Pantomime at the Lyceum Theatre in 1939. Traditionally performed at Christmas and afterwards, with family audiences, British pantomime continues as a popular form of theatre, incorporating song, dance, buffoonery, slapstick, cross-dressing, in-jokes, topical references, audience participation, and mild sexual innuendo. Pantomime story lines and scripts usually make no direct reference to Christmas, and are almost always based on traditional children's stories, particularly the fairy tales of Charles Perrault, Joseph Jacobs, Hans Christian Andersen and the Grimm Brothers. Some of the most popular pantomime stories include "Cinderella", "Aladdin", "Dick Whittington and His Cat" and "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", as well
King's Theatre Pantomime him. The management asked him to bring back the same production the following year. He refused, but said 'maybe in eight or ten years.' He kept his promise and returned for his final pantomime appearance in 1991. In 2005, the company First Family Entertainment took over production of the annual pantomime, and First Family Entertainment are now responsible for a dozen productions up and down the country. The current productions run during the festive period until mid January, totalling over 70 performances during the run, with two performances daily, six days a week. Gerard Kelly was for 20 years a