Beauty & The Beast comes to Harrogate Theatre this Christmas

Following on from last year’s hugely successful Dick Whittington, Harrogate Theatre’s pantomime returns with the magical Beauty & The Beast at Harrogate Theatre from Friday 25 November – Sunday 15 January this festive feast of family entertainment will once again display all the hallmarks of Harrogate’s truly traditional pantomime.

Beauty & The Beast celebrates a whole host of welcome returns including Harrogate favourite Tim Stedman who is back for his twelfth pantomime and will be taking up the mantle of the dim-witted Mudd-elles. Returning alongside Tim will be Howard Chadwick who will be playing Dame Sue the Sous Chef. Howard has appeared in numerous Harrogate Theatre pantomimes including Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty, Jack & the Beanstalk and Dick Whittington – this year’s will mark Howard’s second appearance as the Dame.

Other familiar faces include Polly Lister who will be playing the role of the Sorceress. Polly appeared in last year’s pantomime as Fairy Bow-Bells and the Sultaness and has appeared in several other Harrogate Theatre pantomimes including Cinderella and Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs. We also welcome back David Westbrook as Baron BonBon who is also no stranger to the Harrogate Theatre stage.

Making their Harrogate Theatre pantomime debuts will be Katy Dean in the role of Belle and Davis Brooks in the role of The Beast/Prince.

Returning for his fifth year as director will be Phil Lowe, whose recent directing credits include the hugely successful production of Fagin’s Last Hour (Harrogate Theatre & West End) and The BFG (Harrogate Theatre). Phil has once again co-written this year’s pantomime with Harrogate Theatre’s Chief Executive David Bown. David has been an actor, writer and director in theatre and television in the UK and America. His plays include; Ballads, Stand (Sunday Times Playwriting Award), Loaded (Peggy Ramsay PMA Award), Night and Day, The Wedding and a musical adaptation of the Carel Kapek play RUR. For children he has written Big Bad Wolf and a musical version of The Emperor’s New Clothes.

The story follows Belle, a beautiful young woman, and the Beast, a handsome prince who has been placed under an evil spell for a hundred years. If the Beast can learn to love and be loved in return, the spell will be broken and he will return to his true self. But time is running out. Packed with everyone’s favourite pantomime characters, this enchanting and spellbinding tale combines spectacular scenery, jokes galore, magic and sparkle – all of which makes Harrogate Theatre’s pantomime a festive family favourite throughout the region.

This year’s pantomime continues Harrogate Theatre’s commitment to ensuring that as many people as possible can access productions with the provision of Audio Described, Touch Tours, BSL Interpreted and Captioned performances.

The assisted performances for Beauty & The Beast include a Captioned Performance on Wednesday 4 January at 7pm, a British Sign Language Interpreted Performance on Thursday 5 January at 7pm and an Audio Described Performance on Thursday 12 January at 7pm.

Beauty & The Beast will be at Harrogate Theatre from Friday 25 November – Sunday 15 January.

Tickets are selling faster than ever and cost £11 – £18 with concessions available and can be booked securelyonline at www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk or through the Harrogate Theatre BoxOffice on 01423 502 116.

Website: www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk/panto