Harry Summers’ Abanazar with Thomas Jennings’s Emperor in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin – The Pantomime
YORK Shakespeare Project regulars Harry Summers and Thomas Jennings often share the car journey from Malton to York for rehearsals and performances.
No such need – except for this interview, conducted at City Screen Picturehouse – applies to their participation in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin – The Pantomime.
Thomas has been appearing in the Milton Rooms pantos for more than a decade; from Saturday, Harry will be in his third show after making his debut in Dick Whittington in 2024, opposite Thomas’s King Rat.
“I think I can claim that I got you involved,” says Thomas. “Rory [regular dame Rory Queen] rang me up to ask ‘Do you know anyone who could play Alderman Fitzwarren’, and I suggested Harry.”
“The Alderman was a very nice but not terribly intelligent chap, shall we say,” says Harry. “Then last year I ended up being the third level-rated villain, as Rancid, still two spots below the giant and the witch in the villainy pecking order.
“Thomas was the giant, Buster Gutbucket, who didn’t do any rehearsals and then turned up and got all the glory!”
Harry will be joined in the cast by 17-year-old son Alexander. “I remember when he came to see Thomas as Abanazar, so this year it’s come full circle as I’ll be playing Abanazar and Alexander will be the Executioner,” he says.
In keeping with his York Shakespeare Project performances, and indeed his work at York Dungeon, Thomas tends to be drawn to darker roles. “It’s been 99 per cent baddies, and one per cent kings and fathers to the romantic interest,” he says.
Thomas Jennings’s Emperor with Isobel Davis’s Princess Jasmine in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin – The Pantomime
“Villains tend to be particularly enjoyable to play, but it’s also a challenge to find the darker elements within a good character, or the goodness in a dark character.
“This year I’m a goody, but still one who employs an executioner and orders his daughter to get married. He’s a little perplexed why she keeps refusing! In truth, the Emperor is a terrible, terrible person, but I love how panto glosses this over!
“The main thing that upsets him is Princess Jasmine getting kidnapped, but if Abanazar had come to him to propose a marriage for her, he would have been interested!”
Harry found himself recalling a past performance as evil magician Abanazar when rehearsing the role. “It’s an absolutely wonderful opportunity to play him. I saw Ian McKellen’s Widow Twankey at the Old Vic [in the 2024-2005 pantomime season], when Roger Allam was Abanazar, which was fantastic.
“In rehearsals, I was thinking ‘why does this remind me of Roger Allam?’, and then I remembered I’d seen him in the London show!”
Abanazar can be played myriad ways. “I find it interesting, having played Abanazar not that long ago, to be watching Harry now and seeing how different his interpretation is,” says Thomas. “When I approached the role, I wanted to make him genuinely dark, whereas what I’m finding interesting about Harry is the naughtiness and mischievousness that he’s bringing to the character.”
Harry, who has played such villainous roles as Shakespeare’s Richard III and Lucifer in the York Mystery Plays, rejoins: “If you play the baddie only one way – all-evil, all-angry, all-ambitious – you miss out on a lot of the jokes in there. There’s a huge enjoyment to be had in the evil in Abanazar, and it does help when you get lines like, ‘oh, I love being evil’.
“I prefer the ‘poetic justice’ that happens in panto. In this one, I don’t change my evil ways! I just get stopped from doing what I was doing.”
Harry Summers’ Abanazar with Harriet White’s Aladdin in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin – The Pantomime
Thomas comments: “Abanazar is also the anti-dame. There’s a nudge and wink to the audience, and you always get a response out of the audience, just as the dame does.”
He loves playing to pantomime audiences: “It’s interesting how every night that audience can be different,” he says. “Sometimes you get an audience where they’re waiting for someone to give them ‘permission’ to laugh, and you only need one person to make a noise to set off the ripple effect.
“Then sometimes magic can happen when an error is turned into something that is then used every show. Different actors work in different ways, and for some if they have to veer off script, they’re gone, but Harry and I have both been actors at York Dungeon, where we can keep to the script but you should expect to go off script too.”
Coming next for Harry will be Black Treacle Theatre’s Anne Boleyn, playing the dual servant roles of Parrott and Simpkin in Howard Brenton’s exploration of Anne as a revolutionary figure through James I’s perspective, at Theatre@41, Monkgate, from March 3 to 7.
Thomas will be going on tour with Parrabbola, performing Shakespeare works. Watch this space for more details to follow.
Joining them in Mark Boler’s cast for Aladdin will be Harriet White’s Aladdin, Isobel Davis’s Princess Jasmine, Rory Queen’s Widow Twankey, Tom Gleave’s Wishee Washee, Mark Summers’ Genie of the Lamp and Annabelle Free’s Spirit of the Ring, among others.
“We’re also reliant on the army of volunteers who do the set building and back-stage work and make such an important contribution behind the scenes,” says a grateful Harry.
Malton and Norton Musical Theatre in Aladdin – The Pantomime, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 1.30pm, 5.15pm; Sunday, 2pm; January 20 to 23, 7.15pm; January 24, 1pm, 5.15pm. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
“If you play the baddie only one way – all-evil, all-angry, all-ambitious – you miss out on a lot of the jokes in there,” says Harry Summers, pictured in rehearsal for his role as Abanazar
