With a clash of cymbals, this year’s pantomime officially got underway.Aladdin is a fairy tale set in China, which on the face of it would not seem to be especially festive. However, this story glitters and sparkles, there are bangs and snaps, and the strange creatures, beautiful princesses and magic make it as exciting as any western tale.On last Wednesday night the audience at the newly named Earl Cameron Theatre in the City Hall was mostly made up of children.And they thoroughly enjoyed themselves gales of laughter erupted from the audience throughout the evening and there was also lots of audience participation.From entering the auditorium, the theatre was gorgeous, with brightly decorated pet-dog-faced dragons overseeing the audience, their sinewy bodies seemingly wrapped around the right and left sides of the stage, while the name of the pantomime ‘Aladdin’ glittered on the backdrop, written in Chinese style script with the magic lamp floating above, used as a dot above the letter ‘I’.The story features the ubiquitous bad guy in the shape of Abanazer, played by Will Kempe, who is gloriously evil.He proclaims, in a broad West Indian accent, his desire to take over the world with the help of a magical genie in a lamp.Our hero Aladdin, who is the poor but honest son of a washerwoman, has to grow up quickly when he finds himself in possession of the lamp and of course Princess Li-Chee’s heart.Played by Julia Frith, she was straight out of the Princess Li-Chee doll box. It would be impossible to have found a more perfect Princess and this actress gave a lively, sparky performance and she has a pretty singing voice as well.The Royal Gazette’s Owain Johnston-Barnes played the Emperor, Princess Li-Chee’s indulgent father who had all the gravitas one would expect of a country’s ruler.Aladdin was an interesting choice of actor, portraying the character as less laddish and more as a dreamer.His inept brother Wishee-Washee, played by Dion Ming, was a superb foil, as was the Princess’ companion Phee-Ling, played by Donyelle Burchall who endeavoured, unsuccessfully for the most part, to keep her friend and mistress on the straight and narrow path.And the Genie was engaging and funny Latisha Lister clearly enjoyed this role.On the other side, there were the young, handsome yet oh-so-bad Wee-Keed and Hi-Wong, played by Andrew Sussman and Brandon Sousa, the perfect henchmen for Abanazer.A trio of twittish and comedic policewomen Stopee, Lookee and Lee-Sun, with Tanya Weller, Jenn Stervinou and Elaine McGlynn in the roles together with their long-suffering but short-tempered officer Mee-Nass-Tee played by Nicola Flood, wove in and out of the action providing great comedic interludes.The set designers and builders produced a lively Eastern street scene in front of Widow Twankey’s Wash-A-Rama with lots of ‘in’ Bermuda jokes in the form of plays on local businesses, with the Fee-Nix, Coopes and Rindos featuring as the other shops along the street.The widow, played with great enthusiasm by Alan Brooks, had the youngsters screaming with delight as she appeared on stage with laundry hanging off every possible appendage, and even more entrancing for the children, throwing brassieres and undies all over the stage.Perhaps the most beautiful set was at the city gates with a large tree that appeared to be glittering with lights, making it a gloriously romantic spot, while the genie’s cave was all that is mystical and magical.The singing was enthusiastic, as was the dancing.The orchestra, as always, was the backbone of the performance, not only accompanying the singing and dancing but providing sound effects and lending to the ambience of this production.This year’s pantomime certainly did the job that this annual performance should do, and sent the boys and girls home very happily, having thoroughly enjoyed this Christmas tradition.