Billie Kay and Danny Adams. Credit: Paul Coltas
MEET CLIVE AND DANNY – STARS OF NEWCASTLE THEATRE ROYAL’S ALADDIN
Grace Hatchell reporting, fingers numb, notebook full, heart warmed by slapstick.
Some partnerships are written in the stars. Others are written in custard pies, collapsing cars, and twenty solid years of panto chaos. Father-and-son comedy duo Danny Adams and Clive Webb are back at Newcastle Theatre Royal, this time with a brand-new Aladdin, and if you think that sounds like business as usual — think again.
Q1. This year’s panto is Aladdin – tell us what’s in store for audiences?
Grace notes: every year they say “brand new” — and every year, somehow, they mean it.
Danny:
“It’s a brand-new pantomime, and it’s fantastic! It’s based on the story of Aladdin, but it has a North East, Newcastle feel to it. It’s been completely rewritten for our audiences. The people who’ve been coming to the panto every year will know what to expect – it’s going to be bigger and better than ever before.”
Q2. How good is it to have a loyal Newcastle audience?
Grace notes: this is where the Geordie love letter usually begins…
Danny:
“Each time we do the panto, the audience embrace it – there’s no place in the country like Newcastle for the pantomime. For our style of comedy, the daft and silly slapstick, the Geordies are the best audience, they’re the daftest people around – in the best possible way.”
Clive:
“I’ll second that – brilliant audiences!”
Grace notes: stamped, sealed, unanimously daft.
Q3. When you started out in panto, did you foresee you’d be doing it for 20 years at Newcastle Theatre Royal?
Grace notes: spoiler — absolutely not.
Danny:
“We only came here for one year: Cinderella with Jill Halfpenny, and at that point we had no idea it would turn into two decades. Then we got asked back, and asked back again, and here we are, 20 years later!”
Clive:
“It’s been marvellous – I just hope there will be another 20 years.”
Grace notes: Newcastle quietly nodding, pencil already pencilling them in.
Q4. Looking back over 20 years, how have things changed and how have you developed the panto?
Grace notes: from whoopee cushions to wizardry.
Clive:
“The pantomime has changed a lot. From when we started, the spectacle of the panto is now huge.”
Danny:
“The special effects and technology are now a different level, but the comedy and slapstick is still the same. I’m not saying it’s old fashioned, there’s a modern twist on it.”
Clive:
“Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, all that sort of stuff – still, all these years later, people laugh at it don’t they?”
Danny:
“Yes, but nobody else does it. You don’t see this type of humour anywhere else — pantomime has got a uniqueness about it.”
Grace notes: if it ain’t broke, throw glitter at it.
Q5. What is it that makes panto at Newcastle so special for you?
Grace notes: say it together now…
Both:
“The audience!”
Danny:
“The pantomime does get bigger and better every year, and people embrace it. It’s turned into this huge tradition, and it’s known across the country as being one of the biggest and best in the business.”
Q6. Is it like one big family?
Grace notes: cue misty eyes and backstage banter.
Danny:
“It’s great working with my dad, and brother Mick and the whole team because over the years, we’ve had a lot of people join, like Joe, and we’ve got a real connection. And the fun we have on stage is genuine — being close friends, it’s just great.”
Q7. Tell us about a memorable moment from the past 20 years
Grace notes: never trust a lever.
Clive:
“We have a comedy car which drops to bits, the whole thing falls flat. I pull a lever, and a mudguard will fall off… then something else… and the final one, you pull a lever and the whole thing goes. It’s usually about an eight-to-ten-minute routine. I came on and pulled the wrong lever and it all fell to bits — and we had eight minutes to fill while they were changing the scene behind us. Eight minutes is a long time!”
Grace notes: somewhere, a stage manager aged ten years instantly.
Q8. How much are you looking forward to it being your 20th anniversary?
Grace notes: this one matters.
Clive:
“Every year we say we can’t wait, but this year, with it being our 20th anniversary and with it being a completely new twist on Aladdin, it’s going to be fantastic!”
Danny:
“It’ll be running for eight weeks, and it will be bigger and better than ever!”
Aladdin plays Newcastle Theatre Royal until Sunday 18 January 2026.
Tickets are available via the Theatre Royal website or the box office on 0191 232 7010.
Grace signs off, brushing glitter from her coat: twenty years, one lamp, infinite chaos — and honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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