Widdecombe Serves Revel Horwood Panto Debut

Who would have thought it! Former Shadow Home Secretary Ann Widdecombe, an audience favourite in last year’s Strictly Come Dancing contest on television, makes her pantomime début in Dartford this December.

The show in question is Qdos Entertainment’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, scheduled to run between 9 and 31 December 2011 at the Orchard Theatre. Widdecombe plays the lady in waiting to the Wicked Queen (Craig Revel Horwood), who just happens to have been one of the Strictly Come Dancing judges.

Horwood has played the Wicked Queen several times before; he has brought Widdecombe into the cast following the national tour based on Strictly Come Dancing in which he descended from the judges’ rostrum to partner her on stage, to considerable success and applause.

Widdecombe comments that: “I can hardly believe all the wonderful opportunities which have opened up through Strictly Come Dancing. Craig and I have had enormous fun on the tour of the show and I am sure we can make that fun infectious during the run of Snow White”.

And Horwood agrees. “Ann is extremely entertaining and such a sport. We’ve had a great laugh together on tour, though whether or not her dancing has improved is another matter, and I can’t wait to join her in Dartford this year for her pantomime début”.

While Qdos’ managing director Michael Harrison says that: “We were delighted when Craig approached us about Ann Widdecombe joining him this year on stage and are thrilled that she has signed up to play the role of Widdy in Waiting. She is such a fantastic personality and I am sure panto audiences will love her!”

Theatregoers most recently saw Craig Revel Horwood on stage at the West End’s Prince of Wales Theatre on 20 February, picking up the Best Regional Production prize at the 2011 Whatsonstage.com Awards for the actor-musician revival of Chess, which is currently on tour and tipped to transfer to the West End.