The sound of laughter echoed around Wolverhampton Grand Theatre last night as the audience enjoyed an evening of good old fashioned family entertainment.

I've seen a lot of pantomimes over the years and I can honestly say that Aladdin is the best one yet.

I'll admit that as I took my seat, I'd fully prepared myself for a few bum notes and a bit of dodgy acting (as is usually the way with panto) but I cannot fault anyone's performance.

Joe McElderry (Aladdin) reminded me exactly why I picked up the phone to vote for him in The X Factor seven years ago - what a voice!

His powerful duets with Britain's Got Talent star Lucy Kay (Princess Jasmine) gave me goosebumps and the fact he can remain note perfect while flying around on a magic carpet (yes, really!) just goes to show that the charming northern star is a true pro.

Soap star and Loose Woman, Lisa Riley, was also fantastic as the Slave of the Ring, and she wowed audiences with some of the moves she picked up during her time on Strictly Come Dancing.

The dame of the show, Ian Adams (Widow Twankey) also had some moves (and cracking legs!)and brought a lot of cheeky innuendos to the show to keep the adults chuckling.

He also put many divas to shame with his endless supply of outrageously fabulous costumes.

Although there were no weak links in the cast, two people really stood out for me - Doreen Tipton (The Lazy Empress) and Adam C Booth (Wishee Washee).

Doreen, the self-confessed Lazy Cow, was simply hilarious and brought a healthy dose of Black Country humour to the production - something which the older audience members in particular seemed to enjoy.

I'm a bit late to the Doreen party (if you are too, check out www.doreen.tv), while my Facebook newsfeed has been full of friends sharing her videos for what seems like forever now, I just didn't find it funny - until now.

It's fair to say the working class wench has won me over good and proper and it would be a great shame if she didn't become a regular panto star.

Although Adam Booth's job was predominantly to engage with the younger members of the audience, he got some of the biggest laughs of the night, albeit some by accident - a 'leg' flying across the stage even saw the rest of the cast dissolved in laughter.

From the second he stepped on stage, he had everyone smiling as his enthusiasm shone through - a great addition to the cast.

Aladdin is just too good to miss, everyone involved deserves a pat on the back.

It's hard to pick just one highlight but if my arm was twisted, I'd probably pick the cast's hilarious version of the action song 'If I Were Not Upon The Stage' in the second half, I was exhausted just watching them.

If you haven't booked your tickets yet, head over to www.grandtheatre.co.uk now, you've got until January 22 to catch the show.