THEATRE NEWS: Petty panto a real Beauty
12 Aug'10

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency

They’ve taken Peter from the frying Pan to the fire, and raked Cinderella over the coals.

And now the folks at Ross Petty Productions are turning up the heat on the classic BEAUTY AND THE BEAST — just in time for Christmas, of course.



Ross Petty Productions announced Wednesday that, in celebration of their 15th season of fractured fairy tales, they’ll be teaming up with sponsors like The Bay, The Fairmont Royal York and Lowes, to premiere a new Christmas panto, titled BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: THE SAVAGELY SILLY FAMILY MUSICAL.



Written, with absolutely no apparent apologies to Mother Goose or the brothers Grimm, by Lorna Wright and Nicholas Hune-Brown and directed once again by Ted Dykstra, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST will feature a cast that includes Canadian Idol sweetheart Melissa O’Neil as the Beauty of title, while Degrassi’s Jake Epstein plays her beastly co-star.



In other major roles, DIRTY DANCING’s Jake Simon, panto regular Eddie Glen and  perennial villain Ross Petty himself, have all signed on to be part of Toronto’s most beloved bout of Seasonal Affective Disorder.



BEAUTY AND THE BEAST will run at the Elgin Theatre from Nov. 25 through Jan. 2, with tickets priced from $85 to $27 — and yes, family packages are available.

 For tix and further info, call 416-872-5555 or visit www.ticketmaster.ca or the Elgin box office.