Pantomime makes a magical return to Darlington Hippodrome this festive season when pop and musical theatre star Gareth Gates headlines the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, playing the Prince.
Gareth will be joined by the The Chase’s Vixen Jenny Ryan as the Wicked Queen, Josh Benson as Muddles, Marina Lawrence-Mahrra as Snow White, and Jamie Jones as Mrs Nelly Nightnurse.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will be produced by Crossroads Pantomimes, which describes itself as the world’s biggest pantomime producer, and the team behind last year’s production of The Pantomime Adventures of Peter Pan.
Packed full of the magical ingredients audiences have come to expect, including striking sets, stunning song and dance, plenty of audience participation, and shattering amounts of laughter, this is a magical adventure for the whole family can enjoy.
Heather Tarran-Jones, programming and development director of Darlington Hippodrome said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have Gareth, Jenny, Josh, Marina and Jamie with us for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and I am sure they will be a great hit with audiences of all ages.”
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is sponsored locally by BHP Law and Babul’s Darlington.
The show runs from Friday, December 8, to Sunday, December 31.
Tickets are on sale now. To book, visit darlingtonhippo
drome.co.uk or call the box office on 01325 405405.
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
