John Barrowman is to play the title role in Dick Whittington, Birmingham Hippodrome’s 2016 panto.
Barrowman, who last appeared at the Hippodrome in Robin Hood in 2008, is currently playing Malcolm Merlyn in the US television show Arrow, based on the DC Comics crime-fighter Green Arrow, which is in its fifth series.
Steve McFadden, best known as Phil Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, will play King Rat in Dick Whittington while Ian and Janette Tough, also known as The Krankies, will play Councillor and Jimmy Krankie.
For the fourth consecutive year, Matt Slack will appear in a Hippodrome panto and will take the role of Idle Jack. Andrew Ryan, who played Widow Twankey in Aladdin in 2015, returns as Sarah the Cook.
The Hippodrome’s artistic director and chief executive Fiona Allan said, “it’s never too early to be planning Christmas fun—sales are already set to break records—and this year’s pantomime promises plenty of laughs, outrageous costumes and special effects to amaze all the family.”
Dick Whittington runs at Birmingham Hippodrome from Monday 19 December until Sunday 29 January 2017.