After Twink's bloated extravaganza at the Point last year, panto-goers might have worried that the Gaiety would feel compelled to follow suit. The presence of "pop sensations" the Carter Twins in the cast of Mother Goose wouldn't have reassured anyone: was this, too, to be a disjointed, flashy, pop-led variety show, choc-a-bloc with commercial tie-ins?
Relax. The Gaiety is still the Gaiety (though the gags aren't as good since Frank McNally started getting steady work in The Irish Times).
Here, the special effects are strong but not dominant; the screeching is loud but not earsplitting; the teeny-bopper boy band is featured, but well integrated into the show; the performance is long (more than 2 1/2 hours) but not interminable; and practically the only on-stage ad is for dear old Dublin Bus.
The scary opening had my little ones heading for the exits, but soon June Rodgers, as Mother Goose, was gliding harmlessly through a coherent storyline, pausing frequently to apply her limited song-and-dance skills to wide-ranging musical pastiche: yes, there are enough 1997 hits in Mother Goose to fill a Christmas compilation album (Rodgers makes a perfect Barbie Girl, and Chumbawumba got us all on our feet), but the songs and musical allusions also range from The Band Wagon to Jesus Christ Superstar, from West Side Story to The Mickey Mouse Club. Which is a bit of fun for the grown-ups. (Thanks, musical director Peter Beckett.)
By the end, even that scary, villainous wizard Ganderon (Richard De Vere) had won over my kids with a handy line in magical illusions, particularly this year's update on the ultraviolet-lit flying trick: he "flies" his Goosemobile out over the audience!
Nicholas Grennell is fine, as ever, playing the distinctly revisionist, thoroughly stageIrish landlord of Ballyrundown, Fingers O'Flaherty - who is going broke because of his generosity to his tenants.
Alex Sharpe and Alan Smyth are appealing romantic leads. The Billie Barry Children aren't as disturbingly young as in some past years. And it all flows smoothly under Brian De Salvo's direction.
If you've little ones, you could do them, yourself and your bank balance a favour by bringing them to the fine Christmas show at the Ark in Temple Bar; but you could also do worse than treating them to the Gaiety panto, an apparently undying tradition.
Runs every day at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. (or 6.30 p.m. for some midweek performances), except Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Sunday. To book phone: 01-6771717