LILY Savage told the audience at the end of a barnstorming opening night that it had all been thrown together in a couple of days, which, if true, would make every member of this wildly entertaining production a genius.

Lily, however, gives the impression that she could walk straight off the street and bring the house down as the Wicked Queen.

Part of that is because this is the third time in the last four Christmas seasons she has played the part -- but the main reason is that she was made for the role.

With a stage presence as big as her amazing costumes, her ad-libs and one-liners had the audience in raptures.

Poppy Tierney is a wholesome and beautiful Snow White with a Judy Garland look, and Fogwell Flax finds the role of Muddles, the jester, the perfect vehicle to show off his ability to impersonate anyone and anything.

The script sticks pretty much to the original story with a few enhancing variations that turn it into classic pantomime.

The whole show is simply superb and a real treat for kids from three to 93. The costumes and scenery are pure fantasy, especially Ms Savage's wardrobe, which gives her the appearance not so much of nastiness personified, but of a big black peacock -- apart from the final dazzling scene when she looks like a cross between Cruella de Vil and Marilyn Monroe.

Audience participation is a key component with plenty of booing and hissing.

A word of warning, though. Switch your mobile phone off or you might be on the end of a ruthless Savage blow, like the man who forgot to do so and was told: "Switch that mobile phone off or I switch your breath off."

Snow White: Opera House, Manchester. Runs until January 12