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Woking Announces the Most Magical Panto Casting Of All!
18th March 2025
The New Victoria Theatre Woking have today announced star casting for this year’s enchanting family pantomime, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, starring Birds of a Feather’s Lesley Joseph as The Wicked Queen, with broadcaster and barrister Rob Rinder as The Man In The Mirror. The show will be running at the New Victoria Theatre from Friday 5 December 2025 to Sunday 4 January 2026.
Lesley Joseph celebrates a career which has seen her appear on stage in dramas, musicals, and revues in the West End, across the UK and on every major television channel. Lesley starred as Miss Hannigan in Annie, Mrs Meers in Thoroughly Modern Millie as well as appearing in Home, directed by Peter Hall. In 2018, she starred in the musical adaptation of Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein in London’s West End as Frau Blücher, a role for which she was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical. No stranger to pantomime, Lesley’s annual panto appearances receive critical acclaim every festive season.
Rob Rinder has been on our TV’s entertaining us for years. Beginning his career as Judge Rinder, later moving to critically acclaimed documentaries winning BAFTAs along the way. His participation in Who Do You Think You Are? saw Rob retrace the story of his Holocaust survivor grandfather and his documentary series My Family, The Holocaust, and Me aired to wide critical acclaim and in 2020 Rob was awarded an MBE for his services to Holocaust education and an honorary doctorate for his legal work.
Last year, Rob paired up with Rylan last year where they retraced footsteps of cultural greats across Italy in the hilarious and heartwarming Rob & Rylan’s Grand Tour for BBC Two. The highly anticipated follow up series Rob and Rylan’s Passage to India will air later this year. Inspired by his experiences as a barrister, Rob’s novels The Trial and The Suspect are Sunday Times No.1 bestsellers, and the latest legal thriller in the series The Protest is published this Summer.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will be spectacularly brought to life with an abundance of comedy, sensational song and dance numbers, fabulous costumes and stunning scenery. Throw in the magnificent seven and plenty of audience participation and you have the perfect recipe to outwit the Wicked Queen and let love prevail in this glittering festive treat for all ages.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will be produced by the world’s biggest pantomime producer, and the team behind last year’s production of Sleeping Beauty, Crossroads Pantomimes, whose Chief Executive Michael Harrison said:
“I am delighted that we are able to bring the comic talents of Lesley Joseph and Rob Rinder to Woking this Christmas in their fantastic production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. They’re always a huge hit wherever they appear in pantomime, so we know that our Surrey audiences are in for a real treat this Christmas!”
JJ Almond, Venue Director at Woking Theatres and Cinema, said:
“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome the incredible Lesley Joseph and the ever-entertaining Rob Rinder to Woking for this year’s pantomime. Panto season is such a special time of year, bringing magic, laughter, and festive fun to audiences of all ages. With a stellar cast, this dazzling production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs promises to be another unmissable panto for the whole family this Christmas!”
Mirror, mirror on the wall, don’t miss the fairest pantomime of them all! Tickets are on sale now for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which runs from Friday 5 December 2025 to Sunday 4 January 2026.
Further casting will be announced later in the year.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs replaces the previously announced Dick Whittington.
