‘TWISTED: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier’ rocked, shocked and had audiences in stitches of laughter last week at the Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium.

Twisted is a musical parody of Walt Disney’s Aladdin, and Boambee’s Lewis Hackfath gives a stunning performance telling the story from the point of view of Ja’far, the Royal Vizier.

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The show for adults packs a punch of song, dance, colourful clothing and colourful language which had the crowd on the edge of their seats from the opening act.

It’s been a tough year for everyone in theatre with Covid wreaking havoc with rehearsals and the rescheduling of shows, so when the cast finally got to perform to the community, director Lewis Hackfath and the cast jumped for joy.

“I am a big fan of the original producers of the show and wanted to direct and produce this show for the local community.

“We held auditions last April 2021 and the show was originally scheduled for September but theatres were closed due to Covid regulations.

“We had to make the agonising decision whether to cancel the show or postpone, it was emotionally and financially draining, that’s why we were all jumping for joy to finally perform in front of a live audience,” said Lewis.

The stop-start nature of rehearsals due to the pandemic had the director questioning himself.

“We were ready to go in September but theatres were closed due to Covid, so when we rescheduled for January we had to go through rehearsals all over again, with a few cast changes as well, by that stage we had heard the jokes so many times they stopped being funny.

“We questioned whether the writing was actually funny, so getting in front of an audience and hearing them laugh was a relief and an absolute joy, that instant feedback was music to my ears.

“Playing in front of an audience is an honour and we are delighted it was well received, for sure the colourful content isn’t for everyone, and it certainly isn’t predictable, which keeps people engaged,” laughed Lewis.

The audition process uncovered a local gem which impressed the casting crew.

“We were blown away by Indi Pye’s online audition, she hadn’t performed since High School, she took a leap of faith and sent in an audition clip and we were blown away.

“We couldn’t believe we hadn’t seen her before; she was a real ‘diamond in the rough’ playing Sherrazard, Ja’far’s late wife and she absolutely smashed it.

“This cast has had to overcome every obstacle imaginable to get to where they are, I am so incredibly proud and thankful of this cast for coming down the twisted path with me and was delighted to see them shine like the diamonds they are.

“I would also like to thank my assistant director Rebecca Riches for putting up with me throughout this show, tensions were very high at times, she has put so much effort into this production and many a late-night sewing costumes to make the cast look fabulous,” said Lewis.

Thomas Madden from Boambee played the role of Aladdin in a polished performance of singing, acting and comedy.

Director of the Naidu Theatre Co, Jade Naidu from Woolgoolga, swapped the director’s chair to play Princess Jasmine and captivated the audience with a stunning performance of singing, acting and satire.

Jade told News Of The Area it was amazing to be back on stage.

“It felt amazing to get back onstage after such a long hiatus with the pandemic – Lewis and the whole production team have gone above and beyond to make sure this show could go forward in the safest way possible for all involved.

“It’s such a fun, light comedy show for adults and I think audiences have been surprised at how incredible the writing is.

“It’s taken everything we know about Aladdin and referenced everything from a different point of view – it’s great fun to portray this twisted tale,” enthused Jade.

By David WIGLEY