Rachel's Diaries: Bucket List | Aladdin Pantomime in Liverpool

Last week we finally went to see a Pantomime together as a family. We'd been waiting a while and I couldn't decide which one we should go and see, but having 2 boys it had to be something that could hold their attention and wasn't too girly.

After umming and ahhhhing over the panto guide for this year studying each panto and trying to work out which one would suit us we finally chose Aladdin at the Liverpool Echo Arena. I know at the beginning of the year I made a Bucket List with a list of 15 things I wanted to do, to get us living life again and having fun. If you missed that post you can read it here.

Those of you close to me will know Mason has been attending PQA for Performing Arts since September and he's loving it, so I really wanted him to see what it looks like to perform on stage and see what we see when he's doing his thing.

We chose to attend an evening show for their last day of school as a treat, since Liverpool isn't far from us there was no rush to get there. When we got there we had good seats so we could see the stage and Mason was so excited. Non of us knew what to expect.

The show was absolutely amazing! Mason was absolutely mesmerised by it all, we loved all the songs and were singing along. The script was well written, we were giggling so much and there was a lot of adult jokes thrown in. The costumes were absolutely fantastic and the flying carpet was brilliant, I think that was Mason's favourite part. Both boys had fun, and I think this could be an annual family night out, going to see a panto.

With a cast full of pros you just know it'll be a good show.

There's Michael Auger (1/4 of musical theatre group Collabro) playing Aladdin and although he's a very successful musical theatre singer, Michael's acting duties are on point and he plays his character well. Aladdin was my son's favourite character and the must see moment is when he gets to fly on the best magic carpet.

Singer and drag artist Ruby Murry from Britain's Got Talent plays Widow Twanky. What an absolutely fantastic Panto Dame, with the costumes, facial expressions and of cause comedic timing. We were giggling whenever she was up on stage. We were even treated to an amazing rendition of Nessun Dorma which is what got Ruby Murry noticed on Britain's Got Talent. Really gives you the tingles.

Dean Sullivan, who most may remember as Jimmy Corkhill from Brookside (Wow, really showing my age there) plays the villain of the show Abanazar. He tries so hard to get his hands on the lamp throughout the show to become the master of the world. He plays such a fantastic baddie and it's a shame we haven't seen much of Dean on TV since his Brookside days.

Radio City's Leanne Campbell plays the Slave of the Ring and because I've never seen her in panto before I didn't realise how good she was going to be. She was brilliant, and she definitely caught the eye of the little munchkin. She has an amazing voice too when she sings.

Children's entertainer Mark Jones plays Wishee Washee. He definitely brought all the fun and games to the panto, we even got a soaking from his water gun he squirts while running around the audience. He has some of the funniest lines, and his presence on stage really captures the children straight away. He certainly had the boys joining in with the fun and frolics. There's so much mayhem with custard pies and lots of "he's behind you" moments.

That said though each and every single performer put on a fantastic show that night including all the dancers. There was songs that we all know and love including some songs from the recent charts. It most certainly put a fire in the belly of the munchkin who has decided that if he tries even harder at theatre school he could be on the stage one day!