An Alloa stage school’s much anticipated annual pantomime kicked off last week at Alloa Town Hall.

Forefront Stage School, which has done several pantomimes in the past including Snow White, is performing Aladdin this year. Characters in this year’s production include So-Shy, Su-Shee, Widow Twanky, the evil Abanazer, and more. All of the cast have dazzling and vibrant costumes, which bring some colour to the panto stage.

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Forefront Principal, Amber Clark, said: “The cast of 83 have been fantastic. Many of them are in principal roles for the first time, while every year brings in a fresh intake of youngsters age six plus who will be the principals of the future.

"It’s so encouraging and rewarding to see this continual progression. For example, Erin Aitken (plays Wishee Washee) joined Forefront at three years old and is now playing her final principal role aged 17."

The panto has received numerous positive comments on Facebook praising the show and the young performers.

"The cast feed off the energy of the crowd, and as they’re doing this with what we refer to as “their Forefront family” they all really are having such a great time. Even with two shows a day, which we had on Friday and Saturday, they still maintain great energy levels.

"Then on Saturday the 13th it’s our closing shows with two shows, and the Saturday night always ends on a high. The energy on that night is something else!" Amber added.

This fantastic panto has been running since Friday, January 5 and will have its last performance on Saturday, January 13. The performance on the 5th was a relaxed performance and since then the hall has been packed for each show.

Tickets are still available to purchase on TicketSource, so don't miss your chance to see Aladdin!

Speaking on her favourite part about this year's show, Amber said: "I’ve loved seeing the progress of a few principals that have really stood up and challenged themselves to take on these roles this year, with the progression continuing show by show. It really excites me about what we can do next year! I have big plans…"

Once the pantomime is over the school has several exciting plans lined up for the coming months. 24 senior pupils will be heading to New York City in July and they have been fundraising the money to go.

"We’ve raised a lot of money, people have been so generous. The kids are really excited about this fantastic opportunity. But before this, we have ballet exams in February, then four performances of our summer show in June, so plenty to focus on in between times. At Forefront we don’t stop…there’s always something really exciting to work towards around the corner – I just love it!" Amber added.