We are so excited to announce our brand new cast for this years Cresset Pantomime ‘The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz!’ presented by The Cresset and Stuart Morrison’s Second Star Productions.
The classic Frank L. Baum tale gets the Cresset Pantomime treatment with spectacular sets, stunning musical numbers, a star cast and buckets of pantomime magic. With plenty of terrible jokes and audience participation this family pantomime is the perfect festive treat.
First up we have the fantastic Cheryl Fergison as the Good Witch Glinda! 👸🎀
Cheryllanded her first West End role in Man Of The Moment at the Gielgud Theatre, and further theatre credits include Dance With Death, Menopause The Musical, Chicago, and several tours of The Wizard Of Oz!
She has also played many featured roles in TV, including Big School, Doctor Who, Catherine Tate’s Hard Cell, Little Britain, The IT Crowd, Casualty and of course, the much-loved, long-running character of Heather Trott in Eastenders!
Cheryl has also made numerous celebrity appearances including; Celebrity Mastermind, Celebrity Pointless, Children In Need, Celebrity Big Brother, Loose Women, Celebrity Juice & many more!
Next we’ve got the fantastic David McClelland as The Tin Man!
David is returning to us after ten years, last here in Beauty & The Beast in 2013!😱🌹
‘TV’s Top Gadget Guru’ David McClelland is a familiar face on British television screens, starring in BBC1’s Rip Off Britain, CBBC Newsround, BBC Right On The Money, Stephs Packed Lunch, Crimewatch Live, Watchdog & The One Show.
Whilst best known for his work on TV, David has a passion for the stage; his credits include; Grimm’s Tales, Blood Brothers, Much Ado About Nothing, and The Blue Room, not to mention an abundance of Pantomimes around the UK (including ours!)
David is thrilled to be back at the Cresset this Christmas – Oh yes, he is! – but would like to dedicate his performances this year to his two biggest fans back at home, Evie and Tillie.
Returning to us is the fantastic Andrew Crawford as The Scarecrow!
Andrew found his love for the arts in his first high school role as Fat Sam in Bugsy Malone, realising at a young age that making people laugh was his passion – winning Liverpool Comedy Festivals’ Young Comedian Of The Year 2005 at just 17 & nominated Best Newcomer in 2006!
Andrew studied Media Performance at Salford Uni where he met Joseph Chambers (our Mr Smee from Peter Pan last year!) & in 2012 they began working on The Rhyme Rocket for Cbeebies, and together founded Laugh N Learn, a touring children’s theatre company.
In 2019 Andrew graduated from RADA’s MA Theatre Lab course & how could we forget, played the Beast in our 2021 production of Beauty & The Beast!
We missed her last year, but she’s back – it’s Victoria Jane as our Dorothy! 💙
Victoria Jane trained at The Urdang Academy & has performed all over the world with some big names like Barney the Dinosaur, Sesame Street, Madagascar Live, Fireman Sam and In The Night Garden Live.
Victoria is an actress, children’s presenter, puppeteer, skin artist, and voice-over artist & Her biggest claim to fame was that she played Noo Noo the Hoover in the remake of The Teletubbies in 2015 for Cbeebies, puppeteering and driving that little hoover from the inside, then most recently, she was Dipsy in the music videos for the Teletubbies new album “Ready Steady Go”.
When Victoria isn’t hidden behind a puppet or inside a crazy costume, you will most likely find her touring the country in Arrival-The Hits of Abba as Frida, presenting Let’s get Active for children learning English in China, and for the global YouTube Channel WildBrain as Doctor Didi.
After her fantastic run as Wendy/Mermaid in Peter Pan last year, – Returning to us is Katie Paine as The Wicked Witch Of The West! 💚
Katie has starred in many theatre productions, including Heathers UK Tour, We Will Rock You, Godspell, Seussical, Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, You Don’t Bring Me Flowers, Reefer Madness, One Night Of Rock, Masters Of The House & many more!
She’s also starred in her fair share of Panto productions, including Dick Whittington, Cinderella, & of course, a couple of shows of Peter Pan – including ours, of course!
Katies recording credits also include featuring as a soloist on A Very West End Christmas by Parallel Productions & a vocalist on Snow Angels EP.
The crowd loved him as Mrs Smee in Peter Pan – next up it’s Edward Simpson as The Cowardly Lion!
After a superb run with us in Dec 22′, Edward has since appeared in Illyria’s summer tour of Pride and Prejudice as Mr Bennet, Uncle Gardiner, Miss Bingley & Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and has done a large amount of work with Wizard Theatre, to impart road safety to Primary School Children of London.
He trained at the Actors’ Company & recent roles have included Major General Stanley in The Pirates Of Penzance, Dr John Dolittle in The Adventures and The Further Adventures of Doctor Dolittle, The Emperor in The Emperor’s New Clothes (don’t worry, he will be keeping his clothes on in this panto!) and Henry Clerval in a brand new musical version of Frankenstein. He has also worked repeatedly as a background artist and the pathologist’s assistant in ITV’s Midsomer Murders.
Cresset Panto regulars will know him well – it’s George Dee as The Wizard!
George grew up in Peterborough & has been performing in Cresset Pantomimes for an incredible 16 years – including Beauty & The Beast, Cinderella, Robin Hood, Snow White, Aladdin, Dick Whittington & of course, Peter Pan!
Other theatre credits include; Phil Davis in White Christmas, Mookie/Billy Idol in The Wedding Singer & Skater Dude in High School Musical!
Last but certainly not least – Its Alex Walton as Toto!
Alex has been in SIX Pantos with us, first appearing at just nine years old! He has performed in many local productions and has been lucky enough to perform at Disneyland Paris, The Royal Albert Hall, Drury Lane, and this summer at the Dorfman Theatre with the National Theatre.
Alex has just finished his GCSEs at Bourne Academy, where he will continue his A levels. He trains with United Arts Academy in Stamford in his spare time and is a season ticket holder at Leicester City FC.
We are so thrilled with the casting and cannot wait to see them in action this December!
We are also holding auditions for young performers to join our fabulous line-up onstage!
Auditions will be held on Sunday, 3rd September 2023
Juniors – 10 am – 12.30 pm
Intermediate/Senior – 1.30 pm – 3.30 pm
For more information & to sign up:
https://www.cresset.co.uk/perfo…/pantomime-open-auditions/
The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz runs from 14th-31st December 2023.
More information about our Panto – https://www.cresset.co.uk/pantomime/
Book tickets online – https://bit.ly/wizard-of-oz-23
