoes, "singing" Christina Aguilera's "Genie in a Bottle." In an early scene, Widow Twankey, Aladdin's transvestite mother whose outlandish outfits rival those of Lady Gaga, recounts why she had to return her antiperspirant to the local pharmacy: "The instructions said, 'Take off top and push up bottom.' I can't be doing that...
...while the former Playboy centerfold may not be witty herself - she's following a script, after all - she does inspire humor in others. "What is your wish, Master?" she says, kneeling before Aladdin. On opening night, a rather bawdy audience member shouted one suggestion (in a theater filled with children, mind you): "Get her to rub yer lamp...
...Ever the good sport, Anderson is able to dust off the slight and have the last laugh - a hallmark of a career in which she has overcome criticism for two leaked sex tapes, two high-profile divorces and 12 stints on the cover of Playboy. After Aladdin becomes wealthy in the show, she advises him to remain wary of supposed friends who seek to profit off his fortune. "Evil hands are everywhere, and they desire to get a hold of everything you own," she says, clutching her celebrated breasts. "They usually belong to people who work in the tax office...