Meet the Cast of Theatre Royal’s Aladdin: Part 2
Find out what stars Joe McElderry and Chris Hayward think we can expect from Theatre Royal’s latest panto Aladdin
Newcastle Theatre Royal’s pantomimes are always a highlight of the festive season in the Toon and this year they’re wowing us all with a brand-new production of Aladdin.
Ahead of its debut in late November we caught up with cast members Joe McElderry, Chris Hayward, Mick Potts and Wayne Smith to find out what to expect from this year’s pantomime.
Can you tell us what we can expect from the show this year?
Chris: A lot of spectacle and a lot of really spectacular new costumes – they’ve really gone all out this year! All my costumes are new – they’re new every year – but they’re a lot more spectacular and quite big this year.
Joe: Aladdin this year is going to be a huge comedy, music and visual spectacle. If you’ve been to the pantomimes before, you’ll know it’s such a spectacle to see. There’s something for everyone – comedy, music, special effects – but most of all we have the best fun. Me and the team here have just as much fun on stage as we do off stage and I think the audiences will vouch for it – if you’ve been before, it’s a ticket not to be missed.
Mick: I think it’s going to be one of the most spectacular shows we’ve done here. It’s going to be brilliant. From what I’ve seen, it’s going to be incredible.
Wayne: This year we can expect a huge celebration. It’s massive this year because of Danny and Clive’s 20th anniversary. We are such a closeknit family here and so a celebration for them is a celebration for us. The show has been built around it – I got a sneaky peek of the script and just everything about the pantomime is built around this celebration of their 20th year. They are special people here – they’re a special part of this family and we just can’t wait to get here and just party! It’s going to be brilliant!
If you could describe the pantomime in three words, what would they be?
Chris: Funny, spectacular and… what would the third one be?! I’ll just stick to two, I can’t think!
Joe: I would say fun, exhilarating and exciting!
Mick: Fantastic, brilliant, fun… yeah, that’s three words!
Wayne: My three words would be fun, messy and maybe just surprising because there’s always something different happening every single year!
And finally, if you could have any wish, what would your number one wish be?
Chris: A happy world!
Joe: During panto season, I think it would be unlimited energy because when we’re doing ten shows a week, I certainly need that!
Mick: Selfishly, my wish would be to own a big car – a car so big that I would fit all of my belongings in it. The biggest car in the world… or the biggest hat in the world. Those are my two wishes.
Wayne: Obviously not for money… that would make me shallow, right? I don’t just want money. No, I want an extra two Christmases so that I get to do panto three times a year. That’s what I need. Three Christmases a year – that’s what we need in our life.
After that, we couldn’t be more excited for Aladdin to arrive at Newcastle Theatre Royal! It looks like it’s set to be an extra-special pantomime this year, celebrating Danny and Clive’s 20th year and if you’d like to find out more about how they’re both feeling about this milestone moment then read Meet the Cast of Theatre Royal’s Aladdin: Part 1.
Aladdin runs at Newcastle Theatre Royal from Tuesday 25th November 2025 to Sunday 18th January 2026. For more information and to book tickets, visit the Newcastle Theatre Royal website.
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