Tag: Allie LOng

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Nick Jr’s Holly Atterton is Go! Go! Go! for Tinker Bell role in piratical Grand Opera House panto The Further Adventures Of Peter Pan: The Return Of Captain Hook

Holly Atterton’s Tinker Bell in the poster for The Further Adventures Of Peter Pan: The Return Of Captain Hook

NICK Jr’s Holly Atterton will bring an extra burst of fairy dust to UK Productions’ 2026 pantomime at the Grand Opera House, York, where she will play Tinker Bell in The Further Adventures Of Peter Pan: The Return Of Captain Hook, from December 5 to January 3 2027.

Holly has built her career on music, energy and feel-good family entertainment. Best known for her work with pop group Go!Go!Go!, as seen on Nickelodeon’s Nick Jr channel, she has lit up screens, stages and young imaginations across the country.

Holly has achieved a Top 75 album with Radio Go!Go!Go!, enjoyed two West End runs and toured the UK, crowning that success with a sell-out concert at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

All those credits add up to the ideal foundation for her Tinker Bell to deliver festive magic to Neverland. “This season will be my tenth year with UK Productions, and I can’t think of a better place to celebrate my ‘panto-versary’,” says Holly.

“York is a beautiful city that fully embraces everything about the festive season, so I can’t wait to experience the brilliant York audiences and bring some sass and sparkle to the Grand Opera House this Christmas.”

Theatre director Allie Long is delighted to welcome Holly to York. “We’re thrilled to have Holly join the cast of this year’s musical pantomime. We can’t wait to see her skate around the Grand Opera House stage, adding to what will undoubtedly be an unforgettable pantomime season filled with laughter, glee and musical magic.”  

UK Productions producer Martin Dodd says: “We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome Holly Atterton. She has the sparkle, charm and cheeky spirit to make a truly magical Tinker Bell. With a wave of fairy dust, she’ll have audiences flying high from the very first scene!

We’ve assembled a fantastic cast that’s sure to be shipshape, and this promises to be one of our biggest and most spectacular pantomimes yet. Second star to the right…and straight to the box office!”

Holly joins a blockbuster Grand Opera House line-up led by Emmerdale star and 42nd Street, Calamity Jane and Legally Blonde musical theatre performer Tom Lister as dastardly Captain Hook. Audience favourite Jimmy Bryant returns as Smee after delighting Grand Opera House audiences as Buttons in last year’s Cinderella.

Tickets are on sale at atgtickets.com/york. 

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Jimmy Bryant to bounce back as Smee on pantomime return to Grand Opera House in The Further Adventures Of Peter Pan

Jimmy Bryant: First name out of the pirate’s hat to be confirmed for The Further Adventures Of Peter Pan at Grand Opera House, York

COMEDY turn Jimmy Bryant will brew up a storm of laughter on his return to the Grand Opera House, York, in UK Productions’ swashbuckling pantomime The Further Adventures Of Peter Pan: The Return Of Captain Hook.

After shining as Buttons in Cinderella, the Cumberland Street theatre’s most successful panto ever, Bryant will take to the high seas as Smee from December 5 to January 3 2027 with his combination of comic timing, glorious chaos and heart-warming mischief.

“I’m absolutely pixie-dust levels of thrilled to be sailing back to the Grand Opera House, York!” says actor, comic performer and immersive theatre enthusiast Jimmy. “Last year’s audiences were honestly unforgettable, and the thought of stepping back onto that stage gives me goosebumps.

“Smee is such a brilliantly bonkers character – loyal, chaotic, always in the wrong place at the wrong time – and I promise we are going bigger, bolder and sillier than ever before.

“This show is packed with spectacle, surprises and so much heart. York, get ready, because this Christmas we’re not just going to Neverland…we’re going to blow the roof off it!”

Grand Opera House theatre director Allie Long enthuses: “Cinderella was our most successful pantomime to date, and that was due in no small part to Jimmy’s brilliant and hilarious turn as Buttons.

“We’re thrilled to have Jimmy returning, and we can’t wait to welcome him — along with the rest of The Further Adventures Of Peter Pan cast — to the stage for what promises to an unforgettable pantomime season at the Grand Opera House.”

It’s Smee: Jimmy Bryant in the poster for UK Productions’ 2026 pantomime at the Grand Opera House, York

UK Productions producer Martin Dodd adds: “We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Jimmy Bryant back aboard at the magnificent Grand Opera House, York, for this year’s panto, which is going to be to be a ship-shape riot!

“Jimmy’s Smee will be a masterclass in comic chaos, the perfect first mate to mischief, mayhem and a certain ticking crocodile lurking in the wings. There’ll be pirates, planks and plenty of hooks, but the biggest catch this Christmas is your ticket. So, hoist the mainsail, gather your crew and hook your tickets now!”

Bryant’s theatre credits include Cockfosters (Southwark Playhouse), Costard in Love’s Labour’s Lost (Cockpit Theatre), Al Capone in Peaky Blinders: The Rise, Herr Kutte in Jack & The Beanstalk (Cheltenham Playhouse), In The Dead Of The Night(UK tour), Doctor Who: Time Fracture (BBC/Immersive Everywhere) and The Immersive Wolf Of Wall Street (Stratton Oakmont Productions).

Among his film credits are Morris in PINKY! (ESA Films) and ROBBED The Movie, written and directed by Bryant.

Uniting leading UK pantomime producer UK Productions with the Grand Opera House for the fifth time, The Further Adventures Of Peter Pan is designed to appeal to families, offices, families and friendship groups alike.

Audiences are invited to “race to book before the best seats walk the plank”. “In panto land, it’s never too early to secure your spot, because once tickets start flying, they’ll be gone quicker than Peter Pan with a sprinkling of pixie dust. Grab your seats now before they’re swallowed by the crocodile,” reads the press release.

Further casting will be announced. Tickets are on sale at atgtickets.com/york.

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Allie Long returns to York to take up post of theatre director at Grand Opera House

Grand Opera House theatre director Allie Long

ALLIE Long is the new theatre director at the Grand Opera House on her return to the York theatre.

Allie joined ATG Entertainment in 2017 while studying at the University of York, starting in the front-of-house department before progressing through marketing, operational and management roles across the UK.

She completed ATG’s venue management graduate scheme, with placements in London, Glasgow and Stockton-on-Tees, before returning to the Grand Opera House in 2022 as theatre manager.

This was a pivotal year for the Cumberland Street venue that saw capital investment into the building, a venue re-brand and a re-launch that enabled a new trajectory to bring the best of the West End into York, such as Six The Musical, Dear Evan Hanson, Pretty Woman The Musical and Heathers The Musical.

After a year as theatre director at Richmond Theatre, Surrey, Allie took a year of maternity leave when she and husband Joe had a baby boy in 2025.

Now she has returned home to York to take over the leadership in a year when the Grand Opera House will next present Here & Now – The Steps Musical, Lee Mead in Barnum, The Circus Musical, Jodie Comer in a sold-out February 17 to 21 run of Prima Facie and Agatha Christie’s Death On The Nile.

Returning to where her career in live entertainment began, Allie is looking forward to leading one of North Yorkshire’s most cherished theatres. “A theatre like the Grand Opera House is more than a venue,” she said. “It’s a place where careers, like mine, can begin, local talent have a stage to showcase themselves, and stories and theatre craft are shared live on stage.

“I’m proud to champion career pathways in the creative industries here in York and to share a programme that has something for everyone.”