AVATAR 3D vs BIRMINGHAM HIPPODROME PANTO 3D

THE stage was set for a battle royal today - as the might of Avatar 3D at the IMAX cinema, Millennium Point, took on Sleeping Beauty 3D at the Birmingham Hippodrome.

I saw both shows more or less back to back and loved James Cameron's new blockbuster just as much the second time.

Despite some bad weather in parts of north America, the good news is that Avatar has come out of the blocks firing on all cylinders at box offices around the world.

And the really interesting thing for the industry is that although only a quarter of the 14,505 screens it appeared on worldwide were showing the film in 3D, the 3D screens took more than half of the film's total gross.

This illustrates that the public does love 3D in its new form and why its new-age pioneers are so excited about taking it further.

And, to prove the point, some new 3D footage is thrilling audiences watching Joe Pasquale in the new Sleeping Beauty panto at the Birmingham Hippodrome.

If you want depth in your 3D vision, then the truth is that Sleeping Beauty actually wipes the floor with Avatar!

It certainly puts the spectacle into your 3D specs.

The children in the stalls of the Hipp were screaming their socks off as a succession of spiders and snakes came thrusting out towards them.

Altogether now: 'Jingle tongues, jingle tongues, jingle all the way... Oh what fun it was tonight with one snake's open mouth! Hey...'.

As for the rest of Sleeping Beauty, this is panto, Joe, but not as we once knew it.

More than ever, the story plays second fiddle to everything else after a mesmerising opening features the amazing voice of Ria Jones (Carabosse), once the youngest actress to play Eva Peron in the musical Evita.

Sleeping Beauty is probably the best looking show I've ever seen at the Hipp. It's slickly produced and the live band is on top form.

Fans of traditional panto, though, might be looking for more verbal wit.

There's a moment with a 3D ghost when Joe should turn his back to the audience.

Because the ghost would then be between the audience and him we could invert the old cry: 'He's behind you!'.

Meanwhile, Dancing on Ice winner and X Factor runner up Ray Quinn arrives with a strong reality TV pedigree.

Surprisingly, he doesn't get that much to do much apart from sing, but he still wins screams from the younger girls nonetheless. Now that's pulling power!

In dramatic terms, this is actually Ceri Dupree's show as Lady Passionella.

Ceri is such a magnificent dame, right up there with the best that the late Danny La Rue could offer, he deserves second billing behind Joe.

Lady Passionella's costumes are stunning, both in quality and quantity, and the impersonations of Amy Winehouse and Tina Turner are fun distractions.

But me thinks that Ceri doing Lady P doing Ozzy Osbourne really would bring the house down.

Other cast members having a ball include Lucy Evans as Princess Beauty, Alex Woodhall (Slimeball), Lucinda Shaw (The Enchantress), James Paterson (King Clarence) and Kate Dyson (Queen Gertrude).

The ever-likeable Pasquale adds touches of his old magic tricks here and there and certainly works like a Trojan.

What he didn't do, though, was to bring some children up on to the stage for his magical snow creation scene. Bah, humbug!

The father of five is one of the best in the business at this type of thing, so cutting bits of the show out to facilitate giving some youngsters the night of their lives wouldn't be a bad idea.

That said, Sleeping Beauty's 12 Days of Christmas finale is an inspired mixture of music and mirth and delivers one of the best ever endings to a panto.

To quote Avatar director James Cameron, this magical scene alone is likely to send everyone out of the theatre feeling like they are 'the king of the world'.

Sleeping Beauty is running till Sunday, January 31 but book your tickets now before the whole run sells out!

Visit www.birminghamhippodrome.com or call 0844 338 5000.

GRAHAM YOUNG