Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders will reunite on the West End stage for the first time in 17 years to play the Ugly Sisters in the all-star London Palladium production of Cinderella this Christmas.
Marking the eleventh Christmas season at the iconic venue, the 2026 production will feature returning Palladium Panto favourites Julian Clary as The Fairy Godfather, Nigel Havers as King Charmer, Paul Zerdin as Zerdini and Rob Madge as Sequins.
Looking forward to their latest Palladium Panto roles, French, who previously joined the company to play Queen Dragonella in Snow White (2018/2019) and Dame Trot in Jack and the Beanstalk (2023/2024) and Saunders who made her Palladium pantomime debut as Captain Hook in Peter Pan (2023/2024) said: “We have wished to play the Ugly Sisters for so many years, it feels this is the fulfilment of a dream – a dream our hearts made. Watch out. It won’t be pretty.”
Produced and directed by Michael Harrison for Crossroads Pantomimes, Cinderella will play the London Palladium from 5 December 2026 to 11 January 2027.
Looking ahead to this year’s production, Harrison said: “Last year’s production of Sleeping Beauty broke all records at the London Palladium. We always want to raise the bar for our incredible panto audiences each year, so I’m absolutely delighted that Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders will be starring in this year’s Cinderella. Having two of the nation’s most beloved comedy icons together on the Palladium stage is incredibly exciting. Their legendary chemistry and razor-sharp humour will make this a truly special experience for audiences.”
New additions to the Palladium company will include Dex Lee (BBC1’s Doctors, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Piccadilly Theatre) as Prince Charming and Hope Dawe (Grease, UK and Ireland tour, Weird, Newcastle Theatre Royal) as Cinderella.
The production will once again feature set designs by Mark Walters, together with costume designs created especially for the London Palladium stage by Hugh Durrant, Teresa Nalton and Mike Coltman. The returning creative team also includes choreographer Karen Bruce and lighting designer Ben Cracknell, with visual special effects by The Twins FX, sound design by Matt Peploe and composition and orchestrations by George Dyer.
Last year’s 10th anniversary production of Sleeping Beauty broke the Palladium Pantomime’s own record for the biggest ever audience across a five-week season, with more than 137,000 patrons attending the show. The production broke the previous record of 132,000 for Robin Hood in 2024, in turn making the show the highest-grossing pantomime of all time and achieving the highest-grossing week for any show at the box office of the iconic venue.
Specialists in spectacular productions packed with famous faces, Crossroads Pantomimes is the world’s biggest pantomime producer and part of Crossroads Live, a global leader in the production of musical theatre and immersive entertainment experiences.
Angela Thomas
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