He's behind you! - Meet the cast of this year's pantomime spectacular in Mansfield
The pantomime for this winter is Snow White & The Seven Dwarves and promises yet another spectacular performance, and tickets are selling quickly ahead of the December 1 opening night.
Famous and fresh faces will take to the Palace Theatre stage, some for the first time and some who are very familiar to the Mansfield crowd.
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Hide AdThis includes Adam Moss, who has played the jester character on Mansfield’s stage for the last two years and is ‘back by popular demand’ to take on the role of Muddles.
Adam gained social media popularity in 2016 when he proposed to his fiancée live on stage, and he feels that Mansfield has got a “very special place in my heart”.
He said: “I love coming back and playing here, the public and the backstage crew are all so friendly and everyone just gets the pantomime feel.
“You can get away with so much more because people of all ages have comedy bones - they understand it.
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Hide Ad“I’m looking forward to working with the most amazing pantomime dame Charles Burden, who I have so much chemistry with on stage, and one of my childhood heroes Sue Holderness who I grew up watching on Only Fools.
“I’ve already had a look at the script and it is brilliant, we have fit so many Only Fools gags in there for Sue and the story line is a classic.”
Sue Holderness made her fame as Marlene in Only Fools and Horses throughout the 1980s and 90s and said she is excited to “take on the reigns of the Wicked Queen”.
Speaking at the launch, she said: “Funnily enough I have been to Mansfield a few times but I have never been to the theatre.
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Hide Ad“I’m excited to play the venue because it is really intimate and in theatres like this you can properly engage with the crowd.
“From past experience, the people who write Snow White pantos are really on the ball with their comedy so expect a barrel of laughs.
“I think people might even see something different this year because I have seen Prince Charming and, as the Wicked Queen, I know I can defeat him - you’ll be seeing an unexpected end to the pantomime I am sure!”
Comprising the role of the Prince this year and attempting to take down the Wicked Queen is Andrew Geater, who will be taking on his first ever lead role in a pantomime.
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Hide AdAndrew, who is from Reading but now lives in Liverpool, has acted for a long time and has a good track record of singing - performing with vocal group The Mersey Boys earlier this year.
He said: “I have been in pantomimes and particularly in Snow White before but only as a henchman, so this is real step up for me.
“It’s exciting getting to go out and properly engage as a lead character, and I am just so eager for it to start.
“I remember being a kid and going to pantos and the feeling was always so fun, but to get to properly act in one and instigate all of the booing and hissing will be so fun.”
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Hide AdTaking on the helms of Snow White is Naomi Gisbey, aged 25, who has been the lead in a pantomime before but this is the first time she will tackle the Wicked Queen.
She said: “I have done Cinderella and Dorothy before but this will be my first time as Snow White, and it is going to be strange pretending to take a nap for half of the show!
“Snow White is great because you have so many different dynamics and the dwarves just bring that extra element of surprise that you don’t often get with other pantomimes.
“I’m also really excited to play in Mansfield - it reminds me of my home Bury St Edmunds which is quite a small market town but has a similar, intimate venue, and being here for the first time I already feel at home.”
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Hide AdAlso on this year’s show is pantomime favourite Charles Burden, who will take on the role of Nursie.
Charles was not in attendance at the press launch, but said: “Costumes are an important part of the Dame role and this year is no exception.
“I have a new wardrobe ready for this production of Snow White, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous.”
If you are hoping to see this year’s pantomime you must be quick, because 70 per cent of tickets across the month-long production have already sold out.
To get tickets, visit: https://mansfieldpalacetheatre.ticketsolve.com/shows/873581811