Elaine Paige joins ‘Pantoland at the Palladium’ cast

The star-studded cast is set to take the London Palladium by storm this Christmas.

Following last week's announcement that pantomime would return to the London Palladium, further casting has been announced. The Olivier Award-winning actress Elaine Paige will join the cast of Pantoland at the Palladium this Christmas, with performances from 12 December for three weeks.

Elaine Paige will reprise her performance as Queen Rat, a role she played in Dick Whittington in 2017. She'll star alongside a plethora of London Palladium pantomime veterans, including Julian Clary, Paul Zerdin, Nigel Havers and Gary Wilmot, past stars Ashley Banjo & Diversity and Charlie Stemp, and newcomers Beverley Knight and Jac Yarrow.

On joining the cast, Paige said: "I absolutely loved playing the evil Queen Rat in Dick Whittington a couple of years ago and can't wait to be back on The London Palladium's stage again this year, alongside Julian and the wonderful panto gang... It's time to escape the challenges around us all and give everyone a well-needed laugh!"

During her West End career, Elaine Paige has starred in more musicals than anyone else of her generation, including Chess, Anything Goes, Cats, Hair and Sunset Boulevard. She's perhaps best known for her Olivier Award-winning performance as Eva Peron in Evita. Musically, she's released 22 solo albums, and was made an OBE in 1995 for contributions to musical theatre.

Pantoland at the Palladium is at the London Palladium from 12 December - 3 Jan. 2021.

^{Photo credit: Elaine Paige as Queen Rat (Photo by Paul Coltas)}