X Factor winner Joe McElderry is to take the title role in the 2016 panto Aladdin at Wolverhampton Grand.
McElderry will also play Joseph in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Grand in May.
Lisa Riley will take the role of Slave of the Ring. She is best known for playing Mandy Dingle in the ITV soap Emmerdale from 1995 to 2001. She last appeared in a Grand Theatre panto as Fairy Bowbells in the 2000 production of Dick Whittington.
Ian Adams will play Widow Twankey. He wrote and performed in a production of Dick Whittington that was the first panto to be presented inside London Zoo.
Michael Harrison, managing director of Qdos Entertainment and producer of Aladdin, said, “we’re absolutely delighted to have such a great headline cast in Wolverhampton, led by the talented Joe McElderry and Lisa Riley. There’s more star casting to announce which will make this Wolverhampton’s biggest panto yet.”
Aladdin will open at the Grand Theatre on Saturday 10 December and runs until Sunday 22 January 2017.