FTH Panto Set To Fly High Again This Christmas

FTH Theatre, Falkirk are delighted to announce that some familiar faces will be joining television star Libby McArthur and singer Barbara Bryceland in Aladdin this festive season.

The brilliant Craig Glover will be returning to play larger than life dame Widow Twankey, with Scott Watson as her hilarious son Wishee Washee and Derek McGhie as the wicked Abanazar.  Joining them are Emily Cochrane as Princess Jasmine and Henry Sanders as the Genie.

The production will once again be directed by Stuart Bird who says: “I am delighted to see many of our fantastic cast back at Falkirk again this Christmas!  Last year’s first Imagine panto in Falkirk was a great success and the cast and company were just lovely to work with! 

“From Aladdin this year audiences can expect plenty of local humour, coupled with great songs and spectacular special effects, costumes and set. Will the magic carpet fly? No spoilers...book your tickets and find out!”

Scott Watson played Dandini in last year’s production and is delighted to be taking on the role of the comical Wishee Washee this season.   

“Stepping into the comic role is something I’ve always wanted to do. Since I was wee boy going to the pantos in Glasgow and sitting in the audience and seeing the joy the comic character brought to everyone’s face was something I could only dream about doing myself. It was Gerard Kelly at the time when I was wee, and he is a Scottish panto legend so if I can bring as much joy and happiness as he did then it’s job well done.” 

Craig Glover played one of the Ugly Sisters in last year’s show and is delighted to be playing Dame once more. “As the dame, you have a license to do and say things that other characters can't. It can make for an exciting job, especially because no two audiences are the same.”

 “Last year we were so lucky to have excellent audiences for Cinderella. Nothing beats a lively audience who are up for a laugh. You can sense it the second you step onto stage and you know they are with you every step of the way. It’s a remarkable thing, especially in this current era of constant mental stimulation with social media, VR and CGI that a good solid panto can keep an audience of all ages gripped for the entire journey. The beauty of FTH Theatre is that from the stage you can see every single audience member and feel like you could literally reach out and shake their hand. You know you’re doing a good job when you look out to see someone removing their glasses to wipe the tears from their eyes because they’ve been laughing so much.”

“I am delighted to be reunited with some cast members from last year. My ’sister’ Derek returns this year as the baddie - we got to share a dressing room so we had plenty of laughs and fun times, which I know will continue this year. Derek is an incredible panto baddie, so I know the folks of Falkirk are in for a treat. I’m over the moon to have Scott Watson as my daft son, Wishee Washee. Scott and I have known each other for a long time and finally got to work together last year. Having a strong comic-dame partnership is essential for a good panto and I know that Scott and I will be able to transfer our friendship to the stage. I’m also buzzing to get to work with my pal Babs, who returns this year after her panto debut as the Fairy Godmother last year. We have ‘gigged’ together in the past as ’turns’ so it’s a delight to work with her in a full scale production. She is a sensational singer and the audiences absolutely love her. Finally, I’m most looking forward to working with the team at FTH - they’re like a big family. A sensational stage crew and friendly front of house staff. Falkirk is lucky to have a venue (and a panto) like this on their doorstep.” 

Aladdin runs from Friday 6 – Tuesday 24 December 2019 so hurry and get your tickets before they fly out of the door!