Cinderella, Snow White, Aladdin: Pantomimes spread joy and laughter across Yorkshire

There is no denying it, though, Christmas and pantomime go together like, well, Christmas and Mariah Carey. It just wouldn’t be the festive season without either of them.

The traditional shows are, for many audiences, an annual tradition. They are also the shows which provide a vital moment for theatres around the region, not just in terms of the financial benefit they bring, but also in getting people through the doors. In times of ever decreasing disposable income, theatres have a December shop window to show themselves off at their very best.

It would make sense to start with the bigger of the shows, the Bradford Alhambra, the Sheffield Lyceum and York Theatre Royals of the pantomime world, and I will come to them, but I think Theatre Royal Wakefield deserves a little moment in the winter sun.

The show doesn’t have the big budgets of some of the other pantomimes in the region, but it leans into that by eschewing expensive set pieces and instead relies on old fashioned stagecraft. It helps that the team around the production are becoming ever more settled, with Sam Nixon returning to play Jack Trott and Chris Hannon returning to play Tracey Trott. Hannon, a really lovely stage presence, also takes on writing duties for the production and really understands the Wakefield audience. His partnership with Nixon is the heart of the pantomime, but there’s also Wakefield Performance Academy alumni returning for a fifth year, an actress who also performed in a number of Wakefield Youth Music Theatre shows when she was younger, as did Bryony Duncan, who joins the cast and who has performed in the West End since graduating from Wakefield. It’s that kind of local rootedness that helps make this a pantomime that is really embraced by the Wakefield audience. It’s an impressive thing. (Jack and the Beanstalk, Theatre Royal, Wakefield, to January 4).

This festive season, the Lyceum Theatre in Sheffield this year brings Aladdin to the stage and to life with former Strictly contestant Kevin Clifton, CBeebies presenter Evie Pickerill and the legendary Sheffield dame Damian Williams, returning for an 18th year. He says: “It’s lovely to be back. Yes, it’s my eighteenth panto. I did The Last Laugh here in the summer, but this is my eighteenth Christmas here in Sheffield. I just love Sheffield, particularly at Christmas; Sheffield does Christmas well. The markets, the atmosphere, the people – you can hear the excitement over the tannoy when I’m getting ready for panto. Everyone’s excited, everyone loves the panto here. By the time I come out onto the stage, they’re loving it already. So yes, Sheffield is a great place to be at Christmas, it’s one of my favourite cities and it is nice that they know me here.” (Aladdin, Sheffield Lyceum, to January 4).

And so, to Bradford. Arguably the region’s biggest pantomime, it really is one of the jewels in the crown of a season for the Bradford theatre.

Billy Pearce first topped the bill of the Alhambra Theatre’s annual festive production in 1993, winning acclaim from critics and audience members alike, and has since solidified his reputation as the King of Yorkshire pantomime comedy.

A spokesman for the theatre says: “Side-splittingly funny, Billy will bring his trademark mad-cap comedy and boundless energy to the stage and will have audiences laughing in the aisles just like he does every year – but this year, marking an extra special 25th anniversary.” I remember last year watching Billy Pearce in Pinocchio and it was a really impressive performance. The woman next to me Googled ‘Billy Pearce age’. I won’t tell you what the answer the internet spat out was, but she was very impressed that he was still throwing himself around the stage with such gusto. He will do so again this year in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, for which he will be joined on stage by a cast best described as eclectic: 80s pop star Sinitta, Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalist Myra DuBois and local lass Sarah Pearson. It’s also the region’s longest running panto, so you can see it up until January 18.

In York there was a bit of a schism a few years ago, but things appear to have settled down and York Theatre Royal and York Grand Opera House are all friends again. At the former, audiences can watch Sleeping Beauty, written by Paul Hendy and directed by Juliet Forster, York Theatre Royal’s creative director and co-produced with the award-winning Evolution Productions. It’s an impressive team. (Sleeping Beauty, to January 4).

Across town the York Grand Opera House is staging the classic Cinderella with Coronation Street’s Lisa George as the Fairy Godmother and West End star Rachel Grundy as Cinderella.

Over the past few weeks we’ve brought you a frankly remarkable array of Christmas shows, so whether it’s panto, a subversive musical at Opera North or a family favourite at Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, have a great Christmas and I’ll see you on the other side.