Meet the Cast of Tyne Theatre’s Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs
We catch up with the cast of this year’s panto to find out a little more about the show
It wouldn’t be Christmas in Newcastle without going to see a pantomime and Tyne Theatre & Opera House’s annual panto productions are legendary.
This year it’s the turn of Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs which brings together a stellar cast including Tyne Theatre panto regulars Charlie Richmond and Lewis Denny, Dancing on Ice winner Regan Gascoigne as the Prince, dance duo Twist & Pulse as the Wicked Queen’s henchmen and local lass Grace Davison as the titular heroine.
We caught up with the cast to find out more about the show, including the hilarious-sounding adult version they’re doing for two dates only in January.
You’re both Tyne Theatre regulars, Charlie and Lewis. How long have you been doing panto here and how excited are you to be returning for another year?
Charlie: I’ve been here the longest – I’ve finished my apprenticeship! I’ve been here 18 years. It feels like an eternity!
Lewis: And I’m still work experience – I’ve been here ten years now.
Charlie: I love it. This is the best theatre in the land really, and I’ve performed in loads of them. It’s the absolute beauty of the place and how close the audience are to you. In here, you get a real Geordie crowd that love it.
Lewis: It’s really rewarding doing what we do. It’s better than being anywhere else – you’re from here, these are your people. It’s fab.
Charlie: Some of the jokes I tell… I couldn’t tell them in Bradford. It would go straight over their heads! But you tell them in front of a Geordie crowd they’re absolutely laughing, you know?
Lewis: They’re not scared to laugh either!
Charlie: No, not at all! And I like to put a lot of North East references in like places and landmarks and stuff like that so that they feel a part of it.
Twist and Pulse – you’ve done pantomimes across the country, but is this your first time doing panto in Newcastle?
Twist: Yes, this is our first time doing pantomime in Newcastle. Every single person we’ve told about it has said you’re in the best city so we are super excited. When we got off the train yesterday, it straight away felt really energetic and ready so we’re super excited to be here!
Pulse: I’m directing this year as well, so it’s even more exciting for me to be able to create the show and put it all together. Even just hearing some of the Geordie slang and little things you want to put in – I’m excited to make it feel really at home here.
Grace, this is your debut pantomime. How excited were you to learn you landed the part of Snow White?
Grace: I was buzzing! It was very unexpected actually, but I’m just so happy to be able to do panto in the region that I grew up in – I’m over the moon! I’m really looking forward to it and everybody’s just gorgeous so I’ve definitely landed the right role in the right place, for sure!
Regan, how excited are you to play the iconic role of The Prince?
Regan: This is my first time ever playing a prince so I’m very excited! I love doing panto – it’s just joyful and a Christmas tradition.
What about the rest of the cast? Can you tell us a bit more about your characters?
Lewis: I play Dame Dotty and I don’t really know too much about her at the moment! I’ll be at the castle and I’ll be doing everything – castle cook, nurse, all sorts really!
Charlie: I’m Muddles and I’m your general village idiot! I’m friends with Snow White, friends with the dwarves and I’ll be friends with the audience. I’m kind of like the link between it all.
Twist: We play Henchman Twist and Henchman Pulse. We’re keeping the Twist and Pulse in there because we feel like we kind of are those characters anyway! We are meant to be evil, but we’re kind of like silly evil.
Pulse: A bit too silly to be evil, if that makes sense! We don’t quite get the grip of what being evil is but we’re trying our best! It’s a lot of fun because bouncing off the evil character always creates good moments in a show, so we’re looking forward to some really funny moments.
Twist, Pulse and Regan – you’re all professional dancers. Will we see you throwing a few moves on the stage?
Regan: I think so, yeah! I think I will be dancing.
Grace: I hope he’s twirling me around!
Twist: Of course! It wouldn’t be Twist and Pulse in a panto if we weren’t doing one of our routines! A main chunk of it will be what people know us for and there’ll also be some singing from Pulse, I’m going to be doing some rapping and there’ll be little dance breaks throughout to keep the energy pumped!
Tell us a bit more about the adult version of Snow White. What can audiences expect?
Charlie: This is the first time we’ve done an adult pantomime. Obviously, we pride ourselves on telling a traditional pantomime story and that’s still going to be the same – the story of Snow White will still run throughout the adult pantomime. But where we stop pushing the envelope when we’re doing a double entendre in the family show – where the adults will laugh and it goes straight over the kids’ heads – we can now explore that a bit more, bring some props in and make it a bit more adult-themed and rude!
It’s not going to be a cringe fest, or anything like that! It’s very much an excuse for adults to go to the panto with their boyfriends and girlfriends and have a good night out – that’s what we’re aiming for.
Pulse: It’s just a nice way to bounce off characters differently. I think the audience are going to really enjoy it – it’ll be super fun. It’s only two shows so we can have a really good laugh with it. It still has the spirit of pantomime – everyone’s here to have fun, everyone’s here to have a laugh, everyone’s here to have the best time ever.
Twist: I feel like if you want to come and watch the adult show, you should definitely watch the normal family show first just so you can see that transition. I feel excited and nervous in the best way possible!
If you could give people one reason to come and see Snow White, what would it be?
Twist: Because it’s going to be the best pantomime in the world!
Pulse: We’ve got an epic cast. I think everyone here brings something special to it and I think that’s going to make it really epic this year. And Snow White as a show – there’s so much magic around it and I think at Christmastime that’s exactly what everyone needs.
Charlie: It’s the best laugh during Christmas without a shadow of a doubt. For me, panto sums up the festive season so why not come to one of the best theatres in the country and see a proper traditional pantomime?
Snow White & The Seven Dwarves runs at Tyne Theatre & Opera House from 6th December 2024 to 5th January 2025, with adult panto performances happening on the evenings of 4th and 5th January. For more info and to book tickets visit the Tyne Theatre & Opera House website.
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