Meet the Cast!

Oliver Ward - Fairy Cake

The theatre has always been a big part of Oliver’s life, helping him grow in confidence whilst meeting some amazing people along the way. Oliver has performed in many shows with RMTC and its youth group the Mob. Returning after a 10-year hiatus where he tried at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. Oliver performed as an Angel in RMTC’s production of ‘Kinky Boots’. He is very excited to be back with the group performing his first panto in a principal role. Oh yes he is! Playing the character of Fairy Cake, the sweetest treat in all the land, he hopes you enjoy the show as much as he’s enjoying performing it.

Gemma Ambrose - Fairy Liquid

Gemma has a passion for music, dancing and all things musical theatre. She had always loved performing as a child but says she lost touch as she got older. This is her first show in 15 years and she is thrilled to be a part of it. Gemma says everyone at RMTC has been so welcoming and she has made some friends for life. Gemma has had great fun putting the show together and hopes you love it as much as she and the rest of the cast do.

Emma Parker- Fairy Lights

This is Emma’s first show with RMTC and so far she says she has loved every second! She has had a passion for performing from a very young age and took every opportunity possible to perform, from school productions to amateur performing arts groups. In 2019 she was lucky enough to gain a place at a drama school in London to train professionally and says those years were some of the best of her life so far. Emma is currently in her second year of her primary teaching degree and feels so lucky that she is able to be apart of educating the next generation. Emma says she can’t thank everyone at RMTC enough for making her feel so welcome and she hopes you enjoy watching the show as much as she enjoys being in it.

Hannah Harris- Fairy Nuff

Hannah is currently studying musical theatre at CAPA College in Wakefield to pursue her passion for theatre and she has been part of RMTC for almost a year now! Hannah says that coming to rehearsals is easily the highlight of her week and performing with the rest of the team has been an AMAZING experience! So, with that said, enjoy the show and a have a merry Christmas!

Sarah Mitchell -Carabosse

Sarah joined RMTC when she was16 years old. She was also one of the founder members our youth group, the MOB. Sarah has played many different roles and danced and sang in the chorus over the years. Last year, Sarah was on the good side as Fairy Blossom but this year she is please to be heading over to the dark side, playing the role of Carabosse. Sarah feels playing the baddie is such fun! This year is going to be an emotional one as it’s the last one she will do with her son Josh (who is playing the Prince) before he goes to performing arts college. For this reason, Sarah will cherish every minute. She hopes you all enjoy the show and says ,“ Let the curtain rise on what is going to be a great panto!”.

Julie Arnold-Queen Ladidah

Julie trained as a professional dancer and performed in ballet and contemporary dance in Germany. She has played in. professional pantomimes at the Theatre Royal Notingham in ‘Babes in the Woods’, ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and ‘Merry King Cole’. Julie is a qualified dance teacher and professional choreographer. With amateur companies she has performed in ‘Aladdin’, ‘Cinderella’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’. This is Julie’s first time with RMTC and she says she has thoroughly enjoyed it!

Sam Taylor - Chester, the Jester

‘Sleeping Beauty’ is Sam’s second production with RMTC after joining earlier this year for the brilliant production of ‘Kinky Boots’, in which he played Harry. Sam is delighted to be playing the Jester and has loved pantomime for as long as he can remember, performing first in primary school. Since joining RMTC, Sam has enjoyed it more and more and loves spending his Tuesday and Thursday nights with such a great group of people. Sam hopes you all enjoy the show.

Jamie Savage - Nurse Nancy

From an early age Jamie has loved theatre. Musical theatre and pantomimes being firm favourites. Jamie joined RMTC for ‘My Fair Lady’ in 2016 an loved it so much he has come back every year! Jamie’s favourite roles to date are playing Cosmo Brown in ‘Singin’ in the Rain” and Charlie Price in ‘Kinky Boots’. Jamie is also part of Mansfield Operatic Society where he will be playing Joe in the production of ‘9 to 5, the musical’ in February 2023. Jamie is excited to be returning as the Dame and playing Nurse Nancy in RMTC’s production of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and to share the stage with such a friendly, talented bunch of people. Jamie really hopes you enjoy the show.

Josh Parker - Prince

Josh has been doing pantomimes with RMTC for a few years now starting out as a dancer with Staples Dance Academy to having the role of the Prince for the last 3 years. Josh says it has been a joy rehearsing with both the cast and crew, with plenty of laughs along the way. Josh has had many other leading roles in shows with other theatre groups and performing is his dream. He hopes you enjoy watching the as much as he’s enjoyed rehearsing this amazing show.

Nancy Hudson - Princess

This is Nancy’s first show as part of the RMTC and she is very excited to get on stage. Nancy joined RMTC after being a part of its youth group, the MOB for 7 years, which she says is where her love for the performance industry began. Nancy had the opportunity to play many amazing roles such as Fiona in ‘Shrek’ and Ariel in ‘The Little Mermaid’. Nancy is now aiming to have a career in musical theatre. She has thoroughly enjoyed the rehearsals for the pantomime and says her belly hurts afterwards from laughing so much. Nancy hopes you enjoy the show as much as she has loved it. She wants to give a big thanks to everyone behind the scenes and the rest of the cast for making her first show with RMTC an amazing experience.

Willow has already been on stage but in her mummy’s tummy for the RMTC 2021 pantomime ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and our production of ‘Kinky Boots’ in May 2022. She is looking forward to taking part in our production of ‘The Addams Family’ next year.

Willow Shaw-Browne- Baby Princess Aurora

Alison Darksus - Gardener

Alison has enjoyed treading the boards for many years as well as doing some directing, including our pantomime, ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarves’ in 2019. Alison says she is looking forward to performing as the Gardener this year, oh yes she is! Alison wants to hear your boos and cheers and hopes you all enjoy the show.

Jack Pinkerton - Ghost

Jack loves doing panto with RMTC. He enjoyed ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ last year. Jack feels like he has been doing theatre almost all of his life and enjoyed being part of the MOB. His favourite show was ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’ in which he played one of the brothers. Jack says he is looking forward to seeing the audience and being a ghost.

Diana Barratt: With two shows in now with RMTC, ‘My Fair Lady’ and ‘Kinky Boots’ Di says it felt like the next step to join the fun of the Pantomime. This will be her first time performing in the Panto with RMTC but it's not the first time that she’s performed in a pantomime. Many moons ago , she played lead girl in 'Jack and the Beanstalk' at Cleethorpes. Di says this one is proving to be fast moving and a lot of fun!

Ensemble

Kirsty Broughton: Kirsty first became a part of RMTC as a mum to young people in our youth group , The MOB. She was an active member and has supported events. Kirsty is a talented pole dancer and aerial artist. This is her first performance with RMTC and she has taken to it like a duck to water.

Kieran Butler: Kieran joined RMTC for its production of ‘Kinky Boots’, the musical’ in May this year. He enjoyed playing the delivery man. Kieran loves music and spends his spare time as a DJ. He is currently studying performing arts at college.

Josh Holt: Josh is a student at Tuxford Academy and studies Drama A-Level. He has most recently performed in ‘Adrian Mole, the musical’. Josh has thrown himself into rehearsals, learning dance routines and songs with enthusiasm.

Natasha McKay: Natasha has been with RMTC for a year now and says she loves performing with the company. She enjoyed being in the pantomime ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ last year and is happy to be back again. She hopes you enh=joy the show.

Sarah McKay: Sarah has been with RMTC for over a year now. She sa ys the thing that she loves about panto is that everyone works hard and has fun. She loves the audience participation and thinks you will really enjoy the show!

Michelle Noble: This is Michelle’s first panto with RMTC after joining the Company for ‘Kinky Boots’ in May this year as one of the Angels. Michelle has danced since she was 4 years old and helps to teach at Donna Pressley Dance Academy. She has performed in many pantos and musicals with Worksop Light Operatice Society, taking on roles such as the Genie in ‘Aladdin’, the Fairy in ‘goldilocks’ and the puppeteer for Audrey in ‘The Little Shop of Horrors’. Michelle hopes you enjoy the panto as much as we have rehearsing it.

Sally Roberts: Sally says she wanted to reignite her passion for dancing and singing and was looking for an Am Dram group when she saw RMTC on Facebook, advertising its panto launch, and she thought ‘Why not go along?; - and here she is in her first performance with RMTC and loving it. She says RMTC are so welcoming to everyone, it’s great fun rehearsing and performing - oh yes it is!

Ash Roberts: Ash came along to RMTC to do something fun with her mum. She had danced and acted when she was younger and thought it might be something to try again. At RMTC she has met lots of new, insanely fun people and loves it!

Rachael Severn: This is the first pantomime Rachael has performed in and she is extremely excited to be part of such a wonderful production. She says she has met some wonderful souls and has so much fun during rehearsals, learning all the amazing dance routines. Rachael is most looking forward to hearing the laughter from the audience and seeing the beautiful smiles on everyone’s faces.

Danielle Shelley: Danielle joined RMT C for this pantomime. She has enjoyed rehearsals and made lots of friends. Danielle is always smiling and will have a go at anything. She has loved learning the dance routines and can’t wait to be on stage in front of an audience.

Josh Tate-Hill: Josh is 17 years old and currently at Tuxford Academy studying drama, maths and business. He started drama and music a few years ago and since then has kept them as two of his biggest hobbies. Josh hopes to continue in the future and keep improving. He sends a shout out to Nick and hopes you all enjoy the show.

Charlie Taylor: Charlie was a member of the RMTC youth group, the MOB, taking on a variety of roles. She has sung in many concerts and loves musical theatre. Charlie is no stranger to pantomime and is delighted to be returning with her mum and sister once again.

Emily Taylor: As a former member of RMTC youth group, The MOB, Emily is no stranger to the stage. She has performed in many musicals and concerts in recent yers. Emily has enjoyed being part of the adult pantomimes. She is thrilled to be performing once more at the Little Theatre.

Kate Taylor: Kate says, that for years she had joked with her girls about joining them in panto, and in 2019 she decided to be brave and do it! Learning lines and dances wasn’t easy but worth it. She had the most amazing time and so is back with them this year. As a family, they have grown to love musical theatre from when the first joined RMTC youth group, The MOB. Kate says, ‘Why not come and join us?’

Meet the Creative Team

Claire Fearn - Director

Claire has been in the RMTC for over 25 years now and has been involved in many productions either playing principal roles or in the ensemble. It’s been a large part of her life. Claire says she loves it and all the new friendships she’s made. She has co-directed the last 2 productions with RMTC and say that finally, this year, she is directing all by her grown-up self. It’s been great fun, hard work too but very rewarding. Claire thanks the cast, crew and audiences for supporting local Retford Musical Theatre Company.

Martin Yates - Musical Director

Martin is the Chairman of the International Society devoted to the music of Sir Arthur Sullivan. For many years, he was the Director of Retford’s Generally G & S. After a seven year term as MD for RAOS in the 1980s, Martin returned in 2014 and has been with us ever since for both the annual pantomime and musical production in May.. Martin has performed with many singing stars and appeared several times with the famous Scarborough Spa Orchestra. He wrote the sleeve notes for Dutton’s recording of Sullivan’s oratorio.

Dawn is principal of Staples Dance Academy, a fully qualified RAD and ISTD teacher offering classes from 3 years old, as well as being a licensed Silver Swan Instructor delivering specialised ballet classes for adults. With over 40 years of experience, Dawn receives outstanding exam results and has successfully guided many students to reach their goal of performing professionally. Along with assistants, Stacey Hesson and Molly Staples, Dawn has thoroughly enjoyed choreographing this year’s pantomime.