The curtain officially goes up on the Mercury Theatre's Christmas panto today so hop on your magic carpet and get to Colchester for some festive fun.

Following special previews, the show officially launches today and runs right through to January 16, meaning there is plenty of opportunity to see the cast of Aladdin in action.

This year's eagerly awaited production is written by Andrew Pollard and directed by the theatre's Ryan McBryde - the duo behind the Great British Pantomime award-winning Cinderella.

James Hameed takes on the leading role of Aladdin with Danielle Kassaraté playing the beautiful Princess Jasmine.

David Djemal stars at Constable Naw, Marisa Harris as Sergeant Nee and Sasha Latoya is the magical Genie of the Lamp).

Creative Director of Mercury Theatre, Mr McBryde, said: “This will be our first pantomime in the new building after a three-year hiatus and we just can’t wait to welcome audiences back. Pantomime is our biggest, brightest show of the year, where our local community comes together to experience the magic collectively.

"This Christmas we’re presenting Aladdin, a story of joy and transformation to delight and warm the hearts of our audiences at this festive time of year. In this version of the story, Aladdin is a street busker with aspirations to be a rock star so there’ll be music from Queen, Journey, Bon Jovi and The Script!"

Last weekend we mistakenly captioned a picture of cast members Antony Stuart-Hicks and Dale Superville. Having starred in Cinderella last year, this year Antony plays Widow Twankey and Dale will feature as Humphrey the Camel in Aladdin at the Mercury Theatre.