Wishing for the best family pantomime? Your wish is our command!
The amazing story of a boy, a lamp, and a genie returns to spread magic across the Mansfield Palace Theatre stage for December 2024.
Headlining our cast this Christmas is James Mackenzie who will be playing the character you’ll love to hate, Abanazar. James is best known for his role as Raven in the multi BAFTA award winning CBBC series of the same name. In the last few years, he has also been introduced to a whole new generation as James in the smash hit CBeebies series, Molly and Mack. James tells us:
“I’m absolutely delighted to be appearing at Mansfield Palace Theatre for this year’s production of Aladdin. Oh yes I am! I can’t wait to see what mischief I can get up to with Mansfield’s favourite funny man, Adam Moss. Let the challenge begin!”
James has worked for many theatre companies including The National Theatre of Scotland and has performed all over the UK in everything from Macbeth to Sunshine On Leith the Musical. He has been a regular in BBC Scotland soap opera River City, has had guest appearances in Still Game and Outlander and of course, like most Scottish actors, James has been in Taggart - more than once!
Taking the role of Widow Twankey will be UK Productions’ panto favourite, Ben Harlow, who tells us:
“I enjoyed a successful Christmas season last year as Widow Twankey in Aladdin at the Grand Theatre, Blackpool and am delighted to be reprising the role this year in Mansfield.”
Away from pantomime, you may have seen Ben as the UPS Guy in the UK and Ireland tour of Legally Blonde, Sam Carmichael in the smash-hit ABBA musical, Mamma Mia, or Gaston in the original international tour of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.
We can’t wait to see Ben’s fabulous costumes and hear his one-liners alongside Mansfield regular, comedian Adam Moss who is playing Wishee Washee – this year! Adam has been a permanent festive fixture at the Palace Theatre for a decade now but this will be his first time appearing in Aladdin here, which happens to be his personal favourite pantomime. He tells us:
“I can't wait to be back at Mansfield for this year's panto, and after 11 years you might, just might see me learn the script! What a fantastic cast of people we have this year, and wait until you meet my mum - what a looker! See you later gang....”
We can’t wait to give a warm Mansfield welcome to the cast joining James, Ben and Adam to complete our Aladdin casting line up for the Christmas season, starting with Paolo Micallef who will be taking the title role of Aladdin.
Paolo is a graduate of Momentum Performing Arts Academy in London, where he earned a first class honours degree in Performing Arts from West London University. Fresh off his first contract as a lead solo singer aboard the AIDA Cosma, Paolo brings extensive stage experience from iconic venues in Malta and the UK. He has played diverse leading roles such as Curly McLain in Oklahoma!, Vittorio Vidal in Sweet Charity, and The Baker in Into the Woods. His dynamic performances in these productions underscore his versatility in the theatre world.
Mairi Ikegami, who trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, joins us in the role of Princess Jasmine. Her theatre credits include appearances in Your Lie in April at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London’s West End and Woven: A New Musical at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Aladdin will be Shannon Farrell’s second pantomime and she tells us:
“I’m so excited to be playing Spirit of the Ring who, chained to their duties, still has the people of Mansfield mesmerised this Christmas”.
Shannon received a BA(Hons) in Musical Theatre from PPAcademy and during her time there, appeared in Betty Blue Eyes, Bare and Sweeney Todd. Since earning her degree, she has appeared on stage in Aladdin at Marlowe Theatre and Betty Blue Eyes at Union Theatre.
Shahar Mizrahi joins us as Genie, having had a passion for theatre since a young age. He started his training at Miskin Theatre and then developed his passion at Bird College Conservatoire for Dance and Musical Theatre where he gained a BA Honours. His previous credits include Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; Bare the Musical; Captain Morgan’s commercial and most recently he played Aladdin at the Met Theatre in Manchester.
Completing our line up, we welcome Mark Peachey as Emperor. His television credits include Jordan Cooper in Hollyoaks (Channel 4) and Books That Made Britain and Inside Out (both BBC). His extensive theatre credits include roles in The Wizard of Oz (Leicester Curve), Dear Evan Hansen (Noel Coward, West End), The Lion King (UK and Ireland tour), We’re Going On A Bear Hunt (UK tour and Hong Kong), Mr Stink (UK Tour), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (UK and Ireland Tour), and The Gruffalo (UK tour).
Overall, it doesn’t take a genie-us to know you need to book soon to make sure you get to see our fantastic cast strut their stuff on stage this Christmas. Find out more and book now by clicking below:
TICKETS
SCHOOLS AND GROUPS
