The cast of this year's pantomime, Cinderella, has just been revealed!

Basil Brush as Buttons

Bernie Nolan as Fairy Godmother

And Jane Ledsom as Cinderella

Plus real white Shetland ponies fronting Cinderella's glittering coach!

You heard it here first. Basil Brush is the confirmed star of Grove Theatre and Duo Pantomimes' next Christmas extravaganza; Cinderella.

Basil Brush will be playing Buttons in the third ever pantomime at the new Grove Theatre in Dunstable this year which opens on Friday 11 December and closes on Sunday 3 January 2010. Tickets are already selling at record breaking speed after the success of the last two pantomimes, Peter Pan starring Brian Blessed and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs starring Letitia Dean. The box office advance is double what it was this time last year and now the cast has been announced the stage really is set for their best pantomime yet!

 

Basil has been busier than ever this year with guest appearances on Comic Relief, Saturday morning Swap Shop with Barney and he's currently out and about on a spring tour of Basil's High School Mania! All this and he's still managed to make time for a costume fitting for Cinderella later this year! We've got the pictures to prove it! Boom Boom!

 

But what's a production of Cinderella without a spectacular Fairy Godmother? Well, Grove Theatre have got the best of the best in the form of the beautiful Bernie Nolan! Bernie is very much the woman of the moment after it was announced yesterday that the 1970s sister group The Nolans will be reuniting just in time to celebrate their 30^th anniversary. With a new tour, album and DVD soon to be released, Bernie, Coleen, Maureen and Linda are extremely excited about their I'm in the Mood Again Tour and Bernie herself has called it THE ULTIMATE GIRLS' NIGHT OUT!

 

However busy she will be, there will be no Christmas rest for Bernie, who was the lead singer with The Nolans and has one of the most powerful and captivating singing voices you will ever hear. She'll be hot-footing her way immediately to Dunstable and donning her sparkly dress and magic wand before you can say 'you shall go to the ball!'

 

As well as having a successful musical career she has been a regular on our TV screens since 2003, starring in both Brookside and The Bill. She has also returned to her true love of music and recorded her first solo single Macushla in 2004 to raise money for children's' charities and she released her first solo album in 2005 titled All By Myself.

 

Her talents don't even stop there! Bernie is no stranger to the stage, having played the leading role in the West End musical Blood Brothers and most recently having played the part of Robin in the national theatre tour of the comedy play Mum's the Word. With such a wide range of exceptional talents there is no doubt that she will give a magical performance at Grove Theatre this Christmas.

 

Joining Basil and Bernie on the stage is local celebrity and rising star Jane Ledsom making her pantomime debut as Cinderella. Jane is an extremely talented actress and singer. She has launched her own theatre company producing group devised pieces at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry and has toured theatres across the country in various shows.

 

Jane is not just a fan of the arts - she is also an avid football fan! That's right, this year's Cinderella is a Luton Town supporter! As all true Hatters will know, the CD entitled 30 Down to Zero (Here Come the Hatters) recorded by Jane Ledsom and the Shouty Boys is about Luton's challenge to claw back 30 league points. Then, last March, the anthem was adapted to 30 Miles to Wembley (Here Come the Hatters) in support of our local team. Of the original record Jane said, I'm really hoping it will give the team and our great fans a much needed boost of morale to eat away at the deficit we currently have and show the rest of the footballing world that Hatters will never give up that easily! What a girl!

Basil, Bernie and Jane will be joined by a fantastic supporting cast, spectacular scenery that will blow you away, lavish costumes and real white Shetland ponies! The team at Grove Theatre and Duo Pantomimes are more excited than ever about their pantomime Cinderella this year and are already smashing past box office records. Tickets start at just £12 and really are selling at speed. Make sure you get yours now so there's no chance of missing out on the show of the year! Call the box office on 01582 602080* or book online.

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: © [2009] Ivan Owen's Estate and Peter Firmin under exclusive licence to Classic Media Distribution Limited. All Rights reserved.