Michael Marouli, Blu Hydrangea and Vanity Milan are among twelve drag performers taking turns as The Giant in TuckShop's Jack and the Beanstalk, the adults-only panto that opens at the Emerald Theatre on 2 December.
Vanity Milan opens the run as The Giant in TuckShop's Jack and the Beanstalk, playing the first five days from 2 December at the Emerald Theatre before handing the role on. She is the first of twelve drag performers who will share the part across the six-week season, filling the one slot the company left open when it named the rest of the cast in September.
The line-up mixes Drag Race champions with performers who have worked the panto circuit. Michael Marouli, the recent winner of Drag Race Down Under vs. the World, closes the season from 8 to 10 January, while Blu Hydrangea, who won RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World, has a single night on 2 January. Vanity Milan reached the final of both the third series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK and Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World.
The rota runs as follows, with TuckShop noting that names are subject to change:
- 2-6 December: Vanity Milan
- 7-14 December: KY Kelly
- 17 December: HERR
- 18 December: Tayris Mongardi
- 19 December: Nyongbella
- 20-23 December: Tiana Biscuit
- 27 December: Black Peppa
- 28-30 December: Choriza May
- 2 January: Blu Hydrangea
- 3 January: Blu Romantic
- 5-7 January: Mocha
- 8-10 January: Michael Marouli
Several of the twelve know TuckShop's pantos from the inside. Tayris Mongardi, who competed on the seventh series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK, was in the company's Snow White at the Emerald, and Tiana Biscuit counts Snow White, Sinderella and Everybody's Talking About Tiana among her credits. Choriza May, from the third series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK, has also been in Sinderella and toured the UK in Snow White & the Seven Drag Queens. KY Kelly, of the eighth series, arrives with the UK tour of Everybody's Talking About Jamie and The Pied Piper of Hamelin in Manchester behind her.
The remaining names come largely from recent Drag Race UK casts. Black Peppa was a finalist on the fourth series and has since appeared in TRAVESTY in Dublin, Mocha competed on the eighth series and Nyongbella on the seventh. HERR comes from Shrektacular at the Clapham Grand, and Blu Romantic is currently a contestant on The Great British Bake Off.
The Giants join a company led by Bones, winner of the seventh series of Drag Race UK, as Jack, with Kitty Scott-Claus as Princess Jill and Kate Butch as Jack's Mother. Rosé plays Fleshcreep until 23 December, and Kyran Thrax takes the role from 27 December. Yshee Black is Fairy Liquid, drag king Dairy King is The Milkman, Cheryl Hole is Cheryl The Cow and Ophelia Love is Villager no.4.
Kate Butch also wrote the script with Crudi Dench and Eleanor Mason. Christopher D. Clegg created and directs the show, with Frazer Meakin as associate director, choreography by Taz Hoesli and production management by Production Solutions Group. This is the sixth of TuckShop's annual all-drag pantos and its longest run yet, an 18+ show from the team behind The Diana Mixtape, Death Drop, Cool Rider and Gals Aloud.
Jack and the Beanstalk plays the Emerald Theatre on Victoria Embankment from 2 December 2026 to 10 January 2027, with its press performance on 9 December. The show runs for two hours including an interval.
For more information, visit the official website.
