Jack and the Beanstalk opens Nottingham's panto season

Nottingham's panto season has its lead cast locked in, and it's a big one. The Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall has announced that Jack and the Beanstalk, produced by Crossroads Pantomimes, will be the show that opens the winter calendar, with the full line-up revealed back in August. It runs from Saturday 28 November right through to Sunday 3 January, so it's the sort of thing that sits comfortably across the Christmas break.

The top of the bill is Rob Rinder MBE as The Spirit of the Beans. He's a lawyer, broadcaster and Sunday Times bestselling author, best known to most as the face of Judge Rinder, but he's also a BAFTA winner for The Holocaust, and Me and was awarded an MBE in 2020 for services to Holocaust education. He's been admitted to the bar since 2001, specialising in murder and financial crime, and has written The Trial, The Suspect and The Protest. Opposite him, Samantha Womack takes on Mrs Blunderbore; she's an actress, singer and model who represented the UK in the 1991 Eurovision Song Contest with 'A Message to Your Heart' and is most recognised as Ronnie Mitchell in EastEnders.

Rounding out the main cast, Neil Hurst returns to the Theatre Royal as Simon Trot after a run in last year's Cinderella, and Mary Mac plays Dame Trot, the drag alter ego of Glasgow-born performer John Paul, who's spent twelve years as resident Dame at the Royal Spa Centre in Leamington Spa. Mia Kobayashi and Matthew Croke, both from musical theatre, play Princess Jill and Jack. It's a cast that pulls from a lot of different backgrounds, which is about half the fun of a panto.

If you're planning to go, it's worth knowing how the sessions are laid out. Performances fall at 1:30pm, 2:30pm, 5:30pm, 6:00pm and 7:15pm depending on the day, and doors open an hour before each one. There's a good spread of accessible shows too: sign language interpreted performances on Thursday 3 and Sunday 6 December at 1:30pm, a relaxed performance on Friday 11 December at 6:00pm, audio described shows on Sunday 13 and Sunday 20 December at 1:30pm, and a captioned performance on Sunday 13 December at 6:00pm. It's rated 3+, children under 14 need an adult aged 18 or over with them, and babes in arms under 12 months don't need a seat or a ticket.

On price, it depends where you sit. Stalls, Dress Circle, Upper Circle and Balcony are all different, and there's no discount in the Balcony at all. Members save £3.50 in the Stalls and Upper Circle, and under-26s get the same saving with ID. A family ticket covers four people for £84, £120 or £134 depending on the section, with a maximum of two adults. School parties and groups under 16 are £14 a ticket if booked from 22 April, and groups of 20 or more can get £30 or £35 seats in the Stalls and Upper Circle on selected performances.

For a bit of context, the Theatre Royal has been doing this since it opened in 1865 with its first panto, The House that Jack Built, and it's survived seven monarchs, two world wars and the rise of cinema, radio and television since. Past productions include Peter Pan, Dick Whittington, Robin Hood, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beanstalk, Aladdin and Snow White, with a 1950 Red Riding Hood that featured a 15-year-old Julie Andrews. Booking goes through the box office on 0115 989 5555 or tickets@trch.co.uk, with phone lines open Monday to Saturday 10am to 8pm and the box office open Wednesday to Saturday 11am to 1pm, plus trch.co.uk.