Youngsters chosen to appear in Snow White at Southport Theatre

If you need evidence that the festive season is almost upon us then look no further than a group of excited youngsters who have been chosen to appear in Snow White at Southport Theatre and Convention Centre this Christmas.

Auditions for children aged 9-16 were held at the venue at the weekend and Dane Bates, who choreographed the auditions said “The standard of the all of the children who auditioned for us was very high and it was exceptionally difficult to select the 22 children for the two main teams as we would have loved to have everyone in the show.”

Louise Redmond, Head of Casting for producers Imagine Theatre, said “We have been auditioning children for panto here for many years now and it was great to see some familiar faces amongst the auditionees as well as some brand new ones.”

“One of the most important things we look at is of course their dancing, however, it is really important that the children have a little something extra as well that makes them stand out from the crowd.”

“The children will have a lot of hard work ahead of them but it is also a lot of fun and a great opportunity for them to be part of a professional production.”

The children will be starring alongside Home and Away legend Lynne McGranger who is stepping away from her lovable character Irene Roberts to play the Wicked Queen, as well as Jason Marc-Williams as Dame Dolly Mixture, Alistair Barron as Jingles the Jester, Harriet Payne as Snow White and James Leeman as Prince Michael.

Jason Looking Forward to Panto Fun in Southport This Christmas

Southport Theatre and Convention Centre are delighted to announce that Jason Marc Williams will be donning a dress to play Dame Dolly Mixture in their spectacular family pantomime Snow White this Christmas.

This will be Welsh born Jason’s first year as Dame in Southport, however, as he explains, he is no stranger to the role. “I have been at the Courtyard Theatre in Hereford for the last three years, and for the last two I have played Dame in Beauty and the Beast and Jack and the Beanstalk, having played the very different role of Baron Hardup my first year. I have also played idle Jack in Dick Whittington and Muddles in Snow White for other companies across the UK so I have almost covered the whole spectrum of panto characters apart from Princess!”

“I really love panto and growing up in Swansea I was always taken to see the panto at the Grand Theatre each Christmas. I think it is very important for children to have family traditions like that. As a child I really loved all the silly slapstick, and to be honest, I still love that! It is great that Southport is by the sea as I live on the coast so it will feel a bit like home.”

“I absolutely love playing dame as I get to wear some amazing costumes and wigs and I get to have a lot of fun on stage being silly – what a wonderful job! And of course, being panto there is always the risk that things will go wrong and a couple of times last year my dame costumes came undone when on stage which Imanaged to turn in to a huge comedy moment and it became part of the panto fun.”

In typical panto tradition Jason’s dame character does have rather a silly name to go with her outrageous costume and hilarious panto antics. “I love the fact my character is called Dame Dolly Mixture but I think it is going to give me sweet cravings for the whole panto season. I am very partial to Skittles and fruit gums so will have to get a stash of those for the dressing room!”

Away from the craziness of panto Jason also plays more serious roles. “Aside from panto I have also been lucky enough to play some other brilliant roles too, for example Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Dan In Night Must Fall. I am a massive Harold Pinter fan I would love to play Stanley in The Birthday Party.”

Jason will be starring alongside Home and Away legend Lynne McGranger in the panto which opens on Friday 9 December and runs until Saturday 31 December 2016.

Justin to make 'magical' appearance in Snow White at Southport Theatre

Mirror Mirror on the wall who is the fairest of them all? is going to be an important question at the Southport Theatre and Convention Centre come the festive season and one that will be answered by children’s television favourite Justin Fletcher*. Justin will be making a special appearance via video projection as the Magic Mirror in a spectacular special effect that will delight all the family.

Steve Boden from Imagine Theatre who are once again producing the pantomime in Southport explains at little more about how it works. “Justin appears in our magic mirror sequence via a pre-recorded video projection. It is a fabulous special effect as the mirror dominates the stage and Justin, as always, gives a wonderfully comical performance - I think our Magic Mirror is probably the funniest in pantoland! It is great to watch the interaction between him and the Wicked Queen as he tells her she is no longer the fairest in the land - as needless to say it is not what she wants to hear! Although Justin is not there in person the children still get very excited when the mirror comes to life and they see him for the first time.”