Qdos Entertainment has announced that it is to produce the London Palladium's first pantomime since 1987 this Christmas. Cinderella will play at the venue from 9 December 2015 to Saturday 15 January 2016.
Qdos Chairman Nick Thomas said, “we are thrilled to be bringing pantomime back following an absence of nearly three decades with a sumptuous production that befits The Palladium's role as the Home of Pantomime in London."
Between 1948 and 1973, pantomime was a key component of the Palladium's annual programme with eleven different titles presented in twenty-four productions. However, between 1974 and 1987, the Palladium only produced four pantomimes: Cinderella (1976), Aladdin (1978) and Dick Whittington (1980), with Babes in the Wood (1987) ending the Palladium’s reign as 'The Home of Pantomime'.
When venues moved to open-ended runs with the advent of the mega-musical in the 1980s, pantomime became more difficult to programme due to its seasonality and the fact that one in four West End audience members was an international tourist, for whom pantomime meant very little.
Cinderella will be directed by Qdos Entertainment's managing director Michael Harrison and choreographer Andrew Wright. The show will feature new sets commissioned especially for the production and be the seventh Cinderella at the Palladium since 1948, with previous productions starring Julie Andrews in the title role, Ronnie Corbett, Cliff Richard and Des O'Connor as Buttons and Terry Scott and Julian Orchard as Ugly Sisters.
Casting is yet to be announced.