Lee Mead .. Timeline - Cinderella at the London Palladium, December 2016

Ever since Lee said at one of his album launch gigs at London's Pheasantry back in March that he'd just heard about "the biggest thing that's happened to me in panto", speculation as to what it could be has been rife amongst his fans. When the return of panto to the London Palladium was announced not long after, it was very easy to hope that this was the 'big thing' of which he spoke!

And the hope was rewarded with the announcement today of the first names in an all-star Cinderella cast for this 'must-see spectacular' from the world's biggest pantomime producer, QDOS Entertainments. With later announcements in July and September, the principal cast line-up is:

Lee Mead in Cinderella at the Palladium, 2016

Paul O'Grady as Wicked Stepmother

Julian Clary as Dandini

Amanda Holden as Fairy Godmother

Lee Mead as Prince Charming

Paul Zerdin as Buttons

Nigel Havers as Lord Chamberlain

Count Arthur Strong as Baron Hardup

Natasha Barnes as Cinderella

Suzie Chard as Wicked Stepsister

Wendy Somerville as Wicked Stepsister

For me, the casting of Natasha Barnes as Cinderella, following her critically-acclaimed cover run as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl, is so much better than some of the previously rumoured 'celeb' names. I was also interested to read Director, Michael Harrison's thoughts on casting women as the Stepsisters: "When you have O'Grady and Clary on your team with huge costume changes and bags of comedy, the sisters need to take on a different guise, hence they are Wicked not Ugly. The show needs balance and it doesn't need too much drag - we have the greatest already." With a 22 strong ensemble also selected following auditions in late August and a top-notch creative team (detailed on the show's website), QDOS promises to deliver a truly spectacular show.

The show will open on Saturday 10 December 2016 and runs until Sunday 15 January 2017.

[Ticket and schedule info removed now show is over.]

Last updated: 3 October 2016