Darlington Hippodrome has announced the casting for its 2019/20 panto.
Joining the already announced Ballroom/Latin Dance Champion and Strictly Come Dancing head judge Shirley Ballas in Jack and the Beanstalk will be Britain’s Got Talent winner George Sampson along with Phil Walker and Daniel Taylor.
George Samson, who plays Jack, won the second series of Britain’s Got Talent with his skills in street dance and has since headlined at summer festivals across the UK, hosted weekend specials at UK resorts, hosted various product launches, released his debut single "Get Up on the Dance Floor" and released his debut dance DVD, Access 2 All Areas. He has since starred in the hip-hop musical Into the Hoodz in the West End and in the feature films Streetdance 2 and Streetdance 3D, appeared in Waterloo Road and Casualty for the BBC, in Mount Pleasant on Sky One, The Dumping Ground for CBBC and made his soap debut as Ryan in Emmerdale for ITV. Last year he starred in the Madness musical Our House and made his pantomime debut for producers Qdos Entertainment at the Crewe Lyceum.
Phil Walker, who plays Jack’s brother Simon, began his career as a Butlins redcoat and since has had a successful career as a stand-up all over the UK and entertained the troops in Afghanistan, The Falkland Islands, Bosnia and Germany. He is a regular in panto and this will be his Hippodrome debut.
Daniel Taylor will be the evil Fleshcreep. His credits include Blood Brothers, Down the Dock Road (Royal Court), Tommy Cooper in The Tommy Cooper Show (touring) and as John Lennon in the off-Broadway production Lennon - Through a Glass Onion at the Epstein Theatre in his native Liverpool.
Jack and the Beanstalk runs at Darlington Hippodrome from Friday 6 December 2019 to Sunday 5 January 2020. Tickets are now on sale.