Tis’ almost the season to be jolly - as preparations for Weymouth’s magical Christmas pantomime are officially underway – with a few never-before-seen surprises.
Tickets have already been selling for this year’s Weymouth Pavilion panto which this year is Peter Pan. It runs from Friday, December 20 to Saturday, January 5.
Audiences may recognise a few familiar faces in this year’s cast, which includes Britain’s Got Talent star and Dorset resident Tony Rudd as Mr Smee, everybody’s favourite Dame – Jamie Riding as Mrs Smee, as well as Eliza Walker, who played Snow White in last year’s Christmas panto and is now returning as Wendy Darling.
The production follows Peter Pan and his adventures with Wendy, Michael, John and Nana the dog as they fly off to Neverland and meet some fantastical characters along the way; Tinker Bell, the Lost Children, Tiger Lily, the pirates including Mr Smee, and of course the wicked Captain Hook.
The panto will quite literally be taken to new heights and in a first in Weymouth Pavilion history, Peter Pan, played by Marcus J Foreman, will soar above the audience as he makes his way to the stage.
The cast, who have only just officially met one another, performed on the Pavilion stage for a quick introductory performance – after a night of bonding over karaoke - although they say ‘what happens in karaoke stays at karaoke.’
Jamie Riding is excited to be back in Weymouth after playing the Dame in Snow White last year.
He said: “It’s going to be great fun; Peter Pan is the first pantomime that I ever saw as a child.”
Jamie and Tony are actually friends, having known each other ‘for years,’ and the duo are hoping to be able to bring some of their camaraderie to life on stage.
Tony, who lives in Bournemouth, is known for performing on Britain’s Got Talent back in 2019 as an impressionist, which is something that he also plans to bring to the Pavilion stage. In the introductory performance he treated audiences to impressions of Donald Trump and Alan Carr.
Peter Pan is a particularly poignant pantomime for Eliza, aka Wendy Darling to be performing in as it was the production that she made her professional debut in her hometown of Ipswich back in 2022.
There will be plenty of musical numbers throughout the show and the one that Eliza is most looking forward to is ‘Finding Neverland’ – an emotive song which was added into the show after she performed it in her audition.
Stefan Pejic has appeared in episodes of Casualty, Sherlock, and Doctors and is now set to star as Captain Hook.
Despite his friendly personality, Stefan explained that he loves playing the villain.
He said: “The way I approach playing a villain is by imagining I’m a Shakespearian character that doesn’t know he’s in a pantomime.”
He also revealed that there are a lot of surprises that the cast have got up their sleeves – especially for the adult panto.
Marcus, who is playing the lead role of Peter Pan, revealed his ‘excitement,’ for the show, as well as flying across audiences.
He said: “It’s not something that you can practice at home. I think it’s the highest I have ever flown.”
Tickets for the shows start from £20.50 for adults and £19.50 for children and can be purchased here: https://weymouthpavilion.com/shows/christmas-pantomime-peter-pan/
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