One of the region’s traditional pantomimes is back for 2021 as Aladdin flies on to the Oldham Coliseum stage.
Coliseum favourite Richard J Fletcher is back in heels as Dame Widow Twankee. 2021 marks Richard’s 14th Christmas at the venue. In 2020, although the theatre was closed due to the pandemic, his Dame Dotty Trott was heading out to schools, sending messages of thanks to exceptional Oldhamers and beaming into living rooms with a storytelling adaptation of Jack and the Beanstalk.
Shorelle Hepkin steps into the role of Aladdin. In 2017, she was Principal Girl, her role evolving each year including a star-turn as Cinderella in 2018 and heroine Jill in 2019’s Jack and the Beanstalk.
Fresh from filming feature film Three Day Millionaire, which will be released next year, Sam Glen heads home to Oldham to play Wishee Washee. Wicked villain Aunty Banazar will be played by Liz Carney. Fresh faces to the Coliseum are Dora Rubinstein, Marc Zayat, Alex Phelps and Shaun Hennessy.
For the first time, the Coliseum also welcomes professional dancers to the production, including three former members of the Coliseum’s youth chorus.
Aladdin runs from November 13–January 8.