When it was announced that Pamela Anderson would be starring as Genie of the Lamp in the Pantomime at the Liverpool Empire this year, high expectations set in.

Last year, we had The Fonz himself, Henry Winkler, who was taken straight into the city’s heart. For Pam to match such a high bar would be difficult.

She didn’t disappoint though. Smashing the perception of a Hollywood Dive, the busty blonde got down and dirty on stage, taking the mick out of herself, referring to a certain x rated tape we all know about, dancing like a loony toon, and singing her heart out (ok the singing left a lot to be desired but we can forgive her that - she gets major bonus points for trying.)

It was no surprise either, that a lot of dads seemed to have volunteered to take the kids to the pantomime this year leaving the mums at home for a bit of r&r. They weren’t disappointed either – Pamela, looking as fabulous as ever, showed off her petite figure in a sparkly red swimsuit throughout the show.

Les Dennis stars alongside Pam as Wishee Washee and, as usual, he was charming, witty, funny and totally lovable on stage. Quite a new face to our Pantomime is Liverpool actor Mark Moraghan. Although he’s no stranger to stage and screen, I’ve not seen him in a Pantomime before. He did a brilliant job as our villain Abanazar. With the best evil roaring laugh I’ve heard in years, Mark did a brilliant job of coaxing the audience into simply hating him, with more boo’s than you’d hear at an Amy Winehouse concert.

The only real hitch noticed during the performance was the Emperor’s mic breaking. This part was played very enthusiastically by Radio City’s Pete Price, and it wasn’t a great shame that the sound went for a few minutes because let’s be honest – we’ve all turned the sound down on him at some point during his radio show. He recovered from the hitch with grace and humour though and played another lovable part, skipping tirelessly about the stage.

And how can we go without a mention for the wonderful Widow Twanky played by Sean Kearns. In a lovely Isish accent, Kearns is fun, flirty and sometimes downright outrageous in this role – nothing less than we’d expect form an actor in his 18th year playing a dame.

The rest of the cast were fantastic, Aladdin played by Marc Mulcahey was handsome, cool and showed off a fantastic singing voice.

The Slave of the Ring played by Djalenga Scott was beautiful and admired on the evening by most little girls in the audience (and this bigger girl as her flat stomach is what I want for Christmas). Her singing voice was spectacular and energy seemed to flow through her non stop.

My star of the show was Major Pong played by Conleth Kane. He was camp as a row of tents, fun, energetic, adorable and made everyone smile throughout the performance.

Overall this is a fantastic family show and – without compromise – really has something for everyone, the laughs for the kids, the double entendres for the mums and, of course, Pamela Anderson for the gents. Don’t miss it!

PERFORMANCE DETAILS

Aladdin Liverpool Empire Theatre

10 December 2010 – 2 January 2011

Performances at 2pm and 7pm daily, Sundays 1pm and 5pm

No performances on the following dates: Mon 13 Dec, Mon 20 Dec, Sat 25 Dec, Fri 31 Dec, Sat 1 Jan

Tickets £13.50 - £28.50 How to book; in person from the Liverpool Empire box office, Lime St, Liverpool, by calling 0844 847 2525 or book online at http://www.LiverpoolEmpire.org.uk