It’s Panto Season!
Oh yes, it is – and there are big TV stars among the old favourites sharing the stage and the laughs this year…
Booo! Hiss! He’s behind you… As much fun as they always have been, the festive frolics of pantomime were traditionally the reserve of little known Z-listers – but along the way something has changed.
During the past few years, panto has become more and more popular, with big name TV stars positively queuing up to bag a part as Widow Twankey or the fairy godmother. The line-up for this season, is no exception.
Normally host to big musical productions and of course, the Royal Variety Performance, the Palladium will host an all-star production of Cinderella. Showing for five weeks from December 9 to January 15, the stage production will star Amanda Holden as the fairy godmother, Paul O’Grady as the wicked stepmother, Julian Clary as Dandini, Lee Mead as Prince Charming and Nigel Havers as Lord Chamberlain. For more info visit WWW.CINDERELLAPALLADIUM.COM
Strictly fans will be thrilled to know they’ll soon be able to see judge Craig Revel Horwood reprise his role as Captain Hook when he stars in Peter Pan at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley ( WWW. CHURCHILLTHEATRE.CO.UK). He can’t wait to get started and secretly LOVES the booing.
“This is my third time playing Hook, which I absolutely love. It’s a great part – I get to sing, I get to dance, I get to do some funny acting and I get to sing My Way, which I love. The fact that Hook is so evil and he can get booed off the stage, I think is wonderful!”
Meanwhile, down in Southend, style guru Gok Wan teams up again with comedian Brian Conley to star in The Cliffs Pavillion’s swashbuckling production of Robinson Crusoee and The Caribbean Pirates ( WWW. THECLIFFSPAVILION.CO.UK). Gok is excited about his role as the Spirit Of The Ocean.
“Working alongside the hilarious and unique Brian Conley again is a dream come true.
“Brian and I had a great time working together on our last panto, so I can’t wait to be reunited to find out what mayhem and ad-libs we can bring to Robinson Crusoe.”
Maureen Lipman unleashes her dark side on stage as she stars as the wicked fairy in Sleeping Beauty in Richmond ( WWW. ATGTICKET.COM/RICHMOND) – but hopes not to scare the children too much!
“I am looking forward to finding who Carabosse is as a human being. I’m looking forward to seeing the kids and watching them experience what I experienced when I was an eight-year-old in Hull, a kind of magic that you can’t get from watching a screen.
“It is the fairytales they have been read in bed
coming to life. I want to find a way to be pretty scary – without actually ruining their childhood!”
There are plenty of other high-profile TV stars getting ready to tread the boards, too – while Birds Of A Feather star, Lesley Joseph, is spinning around the Strictly dance floor, co-star Linda Robson is gearing up to play the fairy godmother in Cinderella alongside Bobby Davro and Louie Spence ( WWW.WYCOMBESWAN.CO.UK). An old hand at playing the fairy godmother, Linda hopes this year’s performances go a bit more smoothly than in the past…
“If I remember rightly, it was the transformation scene in Cinderella. One of the pyrotechnics went off and set fire to part of the scenery and I saw it in the corner of my eye.
“The audience had spotted it, too, so I kept my cool, just said ‘hold on a minute’, ran off, got a fire extinguisher and then came back on!
“It became a running joke that night because every time someone came on, they brought the fire extinguisher with them! But we do try to avoid mistakes like that. We won’t be setting any fires this year!”
“I SAID, ‘HOLD ON A MINUTE’, RAN OFF AND CAME BACK WITH A FIRE EXTINGUISHER”