Like the Nutcracker, British Panto features a memorable fairy tale, a gorgeous set, and a huge cast, but unlike the Ballet, it is also a hilarious musical comedy aimed at adults as well as the kids.  From the very start, the audience participates in the entire show, cheering, laughing, booing, and shouting responses in a cleverly-crafted interplay between actors and audience.

The Panto is always based on a classic fairytale or legend, and yet adults are amused by its topical comedy and wholesome sex-appeal. Back in Victorian times, canny producers hired shapely actresses to masquerade as boy cavaliers or heroes dressed in tights and wasp-waisted tunics that caught the eye of even the most respectable fathers and teenage boys.
 
And no one can resist a chuckle at outrageous theatrical Panto Dame, played by a man; at the two-man-horse comedy dance; at the elusive Ghost or at the clownish slapstick routines.  By the end, there is barely a dry eye in the house- because British Panto tells a tale of old-fashioned morality in which good triumphs over evil and it reminds us that the true magic of Theatre lies in the hearts and souls of the audience.