Meet the Cast of Theatre Royal’s The Little Mermaid
Meet the eel-ectrifying cast behind Newcastle Theatre Royal’s 2024 pantomime The Little Mermaid offering fun for all the family this festive season.
Theatre Royal’s pantomimes are always a highlight of the festive season in Newcastle and this year they’re wowing us all with a brand-new production of The Little Mermaid courtesy of legendary pantomime producers Crossroads.
With an all-star cast that includes Theatre Royal panto regulars Danny Adams, Clive Webb, Chris Hayward and Joe McElderry, The Little Mermaid is set to be one of this year’s biggest festive must-dos and we couldn’t be more excited.
Ahead of its opening night on Tuesday 26th November, we caught up with The Little Mermaid cast members Kylie Ann Ford and Christina Berriman Dawson – who play Ursula’s eel henchwomen Eileen and Elsie – to find out what we can expect from the panto.
What’s the most exciting thing about this year’s pantomime The Little Mermaid?
Kylie: Well, it’s not a panto that I’ve ever seen before! I know it does get done, but it’s the first time that Crossroads has done it, and I think that in itself is a really exciting thing to be a part of!
Christina: I’m always in awe of the people who can do things that I can’t do. We have some outstanding dancers in the ensemble – they’re almost like gymnasts! – and we have amazing big bits of scenery and special effects. They’re outrageous – it’s just brilliant!
How much work goes into pantomime rehearsals?
Christina: We’ve been rehearsing for about two or three weeks now and it’s been pretty. I think all pantos have quite tight rehearsal times and I think people are quite surprised when they realise how quick things go! But everybody is just so on it – everybody really knows their job and are super-talented and professional at what they do!
Kylie: It’s basically a three-week rehearsal. The first week is ‘principals’ and we get everything done in the first week. Then the second week introduces the ensemble and we get all the musical numbers in, and the third week is all our press stuff and tech.
Christina: Really, by the end of the first week, we’re running the meat of the show. It’s all coming together and then the ensemble comes in and they’re kind of putting the sprinkles on the cake and then all the magic starts to happen!
Theatre Royal always puts on spectacular pantomimes, but what makes The Little Mermaid special?
Christina: Well, this is my fourth year doing panto at Theatre Royal and this is the first time we’ve had somebody flying! And I think the audience will love all the ‘underwater’ scenes too!
What’s it like to be doing panto with Theatre Royal regulars like Danny Adams, Joe McElderry, Clive Webb and Chris Hayward?
Kylie: It’s just really lovely to work with them. One lovely thing about work with Chris Hayward is all the tips and tricks of the panto trade that you learn because he’s done it for so long. He knows all the traditional panto ways and he’s more than happy to share that with us. It’s so fascinating!
Christina: It’s Danny and Clive’s twentieth anniversary doing panto and Joe is super-experienced, obviously! It’s just really interesting in getting to learn from everybody.
If you could sum up The Little Mermaid in three words, what would they be?
Kylie & Christina: Magical, fantastic and eel-ectrifying!
The Little Mermaid runs at Newcastle Theatre Royal from 26th November 2024 to 12th January 2025. For more information and to book tickets visit: www.theatreroyal.co.uk/whats-on/the-little-mermaid-pantomime.
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