River City star on panto bill
The Palace Theatre in Kilmarnock are thrilled to announce that River City star Leah MacRae will be starring as Fairy Flutterby alongside panto favourites Fraser Boyle and Gary Morrison in this year’s magical family pantomime Sleeping Beauty.
Leah - best known for playing the free- spirited Ellie McLean in BBC Scotland soap River City, a role she has played since 2014 - has also starred in comedy sitcoms Gary: Tank Commander and Rab C Nesbitt, as well as a host of pantomimes and theatre productions across the country.
She said: “Pantomime is so special as it’s the first time most children step into a theatre. It creates lasting memories.
“It was whilst watching pantomime for the first time ever that I realised I wanted to become an actress, and I often think to myself that panto is an important job because there might be a little version of me sitting there having that realisation for the first time too.”
Fraser and Gary have appeared as dame and comic for the past two years, receiving rave reviews, and have an excellent rapport both on stage and off.
Fraser said: “Gary is brilliant. He’s so easy going and always joking around backstage, and on stage he’s a pleasure to work with as well. He’s very good at his job and I trust him completely, which is a pure joy when doing pantomime together.
“We tune into one another too. At points during Dick Whittington last year, we both said the exact same unrehearsed punchlines at exactly the same time with exactly the same physical actions.”
Gary is equally complimentary about Fraser: “Working with Fraser is just fantastic, we clicked straight away and were on the same wavelength from the start. Our comedy works really well together, to have that bond is so important between the comic and the dame as it makes for a great fun show.”
As a result of a curse from the evil Carabosse, Princess Beauty pricks her finger on a spinning wheel and falls in to an enchanted sleep. Will Nurse Senga ( Fraser Boyle), Hector ( Gary Morrison) and the dashing Prince Lorenzo be able to save her before the hundred years are up and the Princess’ fate is sealed? Why not come along and find out?
Once again the show will have all the ingredients for a magical family panto with spectacular sets and costumes, fabulous songs and dances and bags of slapstick fun!
Sleeping Beauty runs from November 24 to Sunday, December 30. Tickets are now on sale. To book, contact the Palace Theatre box office on 01563 554900 or visit eastayrshireleisure.com.