Sleeping Beauty: Harrogate Theatre reveals its full cast

The Harrogate Theatre has put its full cast on display for this year's pantomime, and it's a familiar one: Sleeping Beauty. The show runs from Wednesday 25 November 2026 right through to Sunday 17 January 2027, so there's plenty of room to slot it in wherever it fits best over the festive period. The theatre is billing it as a sparkling, family-friendly and distinctively classy production, which is about as much as they've said on the tone before the curtain goes up.

At the heart of it is Tim Stedman, who returns for an incredible 26th pantomime at the theatre playing Silly Sidney. It's a bit of a local milestone in itself: Stedman first appeared in Harrogate in Sleeping Beauty back in 2000, so the show is bringing him full circle. Outside of the panto, he's a face you might recognise from Emmerdale, where he's taken on three different roles over the years, from Kevin Harmon in 2014 to the substitute vet Joseph Gibson in 2016 and Jeremy, leader of a surrogacy support group, in 2019.

The rest of the cast rounds out the fairy tale. Michael Lambourne takes on the Vampire King, bringing the inimitable voice he's known for; he's a voice performer and immersive theatre practitioner who co-created The Great Gatsby, the longest running immersive production in the UK, and his stage credits read like a pantomime history book, from Aladdin and Dick Whittington to Beauty and the Beast and The Wizard of Oz. Harry Wyatt steps into the dame's shoes as Dame Nanny Annie Nidderdale, Elouise Warboys returns for her second year as Princess Aurora, and Ellen Carnazza plays the evil fairy Carabosse. Colin Kiyani is Tom Nidderdale, Christina Harris is Fairy Forget Me Not, and Andy Cryer takes the role of King Canute of K-naresborough. Zach Atkinson and Olivia Salmond cover the ensemble swings, with this being Salmond's first Harrogate panto.

It's a mix of returning favourites and new faces, which is exactly how the theatre has described it. A spokesperson said, 'We are delighted to announce our full cast for this year's magical family pantomime, Sleeping Beauty! What a brilliant bunch of returning favourites and new faces we have this year.'

If you're planning to go, it's worth sorting tickets sooner rather than later. They're available through the Harrogate Theatre website, and the box office can be reached on 01423 502111 if you'd rather book over the phone. With the run stretching well into January, there's no real rush to pick a single date, but the popular ones will be the first to go. Whether you're coming for the 26th-time-around Tim Stedman or just a family night out, it's the one Harrogate tradition that seems to keep pulling people back year after year.