Singer Suzanne Shaw and comic actress Mel Giedroyc have been cast in the Barbican’s pantomime, Jack And The Beanstalk, which runs from 1 December 2007-12 January 2008.
Shaw, who came to fame through the reality series Popstars and the resulting pop group Hear’Say, plays Princess Melody. Since leaving the pop quintet, Shaw has worked in the West End as the Narrator in the previous run of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the New London, and as Janet in Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show at the Playhouse last year.
Giedroyc, who plays Fairy Liquid, is best known as one half of comedy double act Mel and Sue, with friend Sue Perkins. As well as their own show, Light Lunch (which became Late Lunch), Giedroyc has appeared in comedy series including The Vicar Of Dibley, Gimme Gimme Gimme, French And Saunders and Rhona. She also took part in the reality shows Comic Relief Does Fame Academy and The Games.
Shaw and Giedroyc are joined in Jack And The Beanstalk by Steve Furst (Little Britain) as Beastly Boris and panto regular Andy Gray as Dame Dolly Deluxe, plus Helen Baker, Ashley Campbell, Jack Chissick, Tony Jawawardena and Shelley Williams.
Following on from last year’s Mark Ravenhill-penned Dick Whittington, the Barbican’s second in-house pantomime is written by Jonathan Harvey (Beautiful Thing, Closer To Heaven), with songs by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe.
In a land far, far away, Dame Dolly and her sons Jack and Matty are having a bad day. There’s no food in the cupboard, no milk from the cow and no money for Dolly to buy a new frock. As the story goes, Jack is sent off to sell Daisy the cow and instead, swaps her for some magic beans, which a furious Dolly chucks out the window. Soon, an enormous beanstalk grows in the garden, with a human-eating giant in residence. All Jack has to do is save Princess Melody from the giant and escape with all his arms and legs intact…
CB