John-Paul Birss plays the Emperor and Rosie Royle the Spirit of the Ring in Aladdin at the Floral Pavilion in New Brighton, which runs from 5 December 2026 to 3 January 2027.
John-Paul Birss is the Emperor in this Christmas’s Aladdin at the Floral Pavilion in New Brighton, and Rosie Royle steps up to her first principal role as the Spirit of the Ring. The Wirral theatre and producers UK Productions named the pair alongside a new set of pictures of the full company in costume.
Birss was part of the 25th-anniversary company of Mamma Mia! at the Novello Theatre. His screen work takes in Peaky Blinders and Netflix’s House of Guinness, and he appears in the forthcoming DC Comics film Clayface.
Royle already knows her way around a pantomime: she was in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 2021, and in Beauty and the Beast at the Blackpool Grand Theatre in 2025.
The two join a company that was largely in place. James Mackenzie, who played the title character in the CBBC game show Raven and the widowed dad in CBeebies’ Molly and Mack, is the wicked Abanazar, while Sean Jones is back as Wishee Washee for a seventh festive season in a row. Jones played Mickey in the touring Blood Brothers on and off for more than 20 years.
Radio breakfast presenter Scott Gallagher, a pantomime regular, makes his Dame debut as Widow Twankey. James-Royden Lyley, whose credits include Bob in 9 to 5 the Musical and Mungojerrie in Cats, has the title role, and SIX star Yna Montarde is Princess Jasmine. Those three were announced in September, a month after the venue set out its autumn season.
“Launch day is when panto really starts to feel real,” said Pauline Campbell, the Floral Pavilion’s venue manager. “It's the first time the cast gets together at the theatre and we’ve assembled a fabulously talented group who are determined to pull out all the stops.”
Aladdin runs at the Floral Pavilion on Marine Promenade, New Brighton, from Saturday 5 December 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, with the press performance on Wednesday 9 December at 6.30pm. Tickets are priced £15-£38.50.
For more information, visit the official website.
