Christmas has come early! Oh no it hasn’t!
Royal & Derngate’s pantomime stars brought a touch of early Christmas magic to town when they officially launched Cinderella, this year’s spectacular family show. The cast had a chance to gather together for the first time, to meet the team at the theatre, and to get some great sparkling publicity shots. Strictly Come Dancing champion and musical theatre star Joanne Clifton and CBeebies favourite Andy Day head up the cast.
Rising to fame as a professional dancer on Strictly, where she lifted the glitterball with her partner Ore Oduba in 2016, the world champion ballroom dancer Joanne Clifton has more recently been seen in top musical theatre productions, including The Addams Family and most recently touring as Princess Fiona in Shrek The Musical, Joanne will be casting her magic as the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella this Christmas.
Taking the role of Dandini is one of CBeebies’ most popular personalities, Andy Day. His many shows for the channel include the BAFTA-nominated Andy’s Wild Adventures and Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures, and he even has his own pop band Andy and the Oddsocks. He has appeared for many years in CBeebies’ annual televised pantomime in addition to starring in panto at theatres around the country.
Joining the cast as Ugly Sisters are Gordon Cooper and Matt Daines, both seasoned pantomime performers, most recently appearing together at the Octagon Theatre in Yeovil last Christmas. Marcavia McCarthy takes the role of Cinderella, Dave Bibby plays Buttons and Rodney Vubya will appear as Prince Charming.
Written by Paul Hendy and directed by Emily Wood, Cinderella promises to be spectacular, with lavish sets, hilarious jokes and fun for all the family.
Jo Gordon, Chief Executive at Royal & Derngate said: “It’s always great to be able to welcome our panto cast into the building for the first time. We’re excited to have such a great cast and company assembled, and we can’t wait to have everyone back here to start rehearsals later in the year!”
Cinderella will run from Friday 6 to Tuesday 31 December 2024.
For more information and to book tickets, go to www.royalandderngate.co.uk