Carrie Hope Fletcher to Make Pantomime Debut in SLEEPING BEAUTY at The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury

Carrie Hope Fletcher will be performing in her first ever pantomime when she joins the cast of Sleeping Beauty at The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury. The show, which is co-produced by The Marlowe and Evolution Productions, is written and directed by Paul Hendy. It will be opening in Canterbury on Friday 25 November.

Last year's show won Best Pantomime at The Pantomime Awards 2022, with Paul also being awarded Best Director.

Actress, author and vlogger Carrie Hope Fletcher will be making her pantomime debut as villain Carabosse. Carrie's stage credits include The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Rose Theatre), Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella (Gillian Lynne Theatre, West End), Les Misérables: The Concert (Gielgud Theatre, West End) and Heathers (Theatre Royal Haymarket, West End).

She is a three-time winner of Best Actress In A Musical at the WhatsOnStage Awards for the roles of Cinderella in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella, Veronica Sawyer in Heathers and Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family. She has also won the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Takeover In A Role for Eponine in Les Misérables.

Alongside her acting, literary and music career, Carrie is an established online presence with over 589,000 followers on Instagram and over 700,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel, with over one million views every month. She was named in the Sunday Times Influencer List as one of the top 100 influencers in the United Kingdom.

She has previously performed at The Marlowe during the tours of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Addams Family.

She says: "I'm so excited. I didn't see a panto until I was 19, that was my first experience of panto. I love it so much. I love how out there they are, I love that they use songs that everyone knows, I love all of the outlandish characters and I love the audience participation."

"The fact that I was asked to play the villain was a very, very big draw for me. Wednesday Addams was probably the closest I ever got to playing a villain and I really enjoyed playing a slightly darker character and so just playing an outright villain is going to be so much fun. I don't think I've ever looked forward to being booed before!"

Carrie will be joining actor, TV star and Strictly Come Dancing champion Ore Oduba, who will be playing Prince Orlando. Ore has hosted flagship shows such as This Morning and The One Show, as well as fronting some of the biggest national events live to audiences of millions - including The Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and Ariana Grande's global concert One Love Manchester.

Most recently Ore played Brad Majors in the hit UK Tour of Rocky Horror, during which he performed at The Marlowe. He made his West End debut as Aaron Fox in the Kander and Ebb musical Curtains opposite Jason Manford. Ore has also played the role of Teen Angel in Grease on UK tour.

Ore says: "In many ways I feel like I was made for panto because I love having that rapport with the audience, I'm a family guy myself and I love the idea of families coming to see the show. I know that everybody loves The Marlowe panto. It's such a popular experience for everybody around Christmas so I feel really privileged and lucky to be part of this amazing group and part of the show. We're going to have fun."

Jennie Dale, who is best known for playing Captain Captain in the hit CBeebies TV series Swashbuckle and for presenting her own show Jennie's Fitness In 5 for CBBC, will be playing Fairy Moonbeam. In addition to her work on television, Jennie is also a What's On Stage Award nominated theatre actress. In the West End Jennie has been seen in Elf (Dominion Theatre), The Pajama Game (Shaftesbury Theatre), Sister Act (London Palladium), The Lord Of The Rings (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), Mary Poppins (Prince Edward Theatre), Jerry Springer The Opera (Cambridge Theatre), Les Misérables (Palace Theatre), The
Witches of Eastwick (Theatre Royal Drury Lane) and Scrooge (Dominion Theatre).

Ben Roddy will be returning for his 13th pantomime at The Marlowe. Ben was awarded Dame of the Year at The Great British Pantomime Awards for his role in Peter Pan. With recent seasons at the RSC, this year Ben appeared in The Marlowe Sessions at the Malthouse, Canterbury in Tamburlaine and Doctor Faustus with Dominic West.

Comedian and ventriloquist Max Fulham, whose TV credits include special guest appearances on both series of the recent CBBC Crackerjack and on the opening episode of ITV's Game Of Talents hosted by Vernon Kay, plays Jangles. Ellie Kingdon, whose stage credits include Grease (Dominion Theatre); Grease (UK Tour); Guys And Dolls and Anything Goes, will be playing Aurora.

The Marlowe Theatre's Chief Executive Deborah Shaw says: "Paul always brings together a cast of stellar performers who have a real love of Pantomime. We can't wait to welcome Carrie, Ore, Jennie, Max and Ellie to The Marlowe to join the legendary Ben Roddy in Sleeping Beauty. With all that talent on stage it's going to be a memorable year!"

Paul Hendy says: "We're incredibly proud of Evolution and The Marlowe's reputation for producing some of the biggest and best pantomimes in the country. This year, we have some truly spectacular special effects planned, and our cast is undoubtedly one of the strongest we've ever presented at The Marlowe. This show is certainly not to be missed!"

Sleeping Beauty will be at The Marlowe Theatre from Friday 25 November to Sunday 8 January 2023, with various performance times. Tickets can be booked on marlowetheatre.com or via the Box Office on 01227 787787.

 

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