Mother Daughter Duo Linda Lusardi And Lucy Kane Will Star in THE WIZARD OF OZ Panto at St Helens Theatre Royal

Regal Entertainments have announced the full cast of their Easter panto, The Wizard of Oz, which comes to St Helens Theatre Royal from Sat 6 - Mon 22 April.

Recently announced Linda Lusardi who is set to play The Wicked Witch, will be joined by her daughter, ITV's The Voice star Lucy Kane, as Glinda.

The full cast also includes Charlotte Gallagher; Harry Moore; Steve Arnott; Reece Sibbald; and Jay Lusted.

Linda Lusardi's career has spanned nearly 30 years. The former Emmerdale and Brookside actress first shot to fame in the early 80's as one of Britain's best-loved models, before moving in to the world of television.

Her major TV roles include Carrie Nichols in ITV's Emmerdale, where she murdered Tom King in one of the most memorable storylines of the year; Maggie Lyons in The Bill; Frankie in Brookside; and played herself in The Detectorists on BBC4.

Her real-life daughter, singer and actress Lucy Kane, rose to fame on 2017's series of The Voice as part of Team Tom. Her stage credits include the title role in Annie, Princess Jasmine in Aladdin at Alban Arena, St Albans and the title role in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at The Playhouse, Weston-Super-Mare.

On appearing on stage together, Linda Lusardi said: "I am thrilled to be working with Lucy for the second time this year. She is not only my daughter but my best friend. She's so talented and I am immensely proud of her. We have great fun spending time on and off stage. We are really looking forward to appearing in The Wizard of Oz and meeting the people of St Helen's"

Lucy Kane added: "I am so excited to be performing in The Wizard of Oz this year in St Helen's. It's such a beautiful story and I get to share the stage with my brilliant Mum!"

Charlotte Gallagher steps back in to the famous Ruby Slippers as Dorothy. No stranger to the Theatre Royal stage, Charlotte previously appeared in the 2015 and 2016 productions of The Wizard of Oz as well as Snow White and Peter Pan.

Another familiar face to St Helens audiences is Harry Moore, who played the role of the Wizard in last year's February half-term production. He is back for 2019 as Tin Man.

There are also a whole host of new faces.

Steve Arnott who has a plethora of panto experience including Captain Hook in Peter Pan at Darlington Hippodrome and Abanazer in Aladdin at Venue Cymru, will play Lion.

Playing the role of Scarecrow is Reece Sibbald. His previous stage roles include Scarecrow in the touring production of Chuckles of Oz starring alongside The Chuckle Brothers.

Completing the cast, Jay Lusted, who played one of the seven dwarfs in 2017's Christmas panto Snow White, returns as the great Wizard of Oz.

Click your heels together and join Dorothy and Toto as they journey along the Yellow Brick Road to meet the Wizard so he can make their dreams come true.

Regal Entertainments' reimagined panto version of this classic family tale includes a brand-new script and music for 2019 including lots of chart hits, old and new, for audiences to sing along to.

St Helens Theatre Royal manager, Chantelle Nolan said: "I am very excited to announce the full cast for The Wizard of Oz. It will be wonderful to see the chemistry on stage between Linda and Lucy. We have some returning favourites, as well as some new faces to this year's production; plus, a new script and lots of brilliant new songs to sing and dance to. So be sure to join us over the rainbow in Oz this Easter!"

Get ready for a whole lot of family fun as this fantastic tale is reawakened.

For more information, please visit: www.sthelenstheatreroyal.com

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