Ten must-follow Twitter celebs for panto season
Published on Thursday 10th November, 9.56am, Written by Jonathan Dudley
It’s not long until panto season begins and thanks to the wonders of social media we can enjoy the trials and tribulations of this year’s best panto celebs as they get ready for showtime.
Since Twitter was pretty much invented for following celebrities and posting pictures of food, we’ve compiled a list of our favourite tweeting celebs who are doing panto this year. Follow them to inject a bit of festive glamour into your feed.
Larry Lamb (@LarryLamb47)
Perhaps best-known for his portrayal of EastEnders mega-baddie Archie Mitchell, Larry Lamb certainly knows how to play the bad guy.
His wicked mistreatment of Peggy Mitchell – patron saint of pubs and faaammmmily – earned him the Villain of the Year prize at the 2010 British Soap Awards, so audiences are rightly expecting a brilliant Abanazar in a Croydon production of Aladdin.
The show opens for a month long run at Croydon’s Fairfield Halls on 2 December, 2011.
Vanilla Ice (@VanillaIce)
Vanilla Ice (hilarious real name, Robert Van Winkle) is the latest American celebrity to pop over to the UK at Christmas to do a spot of panto. This December he’ll be starring in the Chatham Central Theatre’s production of Peter Pan. You may remember Mr Ice from his 1991 smash-hit, Ice Ice Baby, or perhaps his DIY home renovation show, The Vanilla Ice Project.
No matter where you remember him from, Vanilla Ice isn’t the first person you’d think of when casting Captain Hook, Eton-educated scourge of Neverland. However, questionable hip-hop career aside, I have a feeling it’s going to be a pretty special performance. Keep an eye on Mr Ice’s feed for the inevitably hilarious tweets that could only occur when an American gets his first taste of good old-fashioned British pantomime.
The Central Theatre’s production of Peter Pan opens on 8 December, but you won’t have long to catch it, it closes on 31 December, 2011.
John ‘The Barrowman’ Barrowman (@Team_Barrowman)
We’re pretty big fans of The Barrowman at Show and Stay, which is hardly surprising since everything he touches turns to solid gold. No matter if you’re a fan of him from Doctor Who, Torchwood, Animals at Work, Desperate Housewives, Shark Attack 3: Megalodon or any of his exceptional stage roles, the opportunity to see him in panto can’t be missed.
The Barrowman will play the titular character in the Glasgow SECC’s production of Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates. He’ll share the stage with Scotland’s most terrifying national treasures, The Krankies. Clearly the SECC were really desperate to cast the trio: They changed the entire panto just to accommodate them.
The SECC’s production of Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates open on 17 December 2011 and closes on 7 January, 2012.
John and Edward Grimes (@PlanetJedward)
I appreciate that asking you to follow Jedward is a pretty serious request but who else this year got not just panto roles, but their very own panto!? The infectiously upbeat Grimes brothers are starring in Jedward and the Beanstalk at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre this Christmas.
Though I very much doubt that Jedward and the Beanstalk will become a classic pantomime story, I’m certain that it’ll be quite the spectacle and that Jedward will provide more than a few entertaining tweets from backstage. Even if you’re a Jedward-hater, it’s worth following them just to enjoy the schadenfreude of the plucky pair struggling through a gruelling fortnight of panto schedule. If we’re really lucky, there could be a humorous (but essentially harmless) accident or two…
The Olympia Theatre’s production of Jedward and the Beanstalk runs from 21 December, 2011 – 8 January, 2012.
Louie Spence (@LouieSpence)
Hyper-flamboyant Duke of dance Louie Spence is the only person on this list likely to divide opinion as much as Jedward. Some love his cheeky style, weapons-grade campness and enviable ability to drop it like it’s hotter than the sun at a moment’s notice. Others, mainly people who believe that only a pact with the devil can grant a man in his 40s such flexibility, are not so keen.
Whatever your stance on Louie, you can’t deny that he’s a pretty good fit for pantomime. He’ll be playing the Prince’s aide-de-camp in the Opera House, Manchester’s production of Cinderella and you can bet he’ll be sprinkling the entire production with his unique blend of glamour, humour and killer jazz-hands.
The Opera House, Manchester’s production of Cinderella runs from 3 – 31 December, 2011.
David Hasselhoff (@DavidHasselhoff)
Is there a soul left in the western world who does not know and love David Hasselhoff? He was in Knightrider, he was in Baywatch (apparently the most-watched television show of all time), he was in the Spongebob Movie and now he’s in panto at the Bristol Hippodrome.
The Hoff is to play Captain Hook, a role which he also played in his panto debut in Wimbledon last year. He’s even already given himself the nickname “Hoff the Hook” so we can only assume that he’s getting into character nice and early, which can’t hurt. Also, his extensive lifeguard training will probably come in handy when sailing the seas of Neverland aboard his pirate galleon. Avasssttttt!
The Bristol Hippodrome’s production of Peter Pan runs from 10 December, 2011 – 8 January, 2012.
Christopher Biggins (@OneBiggins)
With roughly 5900 hours of stage-time clocked up just from his pantomime roles, Christopher Biggins is the undisputed king of the panto. He’s played a dame pretty much every year since he was 21 (he’s now 62) and only missed out on panto in 2007 because he was far too busy winning I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! and stealing the nation’s hearts all over again.
Biggins is old-school celebrity at its best. He’s charming, kind-hearted, always calls everyone something lovely like “kitten” or “darling” and never takes himself too seriously. He even played a sort of caricature of himself on BBC’s creepy comedy-drama Psychoville, proving that he’s not above poking fun at his own legend. It should be hilarious to read his 140-character insights from behind the scenes.
The one-and-only Biggins will bring his unique blend of glamour and comedy to the New Theatre Cardiff’s production of Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates from 10 December 2011 to 22 January, 2012.
Ray Quinn (@TheRealRayQuinn)
Cherub-faced X Factor runner-up Ray Quinn was described by the apparently psychic Sharon Osbourne as “a panto boy” in 2006. Fast forward to 2011 and Mother Osbourne was quite right, Quinn may not be much of a pop star, but he’s one hell of a stage star.
Quinn’s role as Doody in the West End production of Grease gave us a taste of what he’s capable of but when he was upgraded to the role of Danny Zuko, we were really impressed. Young Mr Quinn is the full Theatreland package: he sings, he dances (and ice skates) and he has an undeniable stage presence that he’ll no doubt put to good use when he plays Prince Charming in the Darlington Civic Theatre’s production of Cinderella.
The Darlington Civic Theatre’s production of Cinderella opens 3 December, 2011 and is running until 15 January, 2012.
Jamie John (@JamieJohn4U)
For someone that you might not have heard of, Jamie John has quite the CV. He’s appeared in Little Britain, the most recent Harry Potter film, pantomimes and hit Channel Four documentary, Seven Dwarves. Oh, and he’s Britain’s only drag queen dwarf!
Jamie’s only at the start of his career, but if Seven Dwarves was anything to go by, he’s destined for something pretty special. Personally, I can see a cross between a Lily Savage and Christopher Biggins in his near-future. For now, he’s playing an as-of-yet-unnamed dwarf in the Blackpool Grand Theatre’s version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
Craig Revel Horwood (@CraigRevHorwood)
Craig Revel Horwood, best known as Strictly Come Dancing’s harshest judge, will be putting his acid tongue to good use when he plays the Wicked Queen in the Dartford Orchard Theatre’s production of Snow White this Christmas. Horwood is no stranger to the part of the dame, in fact, he’s played the Wicked Queen several times.
The accomplished choreographer, dame and judge will be joined on stage by none other than former Shadow Home Secretary Ann Widdecombe, who will play his “Widde in Waiting”. The heady combination of Twitpics of Horwood’s glamorous frocks, his inevitably acerbic take on the efforts of his co-stars and regular updates on what Widde’s getting up to make Horwood’s panto tweets very intriguing indeed.
The Dartford Orchard Theatre’s production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves runs from 9 – 31 December, 2011.
You can follow all of these tweeting celebs in one click by checking out our Panto Stars of 2011 list.
Don’t really know why you’ve commented in such a fashion about Jedward! “schadenfreude of the plucky pair struggling through a gruelling fortnight of panto schedule” “If we’re really lucky, there could be a humorous (but essentially harmless) accident or two…” Nastiness for the sake of a few laughs isn’t clever.
These young men have worked solid 18+ hour days every day for the past 2 years, with only Christmas day off – although this year they also have Christmas Eve off.
They had a hugely successful northern European tour this summer (not forgetting a very commendable 8th place ranking in Eurovision), and have just the past fortnight come off a very successful UK tour. They are also earning more money in Panto this year than anyone else in your list (by a long shot) – and additionally, had an extremely successful Panto run last season.
Please don’t buy into the “let’s slag off Jedward because it’s fun” routine. It’s lazy. Do your research. These are hard-working, highly intelligent young men with a career ahead of them that will confound all their detractors. In fact, it’s probably best you board the Jedward Bus right now, because it’s not going to stop for a very long time.
Oh – and while I’m still here – I saw Rob (aka Vanilla Ice) in Panto, and he was fantastic!! Met him at the stage door, he is the loveliest man – and yes – he understands Panto…never fear. So – please, put away all your prejudices – and maybe go and see some of these shows rather than just slagging off their shows!