The Lost Princesses panto on stage in Mayo in new year
WESTPORT Town Hall Theatre is proud to announce its annual community pantomime, The Lost Princesses, which will premiere for seven shows from New Year’s Day 2023.
Written by Brendan Williams, this year's panto is a quirky tale featuring bookworms who get blamed for mixing up the pages in the book of classical fairy tales, resulting in mad shenanigans such as Sleeping Beauty ending up in Cinderella's house and Snow White ending up in Red Riding Hood's house!
The White Rabbit has only a short time to get everyone back into their proper fairy tale story before the evil Mother Gothel finds out or else the fairy tales will be lost forever.
Brian Murphy will return to the director’s chair for his fourth production, having been at the helm of the hugely successful Wizard of Westport in 2019, Bo Peep in January 2020 and Alex in Wonderland in April 2022.
Said Brian: “We’ve been rehearsing twice and three times a week since late September and the standard this year of the crew is phenomenal - the amount of work that everyone puts in behind the scenes is just unreal and the dedication of the cast and crew is a credit to the community of Westport that have given so much time and effort over the past months to get this show over the line.”
The music for the production is overseen, directed and performed by Catherine McGlinchey, who will be joined by David 'Granny' Ward, Mick Buckton, Orla McGlinchey and Anthony McNamee - whose expertise in the field of music and performing are always a welcome addition to the frontline of this fantastic, locally-produced community event. The production is also lucky to have gifted choreographer Colette McGinty return for her third year to the directors’ team to put the cast through their paces and places on stage with the ever-important dance moves - all combined to bring this quirky story to life.
Following open auditions last September, the large cast aged from seven up to just over 80 years includes many new-comers to the stage as well as some seasoned, well-known local actors.
Principal cast include Mairead Ryan as the White Rabbit, Cara Mongey as Sleeping Beauty, Ivie Carr as Flora, Phillip Murphy as Lady Tremaine, Uisce Kelly-Duffy as Anastasia, Aimee McNamara as Drizella, Cathal Heraty as Snow White, Martha O’Reilly as Grannie, Tara Horkan as Harry the Huntsman, Emer Durcan as Mr. Wolf, Mella NíMhearáin as Cinderella, Adam O’Brien as Fairy Godmother, Sharla Greenway as Mammy Bear, Maud McCabe as Daddy Bear, Emma Mongey as Baby Bear, Grace Donovan as Princess Anna, Katherine O’Malley as Olaf and Marion Moran as Mother Gothel.
The all-singing all-dancing chorus that bring their own touch of magic to this production include Rachel O’Malley, Ronan Hodges, William Geary, Sophie Clough, Lucy Watson-Ryan, Lennie Grimes, Sabrina McHugh, Alice Burns, Laura Heraty, Rebecca Fitzgerald, Clodagh Fitzgerald, Mia Herron, Ruby Lyons, Clíona NíChionnaith and Isabelle Madden.
This production promises lots of drama, music, dancing, oodles of comedy moments and more than a few twists which will guarantee to enchant young and old alike so it's suitable for all ages.
Performance dates are Sunday 1st, Monday 2nd, Thursday 5th, Friday 6th, Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th January, with limited availability on tickets. For further details and to book check out www.westporttheatre.com.