The ticket ballot for the much-anticipated CBeebies Christmas Show opens at 11am on Tuesday 10th October. Last year, the ballot for the CBeebies Christmas Show attracted over 250,000 ticket applications. The 2017 ballot will be open for one week only and will close at 11am on 17th October.
This year’s performance comes from the heart of the East Midlands at Curve theatre in Leicester. The show will be an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tale “The Snow Queen”.
Tony Reed, Executive Producer of CBeebies comments, “In recent years we have moved away from telling traditional pantomime stories in favour of literary classics such ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘A Christmas Carol’. ‘The Snow Queen’, one of Andersen’s most famous fairy tales, is full of adventure, humour, and larger-than-life characters, making it the perfect tale for us to tell this year…
“It isn’t without its challenges for a very young audience though, particularly as we’re keen to stay as close to the original story as possible. In fairy tale terms, the Snow Queen is a real baddie and this cautionary tale, with a dash of peril, will help the audience understand the importance of great friendship as Gerda tries to rescue her best friend Kai”.
The show pulls together many of CBeebies most popular actors and presenters with a few faces who are new to this year’s show:
- The Snow Queen – Rebecca Keatley – Let’s Play
- Gerda – Cat Sandion – Magic Door
- Kai – Dr Ranj Singh – Get Well Soon
- Grandfather – William Vanderpuye – Apple Tree House
- The Ravens – Andy Day – Andy’s Adventures
Steven Kynman – Justin’s House
- Reindeer – Justin Fletcher – Something Special
- Wise Woman – Maddie Moate – Do you know?
- Robber Maiden – Gemma Hunt – Swashbuckle
- The Robbers – Joseph Elliott – Swashbuckle
Richard David-Caine – Swashbuckle
- Summer Witch – Jennie Dale – Swashbuckle
Ten children from Leicester are joining the cast for the show this year. There were over 250 audition tapes sent in from local children all keen to appear on stage and show off their singing and dancing ability.
Philip Cooper, Producer of The Snow Queen comments, “Songs from Annie seemed a popular choice for the audition tapes with only one girl singing a song from ‘Frozen’.” He went on to add, “‘Frozen’, although possibly inspired by the Snow Queen, is a very different story. We want to create a show that is much closer to the original text …but still with plenty of comedy and great songs!”
Parents can follow the ballot countdown via the new CBeebies Instagram page @cbeebieshq.
Tony adds, “The Curve theatre in Leicester will be the perfect setting for this beautifully staged show, we can’t wait to bring CBeebies’ The Snow Queen to the East Midlands and local audiences.”
CBeebies’ The Snow Queen will be recorded at Curve theatre in Leicester on Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th November. To apply for tickets please visit www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/shows/ on Tuesday 10th October.
The Snow Queen will air on CBeebies and BBC One later in the year.
