Comedians Paul Chuckle and Ben Nickless and street dance group Flawless are to lead the cast of an all-new production of Sleeping Beauty, a 'socially distanced' panto at Nottingham’s Theatre Royal, which will have a three-week run.
The show is being staged through an initiative between the National Lottery and Qdos Entertainment which is providing financial support for theatres to stage live pantomimes in 2020.
Best known as one half of the Chuckle Brothers, Paul Chuckle will play the King. He last appeared in panto at the Theatre Royal in Jack and the Beanstalk in 2016.
Ben Nickless will be Muddles. He is no stranger to the Theatre Royal, having appeared in several festive productions as well as his one-man show.
Flawless will play the Queen’s guards. They competed in the third series of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent and have appeared in previous Qdos pantos.
David Robbins takes the role of the Queen. He was an ugly sister in Cinderella at the Theatre Royal in 2012. Kimberly Blake, who was in Pretty Woman in the West End, plays the Enchantress and Hannah Grace Lawson is Princess Beauty.
Completing the line-up is Jack McNeill as the Prince. This will be his third consecutive Theatre Royal panto. He took the title role of Peter Pan in 2018 and Dandini in the 2019 production of Cinderella.
Directed by Guy Unsworth who also directed Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty will be a “one-act celebration of pantomime” which will run from Saturday 12 December until Sunday 3 January 2021.