The panto cast you’ve bean waiting for! Fe-Fi-Fo-Fum, a GIANT of a at the Cliffs Pavilion!
Check out our interviews with Bobby Davro, Robin Askwith, Lee Mead and Stacey Solomon below!
Lee Mead, Stacey Solomon, Bobby Davro and Robin Askwith will lead the cast of this year’s pantomime of giant proportions, Jack and the Beanstalk from Saturday 16 December 2017 and they were all out in force recently to promote the show at Southend's Cliffs Pavilion.
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Playing the lead role of Jack is Southend-born musical theatre and television actor Lee Mead. Best-known for winning the BBC talent show Any Dream Will Do, Lee won the title role in the West End revival of Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat to rave reviews. Since then Lee has had lead roles in Wicked and Legally Blonde in the West End, released several solo albums and toured extensively. No stranger to pantomime Lee has starred in four Qdos Entertainment pantomimes, most recently performing the role of Prince Charming in their critically acclaimed production of Cinderella at the London Palladium. From 2014 to 2016 Lee starred as Ben “Lofty” Chiltern in Casualty, which saw him nominated for various national Best Newcomer television awards, a role he will reprise this spring in Holby City.
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Starring alongside him as Mother Nature is X Factor and Loose Women star Stacey Solomon. Since coming third in the sixth series of ITV’s The X Factor, Stacey rose to fame as a much-loved television personality and presenter having won the coveted title of Queen of the Jungle in the tenth series of the hit reality ITV show I’m a Celebrity…Get me Out of Here! Since emerging from the jungle Stacey has co-hosted the show’s ITV2 spin-off programme and is a regular panellist on ITV1’s popular daytime show, Loose Women. In 2015 Stacey released her debut album, Shy, and released a cover of Chris Rea’s Driving Home for Christmas.
Bobby Davro is well-known for his illustrious television career which has seen him present his own series Bobby Davro on the Box, Bobby’s Sketch Pad, TV Weekly, Public Enemy Number One, Rock With Laughter and Run the Risk, and host 65 episodes of Winner Takes All. He has also appeared in EastEnders playing the loveable rogue Vinnie Monks, donned skates on Dancing on Ice, and came fourth in Celebrity Big Brother for Channel 5. No stranger to pantomime Bobby has delighted theatre audiences for a number of years and will be playing Jack’s brother, Simple Simon.
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Completing the line-up as the evil villain Fleshcreep is film and television star Robin Askwith. A regular on the big screen throughout the 70s Robin went on to appear in numerous television shows including Public Eye, Dixon of Dock Green, Z-Cars, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and, most recently, Emmerdale, Coronation Street and Benidorm. His extensive stage work includes numerous farces including Run for Your Wife, One for the Road and Dead Funny, and the title role in Brecht’s The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui and the Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Southend audiences will follow Jack and climb a beanstalk of gigantic proportions to cloudland in this spectacular family pantomime adventure. Doomed to sell his trusty cow, join Jack as he fights to save the beautiful Princess, outwit the evil giant and win riches beyond his wildest dreams, and the hand of the girl he loves. Jack and the Beanstalk, will once again be staged by Qdos Entertainment, the world’s biggest pantomime producer, and the company behind the Theatre’s previous record-breaking productions of Robinson Crusoe, Cinderella and Peter Pan, carrying the Cliffs Pavilion hallmark of outstanding entertainment for theatregoers of all ages.
Executive Producer of Jack and the Beanstalk, Jonathan Kiley said “We are delighted to announce that Lee, Stacey, Bobby and Robin will be starring in this year’s spectacular Cliffs Pavilion pantomime. This year’s production promises all of the music, laughter, audience participation and special effects Southend has come to expect every Christmas, and it promises to be a magical treat for the entire family, including a spectacular 3D sequence which will transport audiences to the Giant’s magical kingdom.”
Theatre Director Ellen McPhillips welcomed the announcement saying, “We are, of course, very excited about having two of Essex’s own in the cast with Lee and Stacey, and are very much looking forward to welcoming back old favourites Bobby Davro and Robin Askwith who have both appeared in previous pantomimes here to great acclaim.”
Jack and the Beanstalk will be at the Cliffs Pavilion from Saturday 16 December 2017 until Sunday 7 January 2018. For more information or to book, please visit www.thecliffspavilion.co.uk
Executive Producer of Jack and the Beanstalk, Jonathan Kiley said “We are delighted to announce that Lee, Stacey, Bobby and Robin will be starring in this year’s spectacular Cliffs Pavilion pantomime. This year’s production promises all of the music, laughter, audience participation and special effects Southend has come to expect every Christmas, and it promises to be a magical treat for the entire family, including a spectacular 3D sequence which will transport audiences to the Giant’s magical kingdom.”
Theatre Director Ellen McPhillips welcomed the announcement saying, “We are, of course, very excited about having two of Essex’s own in the cast with Lee and Stacey, and are very much looking forward to welcoming back old favourites Bobby Davro and Robin Askwith who have both appeared in previous pantomimes here to great acclaim.”
Jack and the Beanstalk will be at the Cliffs Pavilion from Saturday 16 December 2017 until Sunday 7 January 2018. For more information or to book, please visit www.thecliffspavilion.co.uk