Mesmerising set design, champagne casting and glistening costumes, Disney’s international hit ‘Aladdin’ has finally landed in Manchester.
We all know the story, young Aladdin is down on his luck in his life as a ‘street rat’ until he bumps into Princess Jasmine in a market and everything changes. After a run in with baddie Jafar, a trip into a spooky talking cave and the discovery of a magical lamp, Aladdin’s life changes completely.
Gavin Adams perfectly portrays a lovable Aladdin with energy you’d expect from the opening show, not this far into the tour. His vocals are exceptional, absolutely nailing his solo ‘Proud of your boy’ and keeping the audience rooting for him for the whole show.
The gorgeous Desmonda Cathabel plays Princess Jasmine, radiating warmth and kindness throughout she really is giving princess. She looked amazing in the iconic turquoise two-piece and honestly if they sold adult sizes in the gift shop, I’d have been all over it.
Desmonda Cathabel as ‘Jasmine’Gavin Adams as ‘Alladin’
The chemistry of the two actors shone in their performance of ‘A Whole New World’ as the magic carpet flew through the stars. My failed attempt to understand how the illusion worked through this scene led me to one conclusion – that carpet was actually magic.
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Champagne castings doesn’t even do justice to Yeukayi Ushe as ‘The Genie’, an absolutely spellbinding performance that had the audience missing him the second he left the stage.
‘Friend Like Me’ was nothing short of jaw-dropping and i found myself on the edge of my seat with a huge grin throughout, all those around had similar reactions.
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Yeukayi Ushe as ‘The Genie’
His charisma and incredible vocals were the highlight of the show no doubt, the audience in the palm of his hand from start to finish.
A shoutout has to be made to Aladdin’s three friends, replacing the original sidekick ‘Abu’ the monkey i’m assuming due to animal cruelty related concerns. Nelson Bettencourt as Babkak, Adam Taylor as Omar and Nay-Nay as Kassim; they absolutely shine and add a perfect touch of comedy to the plot.
What’s a Disney show without an evil villain? Adam Strong makes for a very devious Jafar that you love to hate.
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The set design plays a huge part in the success of the show, transporting the audience to Agrabah through 4D illusions and attention to detail. The cave is really something, the whole stage dripping in gold and creating the perfect backdrop from the musicals best number, ‘Friend Like Me’.
It would be fair to say the show teeters on the edge of pantomime, but I mean that in the best way possible. If you ask me, pantomimes shouldn’t just be for Christmas so watching this in May felt like a real treat.
In classic Disney style, the target audience is of course children but there are enough jokes and stunning musical numbers to make it great for adults to. Colourful set designs, stunning costumes and high-energy from start to finish – you ain’t never seen a show like this.
Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty
Daisy Jackson
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure, weeks after the doors to the premium fitness facility mysteriously closed.
Around a fortnight ago, members began to arrive to their classes to find the gym on Ducie Street locked up and a forfeiture notice on the door – but at the time, Blok said that it was fighting to reopen.
Sadly, in an email sent to members today, its founder has confirmed that the studio is now permanently closed.
Blok – which has several very successful sites down in London – said that its relationship with its landlord has ‘broken down to a point where trust has been lost’.
The gym wrote that it’s been left with ‘no workable way forward’.
They said: “BLOK Manchester was a space built by our loyal and dedicated community. Whether you joined us for one class or one hundred, we are deeply grateful. You helped create something genuinely special in an incredible city.”
In the immediate future, they said they’ll be supporting the team of fantastic trainers who worked here, as well as looking after members.
Members will be contacted within a few hours with options and refunds owed.
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group
CEO and founder Ed Stanbury said: “While this marks the end of a chapter, we don’t see it as the end of our story in Manchester. We’re already speaking with developers about potential future sites and remain committed to returning to the city when the time is right.
“Thank you for being part of our story so far. Let’s shape the future of wellness. The mission continues.”
Commenting on Blok’s Instagram post – its first in almost a fortnight – people have been sharing their sadness at the closure of its Manchester site.
One person wrote: “beautiful space, beautiful staff and beautiful community.”
Another said: “Sending love to all the instructors !! :(((( gutted”
Someone else commented: “THE BEST CLASSES. I’m gutted.”
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Abbie Bartlett -
24th May 2024 
