'Imagine me in high heels the whole time. I'll need a lot of practice!" laughed Desmond Dube. That's quite a picture.
Expect lots of comic hanky panky from the Dame Widow Twankey because she (actually he) is none other than the ama-gluglug man and star of TV's Dube on 2. This ace comedian is no stranger to drag (one of his TV characters is a Hillbrow hooker) but being the Dame in Janice Honeyman's pantomime Aladdin will be very different.
"I'm very excited," said Dube in-between business meetings. "Doing this will take the sweat off the corporate, industrial and TV work. I need to be on stage again; it's been two years. It's such a fun role to play. As a black mamma it will be hot!"
He steps into the traditional shoes of veteran actors Michael Richard and Phillip Godawa who have played this role in previous productions of Honeyman's Aladdin.
That doesn't mean it's the same script. The Queen of Panto gets bored with doing the same story so third time round this Aladdin is brand new. Expect plenty of zany changes in this fairytale.
Dube played a major villain in Honeyman's Cardboard City and a mouse in her Sleeping Beauty.
Now he's the lead in her annual fiesta of fun. Why? "He's funny, very popular and I work well with him. Having a big fat Mama as the Dame is important to me. It's part of my policy of making South African pantos."
Joining in the panto mania are popular singer, and award-winning Phantom of the Opera star, André Schwartz as the swarthy villain Abanazar.
R&B sensation KB (Keabetswe Motsilanyane) plays the magical Slave of the Ring.
Jay du Plessis returns to the title role of Aladdin, only this time he is joined by his fellow musos of the pop band Eden - Sean Else,Paulo Azevedo and Johan Vorster - as Aladdin's beefcake brothers. Super tapper Jeffrey Sebogodi (who was Woodstock in Snoopy!!!!), is Wishee Washee, completing the Widow's brood of unlikely boeties.
Aladdin is produced by the Johannesburg Civic Theatre and runs in the Nelson Mandela mainstage from November 1 to December 31. This production is choreographed by Timothy le Roux with Heidi Edeling as musical director. Book at Computicket.