Meet Dame Winnie Wotalotigot, played by Desmond Dube, and Kool Kitten, played by Keabetswe Motsilanyane in the Civic Theatre's end-of-year production of Aladdin

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Aladdin to dazzle Civic With lavish scenery and a top South African cast, a new version of Aladdin, promises more visual thrills and high-energy stunts than ever before at the Civic. August 28, 2006 By Thabang Mokoka A MUSICALLY modern version of one of the most popular and time-honoured "panto" legends of all time, Aladdin, is to be staged at the Johannesburg Civic Theatre through the end-of-year festive season. With lavish scenery, glittering scenes in the Cave of Jewels and a flying carpet, the magical tale about an impoverished young man who rises to the top stars well-known South African actors and promises more visual thrills and spectacular high-energy stunts than ever before. Award-winning actor, writer and comedian Desmond Dube, best known for the Sasol Amaglug-glug advert, will delight audiences of all ages in the traditionally over-the-top role of Dame Winnie Wotalotigot while Andre Schwartz, who starred in The Phantom of the Opera will co-star as the evil villain, Uncle Abanazar. Executive producer Bernard Jay cast this year's Aladdin keeping in mind "the ever-increasing popularity of the pantomime each year with teenage audiences" – so the talent will be hot and the music sizzling. "This year's panto will be more funky and spunkier than ever," says writer and director Janice Honeyman. Explosive romantic encounters are expected between Aladdin and his love interest, played by R&B singer and actress, Keabetswe Motsilanyane, better known as KB. Motsilanyane has appeared on e.tv's Backstage and in a movie alongside American star Will Smith in the movie Ali. Four-member boy band, Eden, who are known for their superb voices and harmonies, great dance steps and songs in the world of music will add their pop phenomena to the production. The four members include Jay Du Plessis, Sean Else, Paulo Azevendo and Johan Vorster. Jeffrey Sebogodi will play Aladdin's other "brother", Wishee Washee. The show is on from Wednesday, 1 November to Sunday, 31 December. Tickets for previews (1 to 5 November) range from R65 to R125 and for all other performances from R115 to R175 (exclusive of booking fees). Call Computicket on 083 915 8000 or visit www.computicket.com Special group discounted tickets for parties of 10 or more can be purchased directly from VIP Ticketing on (011) 877 6854. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za