Wakey wakey! Author, Strictly judge and musical theatre star Craig Revel Horwood is appearing in Bristol Hippodrome’s enchanting Sleeping Beauty panto as Princess Aurora’s wicked aunt Carabosse alongside festive favourite Andy Ford as Muddles, and Bristolian actor and radio presenter Joe Sims as the Henchman. We stole some precious moments of Craig’s time to find out more about his unlikely but enduring love for pantomime, why he loves playing the villain and the not-so-secret energy source that puts a skip in his step.
Craig Revel Horwood might just be panto’s hardest working villainous character: this festive season, he’ll be splitting his time between the stage at Bristol Hippodrome (taking on the role as the wicked Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty) and the studio lights on Saturday nights as one of TV’s most-famous dancing judges on Strictly.
Joining Craig, Andy and Joe at the Hippdrome this year are musical theatre favourites Jade Marvin as the Spirit of Dreams, Naomi Pacquette as Princess Aurora and Tom Major as Prince Peter. But what can audiences expect from this year’s panto instalment?
In a kingdom far, far away, Princess Aurora’s birthday takes a sinister turn when her wicked aunt, Carabosse, presents her with a seemingly innocent gift. One fateful prick from an enchanted spinning wheel sees Aurora fall victim to a terrible curse, sending her into a sleep that will last for 100 years…
But can love conquer the curse? Will the prince manage to wake Aurora and put an end to Carabosse’s spell? Find out in this magical pantomime, bursting with music, laughter, dazzling effects and plenty of fairy-tale fun.
Hello, Craig! You’ve got a remarkably full diary around Christmas. Have you developed any tricks for keeping your energy up when you’re juggling TV filming, show rehearsals, and performing on stage?
Well, my schedule is enormous, so you have to take every day as it comes to try not to look too far in advance, but I keep my energy up with Berocca, darling. I drink one of those a day because I have to, and I get lots of sleep if I can manage it – that’s the important thing.
You’ve not long published The Book of Panto (Faber). Without giving away any secrets, what is it about pantomime that has kept such a strong hold on you?
In panto, you get to do absolutely everything: sing, dance, act – the lot. You also get to break the fourth wall, which I really love. I can become Craig Revel Horwood at any stage throughout the production, which is unusual. And you get to work with a variety of different people, and that’s what I love about it the most. And the fact that kids love coming along. I love getting the boos, I love the audience reactions, and you know what? It always represents Christmas to me. I’ve been doing this now for nearly 20 years, and every year I enjoy it even more.
Do you remember your very first experience watching pantomime?
I’d never seen a pantomime until I was in one. So, the first one I watched was probably at the London Palladium. There’s also one at my Village Hall in Kingsley. I never went to see pantomime before, because I wasn’t interested in it. That’s why I’ve written a book about my journey, because I didn’t really rate panto at first. But in actual fact, it’s an enormously skilled job. It’s really difficult; you need to have the stamina for two shows a day – plus I work seven days a week, because of course our theatre is ‘dark’ each Saturday for me to film Strictly. You have to keep your energy levels geared up – but the audience helps with that.
What was your first panto as a performer?
My first panto as a performer was actually in Australia [Craig was born there in 1965], and that was just for children in a school, so I didn’t really know what it was at all; I thought panto was just for kids. I played Freddie Fleshcreep – the baddie – in Jack and the Beanstalk. We don’t really have panto in Australia, but then I came to the UK, everyone seemed to go to the pantomime each year. I was always busy over Christmas in musicals, and then because I’ve been performing in pantos here for a long time, I never actually get to watch any other ones!
You’ve played some wonderfully wicked characters over the years. What, in your mind, makes a really great pantomime villain?
What I love about the villains is that they’re really interesting characters; you always get the best lines, the best songs, and they’re dark, they’re sinister and you can really go to town on them. I love that. And if you compare it to TV, that’s very, very different, you know, because I’m a judge on a television show and I’m there just for dance expertise and nothing more. Although I do play a sort-of villain on that anyway. And that, of course, is the reason why I started playing villains in panto, because I’m seen as a ‘Mr. Nasty’ character, so that has continued for the last 20 years throughout my life.
Carabosse is a deliciously theatrical character. When you’re developing your own version of a villain, do you ever borrow from real people you’ve encountered?
Well, I guess you do borrow things from nasty people you’ve met in the world, like an auntie that was a little bit wicked, for instance. But I try and invent each character with the theatre company. It’s important to approach it as a serious actor in that way, because every character has to have history, so you have to delve into that yourself and bring that history and the reasons why you’re saying everything along with you. But that can only really be developed when you know who you’re playing against. Maybe Carabosse was tortured as a child and that’s why she’s taking it out on everyone else? Or maybe she wasn’t loved and just wants to be loved? When she’s left out, she doesn’t like it, so she puts spells on people to destroy their lives and get even. It’s very much up in the air until we rehearse, which is great. But yeah, I also take from people I know, I borrow from film and television, and of course other theatre shows I’ve seen.
What can audiences expect from Sleeping Beauty?
I think people will be surprised how good the singing is, how good the dancing is, and also all the special effects. They’re amazing. Crossroads Pantomimes really throw everything at production, there is no time wasted. The lighting is spectacular. In fact, everything about it is truly professional and a wonder, and takes you into a complete world where you can forget about your life outside and just be taken away into a fantastical land for two and a half hours.
Why do you think panto works so well across generations?
Everyone from a three-year-old to a 93-year-old can all come and enjoy the same thing, and some of the jokes will go over kids’ heads, but they’ll still laugh because the joke is funny. I love the double meaning to everything, the double entendre, and I love the fact that the adults have a spectacular time as well and have a laugh and a joke to themselves.
I think that’s great. Bristol audiences are really a lot of fun. They like to be vocal, which I think is really important – they’re completely into it.
Is there a moment from a particular performance that still makes you laugh when you think about it?
I was doing Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and I had to do a dance routine in which all the dancers were wearing feathers. Loads of feathers fell on the stage, and I had to do all these turns going on, and I slipped on a feather, and I had so much speed up that when I landed on my fake boobs, I slid directly into the wings. It got a very good laugh, but I couldn’t repeat it.
What still gives you that buzz when you walk out in front of a pantomime audience?
The audience bring the energy to the show. In pantomime, they’re as much part of the show than as we are, and I think that can be slightly forgotten.
Generally, in theatre, one sits back and thinks, ‘Entertain me’, but in panto, you have to be a part of playing it, and I think that’s what makes it stand out and makes it different and the most enjoyable. Because that reaction is different every single show, depending on who you’ve got in. You might have loads of schools in, and that’ll be a completely different reaction to the lead up to Christmas Day, because people are having office parties, and drinking, so that’s a different crowd. And then you get the hecklers and all sorts of things.
So, there’s a lot to deal with, but it makes that makes the day most enjoyable because no two shows are not going to be the same. A matinee audience will be totally different to an evening one.
Don’t sleep on it – Sleeping Beauty is at Bristol Hippodrome from 4 December until 3 January 2027. Tickets can be booked now via atgtickets.com/bristol
