PANTO season has arrived (oh, yes, it has), and this year it has brought a treasure trove of festive fun with genie-us gags for everyone.

Crowds booed, hissed, cheered, laughed and sang their way through Worcester Theatre's production of Aladdin, which showcased extraordinary acting, superb music and splitting humour.

It was only a short carpet ride for audiences from The Swan Theatre to the Arabian city of Agrabah because of the attention to detail in set design.

Aladdin, played by Ilya Akinfiev, with Jasmin, played by Esther Foga. (Image: Worcester Theatre's) A highlight moment was when the theatre used light trickery to make Aladdin, played by Ilya Akinfiev, fly on his magic carpet to save the love of his life - Jasmin by Esther Foga.

Akinfiev and Foga shared great stage chemistry and had the crowd rooting for them through their star-crossed journey in the show.

You can always tell if a pantomime is good by the reaction from the audience, and both children and adults were absorbed in the events unfolding on stage.

Aladdin before he gets rescued from the cave. (Image: Worcester Theatre's) The cast effortlessly worked with the children in the audience and kept them engaged throughout the show -- even the adults were on the edge of their seats at some points.

A cast favourite for me was Widow Twankey, played by the show's director and Worcester dame legend Ian Good.

The actor's skill in working with the audience was natural, and he strode through any stage mishaps with the swish of his wig and a cheeky wink.

It made the show still flow effortlessly despite the odd technical difficulty, and the whole cast followed his example.

Ian Good with Nathan Blyth, who played Wishee Washee. (Image: Worcester Theatre's) Every time Good was joined on stage by Nathan Blyth, who played Wishee Washee, you knew the audience was about to laugh.

Blyth was by far the children's favourite.

Numerous children around me said how much they loved how silly he was, which was incredibly heartwarming.

It felt almost like he was the audience's older brother, helping to carry us through the performance with his on-the-spot jokes.

The shows baddie, Abanazar, played by Sean Mclevy. (Image: Worcester Theatre's) The show baddie, Abanazar, played by Sean Mclevy, elicited the all-important pantomime boos from the audience - I certainly wouldn't wish to get on his bad side.

His and Aladdin's back-and-forth banter before he stepped into the cave to get the lamp was a particular favourite scene.

The leads were joined by a talented ensemble of dancers whose smiles reflected that of the audience.

A special shout to Raman Parwana whose breakdancing skills wowed us all.

Worcester Theatre's pantomime Aladdin will run until January 5.