Putting the ‘boo’ into Beauty this Christmas, experienced actor Sarah-Louise Young will play the bad fairy Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty, this year’s home produced family panto at Lighthouse Poole.
Having previously visited Lighthouse on tour with Fascinating Aida and her own show, An Evening Without Kate Bush, she is thrilled to be coming back and can’t wait to cast her spell on audiences and performers alike when she plays Carabosse whose powerful spell dooms Princess Rose (Sleeping Beauty, played by Isabella Kibble) to a deep sleep that can only be broken by a Prince’s kiss.
“It’s going to be such good fun,” she says.
“To make a really good villain, the audience should be looking forward to seeing them and hating them at the same time. There’s so much humour in pantomime, but also you have to have that darkness in a panto for the story to matter. If there’s no real sense of potential impending doom then you don’t get the buy-in and you want kids to be on the edge of their seats, not being sure if good will out.”
Written and directed by CBeebies star Chris Jarvis, who will also appear as Dame Nanny Nutkins, Sleeping Beauty is produced by the same in-house team that has delivered award-winning hit pantomimes in recent years including last year’s Aladdin, as well as Cinderella and Jack and the Beanstalk, with production designer James Smith, choreographer Daniel Donaldson Todd and music director Adam Tuffrey.
“Poole is a lovely part of the world and I’m really looking forward to spending Christmas and New Year there. As someone who makes their own work, obviously I’m on my own a lot, so one of the wonderful things about panto is I get to be part of a company again, which is really enjoyable.”
Sarah-Louise will join EastEnders and Grange Hill star Todd Carty who will play King Tucker in Sleeping Beauty with Tom Mann returning to play Prince Ken after starring as Cupid in Beauty and the Beast three years ago, West End actress Isabella Kibble as Beauty and Melaina Pecorini (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) as Fairy Sunbeam. Further casting announcements will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
Sleeping Beauty opens on Thursday 12 December and runs until Sunday 5 January. Tickets are on sale now at www.lighthousepoole.co.uk, or call 01202 280000.
(NC)