Christmas panto set to bring the magic of Sleeping Beauty to life

The cast of this year’s Middleton Arena Christmas panto, Sleeping Beauty

A new production of Sleeping Beauty featuring Strictly Come Dancing favourite Karen Hauer is set to land at Middleton Arena this festive season.

Hauer stars as Carabosse alongside a cast of familiar faces, including CBBC’s Chris Johnson as The Castle Clown, X Factor‘s Sean Smith as Prince, the hilarious Mark Slowey as Queen Ruby, singing sensation Lauren McCrory as Princess Beauty, and Rosie Winter as The Fairy.

Organisers are promising this will be a spellbinding production of a family classic, building on the success of pantomimes in previous years, which have attracted sell-out audiences.

The shows began earlier this week and run through until Monday 30 December, with ticket prices starting from £16.50.

The production is being brought to the area by Your Trust, the charity which operates Middleton Arena and other venues across the borough, with producers Shone Productions.

"This will be a magical pantomime featuring singalong songs from a live band, dazzling dance routines, stunning scenery, beautiful costumes and incredible circus acts," said Dean Sorah, events and programming manager at Your Trust.

"Sleeping Beauty is a festive event not to be missed and we've already seen huge demand for tickets. We're urging people to get their seats booked as soon as possible to avoid any disappointment."

Karen Hauer is set to appear in the show from 21 December following the completion of this year's series of Strictly Come Dancing.

Tickets are on sale now, with group and family discounts available.