Grace Chapman and James Bisp Lead CINDERELLA Panto in Croydon

Full casting has been announced for Cinderella - a truly innovative new family pantomime from Imagine Theatre and Fairfield Halls, playing in the world-class 1,802 seat Phoenix Concert Hall from Tuesday 10 December 2019 to Sunday 5 January 2020, with a press night on Thursday 12 December,

Grace Chapman (recently seen in Mame at the Hope Mill Theatre, in Dick Whittington at the New Wimbledon Theatre, as well as roles in Sweeny Todd, Wicked, and The Sound of Music), will star as 'Cinderella,' and West End performer James Bisp (Phantom of the Opera, Spamalot, Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) will star as 'Prince Charming'. They will join the previously announced Ore Oduba, who is making his pantomime debut as 'Dandini', panto regular and comedian Tim Vine as 'Buttons' and CBeebies presenter Cat Sandion as 'Fairy Godmother', plus a team of talented youngsters from Croydon and the surrounding areas - who were selected after a busy open audition at Croydon Town Hall earlier in the year. Completing the cast are panto regulars Jason Marc-Williams and Alistair Barron as the Ugly Sisters and Katie Cameron as the Wicked Stepmother

Will the evil Ugly Sisters thwart the path of true love for Cinderella and her Prince Charming or will her Fairy Godmother help save the day? Bring the whole family along to the Fairfield Halls this Christmas to find out, you'll have a ball!

Cinderella is one of the highlights of an eclectic Autumn/Winter season at the newly re-launched Croydon Fairfield Halls, which officially opened on Monday 16 September 2019.

Delivering a large-scale pantomime into a concert hall with little theatrical infrastructure is a challenge that Imagine Theatre are relishing.

Producer and Imagine Theatre MD Steve Boden said, 'For a long time, we have been looking for an opportunity to evolve the genre of panto, encompassing a range of technology that has only recently (in relative terms) become available to the theatre world. Panto has continually evolved over the years, constantly reinventing itself and redefining the art form. As custodians of the artform for future generations of practitioners and audiences, we were looking for an opportunity to push the boundaries a bit harder, to do something different, to challenge our own perceptions of what pantomime is and can be. We decided that if the venue wanted to throw the Croydon panto in the air and reimagine it for the Concert Hall, then we too should throw all panto conventions that we know into the air and come up with a new delivery of the artform, to excite and impress audiences now and in the future whilst maintaining the magic and traditions that panto producers pass down whilst keeping the purists happy.

'We are certain that our new and re-imagined panto will compliment perfectly the brand-new Phoenix Concert Hall at Fairfield Halls.'

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