Elaine Paige Joins PANTOLAND AT THE PALLADIUM as 'Queen Rat'

This Christmas, Julian Clary will take us on a magical trip to Pantoland at The Palladium.

Today it was announced that the great Elaine Paige is set to join the stellar cast as Queen Rat!

Paige will join West End sensations Beverley Knight and Jac Yarrow in the show, along with panto favourites Paul Zerdin, Nigel Havers and Gary Wilmot, as well as past stars Ashley Banjo & Diversity and Charlie Stemp.

Performances will begin at the world-famous theatre on 12 December 2020 running until 3 January 2021, with tickets on sale now.

Elaine Paige, actress, recording artist, concert performer, producer and broadcaster, Olivier Award winner and five-time nominee, created the role of Eva Peron in Evita and thereafter created the roles of Grizabella in Cats (the song "Memory" becoming her signature) and Florence in Chess. Further productions include Sunset Blvd (London/New York); Anything Goes; Piaf; The King & I and Sweeney Todd (Drama Desk nomination). Elaine has recorded 26 albums, received an OBE for services to Musical Theater and presents a weekly BBC Radio 2 program Elaine Paige On Sunday.

Returning for a fifth consecutive year, The London Palladium pantomime has become an essential part of Christmas in the West End, with record-breaking box office success year-after-year. Pantoland at The Palladium, devised by Michael Harrison, will be a treasure-trove of The London Palladium panto past and exciting new surprises written especially for the show, guaranteeing an unmissable treat for panto and musical theatre fans alike.

Celebrating the very best of pantomime, with comedy in abundance, this star-filled extravaganza will play to a socially-distanced audience. The show will feature the work of Olivier Award-Winning Team director Michael Harrison, choreographer Karen Bruce, set designer Ian Westbrook, costume designer Hugh Durrant, lighting designer Ben Cracknell, sound designer Gareth Owen and composer and orchestrator Gary Hind.

The production at The Palladium has been made possible as a result of a creative initiative announced by The National Lottery today which it hopes will enable hundreds of thousands of theatregoers to enjoy socially distanced pantomime this Christmas in theatres across the nation.

The initiative will see The National Lottery buy seats that need to remain empty to enable social-distancing, complying with relevant government and public health guidance. By making it viable for theatres to open their doors to the general public, up to 250,000 tickets are expected to be available, with more than 20,000 free tickets available for National Lottery players and the rest to go on sale. This will generate vital income for theatres and help restore jobs - while providing much-needed cheer for panto lovers at Christmas.

Pantoland at The Palladium is the first of a number of productions at theatres across the country to be announced, with further venues to be confirmed in the coming weeks.