magid

I got to see this year's panto tonight, and like all the others, it was fabulous, made better by the enthusiastic audience.

The characters included:
Birtle, the Bard
Bumble, the Humblebee (not only in a bee outfit, but bzz'd the whole show with a kazoo)
Bruin, the Bear, who had an entertaining fixation on food
the Weird Sisters: Lady Marmalade, Lady Glory, and Lady Honor
Hark, the Herald (with all manner of gay mannerisms)
Prince Florin
(his dad) King Guilfroy the Good
Sir Wantinvain (a temporary villain in a black outfit accented in red curves along the wide sleeves, and in points at the neck)
Mistress Curdle
(her daughter) Myrtle (who had some of the best lines/transformation)
Dame Gilda Lily (cross-dressed with amazing fake eyelashes, plus lots of attitude)
(her daughter) Marigold
and of course, Rumplestiltskin (played as a dwarf by a full-sized actor kneeling, legs and turned-up red shoes velcro'd to his thighs)
plus a fox

As always, there were tons of current references, many of which I actually got, rather than just knowing that it must be a reference to something. I was surprised by the ones I couldn't help laughing at that almost no one else seemed to think funny.

It's hard to describe the magic that happens at these, but it's sort of like a Jasper Fforde novel, extremely literary, beautifully crafted fluff.