Just when you thought the Pleasance’s gloriously camp Christmas extravaganzaWicked Witches – A Popular Panto! couldn’t get any more magical, they clicked their ruby slippers and conjured up another showbiz legend. With Jeremy Corbyn MP already announced as the onscreen Wizard of Oz-lington, audiences might have believed the magic had peaked. Could it get any better? Oh yes it could! Now Sir Ian McKellen is officially joining the onscreen cast as Toto, a washed-up rock star dog with more bark than bite and a back catalogue of bone-shaking ballads.
Yes, you heard that right. The man who brought Gandalf, Magneto and King Lear to life will now be channelling his inner canine crooner with a tail wag that could headline Glastonbury. Every dog has its day, darling!
Sir Ian comments,Having survived – just – my appearance in the film of CATS, I am thrilled, relieved even to now be offered the role of a dog – TOTO no less inWicked Witches.I would be barking mad to refuse.
Directed by the wickedly witty Shane ShayShay Konno (Mulan Rouge,The Vaults;The Simple Life & Death,The Pleasance),Wicked Witches – A Popular Panto! is a riotous mash-up of pop parody, cabaret chaos and camp as high as Dorothy’s hemlines. It’s a show with a fabulously naughty wink (although not in the family version), serving up soaring vocals, sparkly spells and more sass than you can shake a wand at.
Joining McKellen and Corbyn are drag powerhouse Gigi Zahir/Crayola The Queen (Cinderella,Theatre Royal Stratford East;Frankie Goes to Bollywood,UK Tour/Southbank Centre) as The Wicked Witch ‘Adelphaba’. Eleanor Burke/Apple Derrieres (Death Drop,West End;Cinderella,Wyvern Theatre) will play The Good Witch ‘Kelly Oz-Born’, Ro Suppa (Count Dykula,Soho Theatre;Lesbian Space Crime,Soho Theatre,Sleeping Beauty,The Shipwright) will play Dorothy (Dor), alongside Lew Ray (QUEENZ, UK tour,Walk the Line,ITV;Bring it On,Urdang Academy) as Tin 2.0. They are joined by Nick MacDuff (Beauty and the Feast,The Vaults) who will take on the role of Scarecrow and on-stage Assistant Stage Manager.
Ellie Simpson, Head of Theatre at Pleasance, comments,From Gandalf to King Lear to Toto – only at Pleasance! Having Sir Ian join our festive fun is truly iconic, the icing on our ruby-red cake.
This special collaboration combines The Vaults’ reputation for anarchic, subversive pantomimes, with The Pleasance’s unique cabaret-style space and community focus.Wicked Witchesis the theatre’s most ambitious Christmas offering to date, launching the build up to Pleasance London’s 30thanniversary in 2026.
The cast ofWicked Witcheswill have you booing, cheering and maybe even questioning who’s really wicked after all. So, follow the Yellow Brick (Caledonian) Road this festive season for the most ‘popular’ panto in town. Because at the Pleasance, when it comes to festive fun, there’s no place like home!