LAUGH? I could have cried the jokes were so corny, but that's what a Christmas pantomime is all about and the hilarious romp by Nailsea Musicals was no exception.

Rooted in English folklore Jack and the Beanstalk is the story of impoverished villagers unable to pay their taxes and fearful that the giant who lives in the sky may eat them for his dinner.

But his 'fee-fi-fo-fum' threat was taken with a pinch of salt, a showering of water and a handful of sweets by the children watching at the Scotch Horn Centre.

This fantastic all- singing all-dancing show had a cast of "thousands" and starred the talented Idle Jack (Zack Taylor) and fair Princess Rose (Ashleigh Westgate) as the sweethearts.

The show closed on Saturday night after five sell-out performances.

Even though the jokes were of the old vaudeville variety with some 'knock, knock' and 'doctor, doctor' groans you couldn't help laughing out loud.

Director Emily Waller said: "Get ready to boo, hiss, cheer, clap, laugh, shout, squeak, sing and most importantly enjoy yourselves." And we did.

Thunder, lightning and a puff of green smog heralded the entrance of Poison Ivy the wicked witch in the guise of Laura Shields who played the part with menace and a memorable catchline, "shut it".

Her nemesis was the pretty in pink good Fairy Beansprout (Keren Arnold) – all sugar and spice and loved by the little ones.

From Benny Hill to Monty Python with a splattering of It Ain't 'Alf Hot Mum it was all a bit of a carry on!

Drag queen Dame Trott (Paul Jennings-Webb) turned in professional scene-stealing performance as Jack's mother along with the Prime Minister (Sarah Cochran-Meredith) making a multi-personality debut appearance.

Also worthy of a mention is Andrew Hunt as the patriarchal king, the lovely hoofer Buttercup (Karen Johnson) as the cow and wheelchair-bound Simon Jennings-Webb as the golden goose.

But if I was giving out the stage Oscars among those nominated would have to be Dozy Den (Ian Perry) as the step-brother of Jack who halfway through the show metamorphosed into a boy scout and then as antique guru David Dickinson complete with fake tan and loud suit.

The cameo role played by the Go Compare man (Mark Johnson) and Giant Blunderbore (Al Pritchard) who was projected onto the backdrop seated at the edge of his banqueting table waiting impatiently for his housekeeper (Gayle Edmonds) to cook his food were great. When the giant sneezed green gunk this was the opportunity to turn the water hoses onto the audience as pretend droplets of snot – ugh.

Before the opening the cast had been blighted with health issues but luckily everything was 'all right' on the night(s).

The traditional family pantomime had a cast of more than 76 actors aged from six to 60 plus years and a small army of front-of-house and backstage helpers.

There were many familiar faces on stage with retired GP Martin Elford type cast as the village doctor and a chorus line of people from Nailsea Folk Club.

The musical director was Jan Mousley and the choreographer Charlotte Clarke. Marketing manager Graham Chipperfield said: "We wanted to put on a really traditional family musical and Jack and the Beanstalk is an ideal choice with its mix of good versus evil in the guise of the good fairy and the bad witch.

"There was lots of fun, singing and slapstick involved and as well as the pantomime cow we had a dancing spider with hairy long black arms and a golden singing harp."

Since it began as Nailsea Musical Comedy Club in 1977, Nailsea Musicals has won much critical acclaim and this year it was nominated in three different categories for the prestigious Bristol Evening Post Rose Bowl awards for the action- packed murder mystery Curtains. It got shortlisted for best musical and actor Vivien Foot was singled out for praise for best supporting performance as Carmen Bernstein, but it was Christine Richards playing Jessica Cranshaw who carried off the Coup De Theatre Award.

The adult cast members rehearse on Wednesday evenings at Mizzymead Recreation Centre and the youngsters on Saturday mornings. The next production is An Audience with Nailsea Musicals which runs from Thursday to Saturday, May 10-12 at 7.30pm and later in the year the company is staging Annie from November 14 to 17, all at the Scotch Horn Centre.

CAROL DEACON