Popular stage and television veterans Robert Whitehead and Tobie Cronje are among the cast of Janice Honeyman’s sumptuous pantomime, Cinderella, which, fresh from a hit season in Joburg, is to be shown on M-Net at 6pm on Saturday.
Packed with comedy, song, dance, stunning sets, beautiful costumes and, of course, magical tricks that include that special moment when Cinderella is transformed from rags to riches and is whisked off to the ball, the show stars Carmen Pretorius in the title role, and former Idols contestant Bongo Mthombeni as Prince Charming.
Among musical theatre’s shining young stars, Pretorius received her big break at the age of 18 when she entered M-Net’s search for a star of the stage show High School Musical, which she won.
She filled the lead role during the SA tour of High School Musical and subsequently performed in the musical when it toured to Taiwan and Indonesia.
Pretorius has since been in great demand for leading stage musical roles in shows such as Footloose and Mamma Mia! She is Lucinda in Kyk-Net’s Binnelanders series.
Amiable and charming Mthombeni has worked with big music names including The Parlotones, Steve Hofmeyr, Loyiso Bala and Prime Circle.
Funnyman Tobie Cronje appears in the show as Cinderella’s ugly sister, Fanny Flemerina.
Robert Whitehead, best known as Isidingo villain Barker Haines, makes his panto debut as the other ugly sister, Flossie Flatulina.
Multi-award winning Sibu Radebe has been cast in Cinderella as Buttons, the loveable and loyal friend of Cinderella.
Radebe has performed in many musicals in South Africa over the past few years, including Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, for which he received two Naledi Awards, and Janice Honeyman’s 2009 pantomime Pinocchio, for which he won the Naledi Award for Best Performance.
One of SA’s favourite Afrikaans soap stars, Anna-Mart van der Merwe, appears in Cinderella as the all-important Fairy Godmother.
Much of her immense popularity has arisen from her numerous leading roles on TV. These include Veldslag, Sonkring 1 and 2, Konings, Soul City, Secret in My Bosom and 7de Laan.
One of the most frequently featured faces on covers of local magazines, Van der Merwe makes her pantomime debut in Cinderella.
Among other performers in the panto this year are Stephen Jubber as Dandini, Malcolm Terrey as Baron Hardup, Tammi Meyer as Lady JinJa and Jaco van Rensburg as Donkey Houtie.
Other cast members are Charles Bouguenon, Zeena Edwards, Nurit Michele Graff, Reg Hart, Bruce J Little, Jodie Renouf, Claire Scheepers, Uber Seleme, Dionne Song, Lebo Toko, Marno van der Merwe and Ziyanda Yako.
“Joburg Theatre audiences have come to expect truly star casting – with a few surprises – in their annual festive season pantos and this year I think we’ve even surprised ourselves,” says the executive producer and Joburg Theatre’s CEO, Bernard Jay.