Cinderella shall go to the ball again this April! The clock hasn’t struck midnight on Blackpool Grand Theatre’s spellbinding pantomime success just yet! The seasonal smash-hit production of CINDERELLA has been nominated for FOUR prestigious UK Pantomime Awards! Oh yes it has!

The Grand’s 2024/2025 pantomime, presented by UK Productions, was once again a truly captivating tale of magic, mayhem and misunderstandings that delighted record-breaking audience numbers over the festive season. And it wasn’t just the audience that thought so!

Judges from the renowned Pantomime Awards slipped quietly into The Grand during the five-week run to watch the fun-packed production before coming together to nominate Cinderella in the categories for Best Pantomime, Best Comic, Best Direction and Best Lead Principal!

The Blackpool Grand Theatre and UK Productions nominations for Cinderella for this year’s Pantomime Awards are:

Best Pantomime (Over 900 seats). UK Productions has presented the Christmas pantomime at Blackpool’s Grand Theatre since 1996 with every year bringing an even more spectacular production that’s jam-packed with marvellous music and dance, fun and laughter, stunning sets, amazing costumes and exciting special effects to keep audiences both young and old entertained.

Best Comic – Steve Royle as Buttons. Much-loved panto star and stand-up sensation Steve Royle has celebrated over 1,000 hilarious pantomime performances at The Grand to great acclaim. Everyone’s favourite finalist from ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent, Steve is an actor, writer, comedian, juggler and an award-winning radio presenter, but his first love is stand-up – as thousands of returning pantomime fans will agree.

Best Direction – Kylie Butler. Kylie worked tirelessly with the entire production team, cast and crew to bring this pantomime script to life. She planned and conducted all rehearsals; shaped character development; provided constructive feedback and collaborated with the choreographer and musicians, all while considering the set design, costumes and overall aesthetics, and always allowing the actors the artistic freedom to explore their characters to full comedic effect, which was so well received by this year’s audiences.

Best Principal Lead – Kitty Harris as Cinderella. TikTok sensation and stage star Kitty Harris (Burlesque the Musical, Chicago) has become world famous for her hilarious comedy sketches and behind-the-scenes glimpses into her daily life on social media, earning her a whopping 1.2million followers. Her incredible vocals wowed panto audiences during her gravity-defying Wicked medley, leading to her singing the National Anthem at the recent Six Nations.

The UK Pantomime Awards are run by the UK Pantomime Association and celebrate the very best that panto-land brings to delighted audiences right across the country over the Christmas period. The Awards also celebrate the hard work, commitment and artistic excellence of this much-loved form of live entertainment. This year 52 judges visited 216 venues to assess over 496 pantomime performances! That’s a lot of panto fun!

Blackpool Grand Theatre Head of Audience, Marketing and Sales, Andrew Howard, said: “We are absolutely thrilled that Cinderella has been recognised with four fabulous nominations! It’s a testament to our incredible cast, crew and creative team who worked tirelessly to bring this magical production to life. We’d like to thank our wonderful audiences too – because without their laughter, cheers and all the ‘he’s behind you!’ shouts, our pantomime just wouldn’t be the same!”

Will Cinderella waltz away with all the trophies as well as the Handsome Prince? The nominated stars will now get ready to dust off their best ballgowns and take a magic pumpkin ride to The Pantomime Awards ceremony on Sunday 13 April at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking. Until then, we’ll be keeping everything crossed – especially our glass slippers!

Cinderella at The Grand also starred TV sensation Hayley Tamaddon (Dancing on Ice, Emmerdale) sprinkling seasonal magic as The Fairy Godmother; dazzling Dame duo Jamie Morris & Tarot Joseph as the gorgeous Ugly Sisters; West End favourite Mark Faith (Mary Poppins, Dirty Dancing) as Baron Hardup, along with talented stage stars Toby Turpin (Cabaret, Anything Goes) as Prince Charming and Sam Ebenezer (The Mousetrap, Choir of Man) as Dandini.

Don’t miss out on all the fun this year!  Make everyone’s festive dreams come true and book now for the magical tale of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST from Best Pantomime nominee UK Productions at Blackpool Grand Theatre from Friday 5 December 2025 to Sunday 4 January 2026 starring Britain’s Got Talent finalist and Pantomime Award Top Comic nominee Steve Royle as cheeky chappie Louis La Plonk.

Please call the Grand Theatre Box Office on 01253 290190 or visit www.BlackpoolGrand.co.uk for bookings and further information.

LISTING

Beauty and The Beast pantomime

Fri 5 Dec 2025 to Sun 4 Jan 2026 – Matinee and evening performances. Times vary

Audio Described performances – Sat 14 Dec at 7pm, Sun 28 Dec at 1pm

Relaxed performance – Sun 28 Dec at 5pm

Grand Theatre, 33 Church Street, Blackpool FY1 1HT

Box Office 01253 290 190

blackpoolgrand.co.uk

Facebook – @blackpoolgrand

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