Sometimes you just have to embrace over the top, at least you have to if you are going to enjoy a panto. This is a British Christmas tradition that has been imported to Hales' beer warehouse in Fremont. That's where they've been putting on a raucous, raunchy (but child friendly), ridiculous play every year. They take a children's folk tale--we've seen Cinderella, Alle Babba and the Forty Thieves, and this year, Dick Whittington and His Cat--and do it broad. The men dress like women, the women dress like men, the villain says "Oh no you didn't," and the crowd shouts back "Oh yes you did!" They make sly references to pop culture and squirm inducing sexual innuendos (if I hear one more comment about hot buns. . .) And in the end the hero wins, and the villain is vanquished. Oh yes, there's goofy music, popcorn, and beer.

The first year we went there were like a dozen of us in the whole audience. Now, if I don't get tickets a month ahead, it's completely sold out. We took 11 of us this year. Unfortunately, I'm sick, so I had no voice to yell. But the rest of the gang held up their end. It was a nice way to stave off the end of vacation blues.