It's been a bumper season for the Alhambra's pantomime, Aladdin.

The show has made £1,234,865 - making it the theatre's most successful panto in history.

The panto, which finished its seven-week run on Sunday, pulled in a total of 96,743 people and has broken the Alhambra's box office records.

The show, which had taken more than £1m of bookings within two weeks of opening in December, saw the return of Leeds-born funnyman Billy Pearce in the title role, and pantoland's first-ever three dimensional genie.

It was Billy's eighth panto at the Alhambra, he returned after taking a break in 2005 to star in Aladdin at Wolverhampton.

The 2005/2006 panto, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, starring Lesley Joseph, made £1,030,712.

Adam Renton, general manager of Bradford theatres, said most people who came to see Aladdin were from the region, with 45 per cent from the Bradford district, but there were also audience members from across the country, as far as Aberdeen and Cornwall.

The panto featured special interactive effects technology known as Bogglevision which projected animated 3D images floating around the auditorium during parts of the show when audiences wore 3D glasses.

The show also featured a 3D journey through Aladdin's cave, a spectacular flying carpet hovering over the first few rows of the audience, acrobats from the Mongolian State Circus and some stunning Vegas-style costumes.

Mr Renton said: "This record-breaking show has generated a huge amount of interest since it went on sale in December 2005 and I am absolutely delighted with the response. It has received outstanding reviews and the audiences have shown great enthusiasm.

"I am thrilled that more than 96,000 people have experienced the magic of panto - this is more than 16,000 more than last year. The Alhambra pantomime is arguably one of the best in the country and we make every effort to ensure as many people as possible have the chance."

Mr Renton said Bradford Theatres had worked hard to make Aladdin accessible, with ticket prices starting as low as £5, concessions available on most performances and special family tickets available from £16.

Mr Renton said 4,595 people had seen the panto for £5. The theatre is continuing the £5 starting price for the 2007/2008 panto, Peter Pan. Tickets for the show, which again stars Billy Pearce, are now available on (01274) 432000 or online at www.bradford-theatres.co.uk

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