October 11, 2024 - 1352 views
Last month Venue Cymru, along with Pantomime Producers Imagine Theatre, held open auditions to find their leading lady for their Jack and the Beanstalk pantomime this Christmas.
At the time, the Venue Spokesperson said: 'It’s so common for auditions for these roles to take place in London, and it’s not always practical for the talent we know our local area has to get there, and so we’re bringing the auditions to us for this role.'
33 hopefuls turned up to the auditions, some with a wealth of experience, some fresh from performing arts training colleges, and others with no vocational training at all.
Venue Cymru said, that they were blown away by the talented performers in the local area, and by hosting an open audition in North Wales it really allowed that talent to shine.
A spokesperson for Venue Cymru said: "We started off with the aim of filling the role of Jill, but these ladies really made that a difficult task, and we were thrilled to be able to offer four auditionees a part this Christmas. Megan Hollie Robertson from Wrexham will take the role of Jill."
Megan-Hollie said: "I’m thrilled to be performing at Venue Cymru, my favourite theatre."
She first performed there back in 2009 with the Annie UK tour and added "I can’t wait for promenade strolls and a little too much Forte’s ice cream."
Alice Mayer will join the leading cast in the role of Fairy Flora.
Alice who lives in Anglesey said her first pantomime was at Venue Cymru on her 3rd Birthday and the audience sang Happy Birthday.
"I was told to make a wish and I suppose with all of the pantomime magic it’s come true because now I’m going to be a Fairy in my favourite theatre in the world.
"Venue Cymru played a huge part in my journey to becoming an actor. I grew up in Bangor and it was the closest theatre to me. I would attend West End Stage School every summer and was lucky enough to see many wonderful shows there over the years."
As well as Megan-Hollie and Alice our Ensemble members were also cast from these auditions.
Megan Jay, from Mold will return for the second year, after being part of our ensemble last year in Peter Pan and Sadie Wagstaff, who found the performing bug at the North Wales School of Dance before continuing her training at the London Studio Centre will make up our female cast, travelling each day from Kinmel Bay.
Megan-Hollie, Alice, Megan and Sadie will now perform alongside the already announced stage and screen star Jennifer Ellison, CBeebies and TV Presenter Ben Cajee and returning favourite funny man John Evans from 9-29 December.
Venue Cymru’s Pantomimes are always packed with all the ingredients you love, audience participation, song, dance, tonnes of laughter and a bucket load of slosh.
Keeping the show relevant and relatable to local and loyal audiences is a key part of Venue Cymru and Imagine Theatre’s mission.
