Arts and Entertainment

Olympic champion Colin Jackson CBE to star in Swansea Grand Theatre Panto

Published

2 years ago

26th July 2021

Editor

Swansea Grand Theatre has announced that Olympic-silver medallist, athlete and television personality Colin Jackson will make his pantomime debut starring as The Man in the Mirror in this year’s spectacular family pantomime, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs from Friday 10 December.

The Cardiff-born Olympiad and multi-title holding champion will swap the sporting world for pantoland, joining in all the festive fun that sees audiences flock to the Grand every Christmas in Swansea’s biggest pantomime.

Following his debut in junior championships, Colin quickly rose to sporting prominence for Wales and Great Britain, representing the nation multiple times, including his specialism in the 110m hurdling events, for which he held the world record for over a decade. Colin won a silver medal at the 1988 Olympic Games and a wealth of further accolades including three world championships and an unbeatable reputation as one of Great Britain’s best-loved and highly respected athletes.

Colin made the successful transition into coaching and sports management, was part of London’s successful 2012 Olympics bid, and has forged a further career in television punditry and work as an author having published three books. Colin received an MBE in 1990 for his services to athletics, the OBE in 1999, and the CBE in 2003. In 2018 it was announced that Colin was to become Chancellor of Wrexham Glyndŵr University.

In addition to hosting various television programmes, Colin was pipped at the post in the 2005 series of Strictly Come Dancing with professional dance partner Erin Boag, created his own charitable fundraising event Go Dad Run to raise awareness of men’s health issues and fundraise for various charities, competed on Celebrity Masterchef and appeared on Iaith ar Daith for S4C. Most recently, Colin overcame hurdles of a different nature, competing on the 2021 series of ITV1’s Dancing on Ice, coming in third place.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will see Colin star as the magical Man in the Mirror, guiding Snow White and her seven friends as they outwit the Wicked Queen and fight for their happy ever after.

***Britain’s Got Talent finalist Jon Clegg will star as Muddles and West End star Zoë George will star as The Wicked Queen***

Colin will be joined by Jon Clegg, who stars as Snow White’s best friend, Muddles. The Britain’s Got Talent finalist has been a regular on stages across the country with his unique celebrity impersonations and quick wit. He appeared on the ITV topical comedy sketch show Newzoids and regularly entertains international audiences performing his one-man comedy and impressions show on cruise ships and hotels across the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. He also starred in the UK tour of award-winning musical Forever in Blue Jeans.

The Wicked Queen will be played by Zoë George, who returns to the Grand Theatre pantomime having last appeared in Jack and the Beanstalk alongside Louie Spence. A regular on stages across the country and in the West End, Zoë’s stage credits include the roles of both Elphaba and Nessarose in the original UK, Ireland and International tour of the hit musical, Wicked, Martha in Spring Awakening for the Welsh National Theatre, Mali in the UK premiere of new musical Tiger Bay at the Wales Millennium Centre, and she originated the role of Esmerelda in the world premiere of Lionel Bart’s musical Quasimodo in London.

***Swansea Icon Kev Johns will make his panto return as Snow White’s Cook.***

Colin, Jon and Zoë join Swansea Grand Theatre mainstay Kevin Johns, whose return to the Swansea Grand Theatre panto as Snow White’s Cook has already been announced.

This year’s Grand pantomime continues to be staged by the team behind the annual festive spectacle and will be packed full of the magical ingredients Swansea audiences have come to expect from their annual festive production, including special effects, hilarious comedy and plenty of audience participation.

Tickets for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs are on sale now, with early booking advised, or you won’t be able to look yourself in the mirror! Go to www.swanseagrand.co.uk to book your tickets.