River City Star Forced to Withdraw From The Palace Theatre Panto

The Palace Theatre have to sadly announce that River City star Billy McElhaney has had to withdraw from their production of Beauty and the Beast due to ill health.

 Billy was due to play the role of Angus, downtrodden servant and all round dogsbody to the Beast. This role will now be taken on by the hugely experienced Paul Morrow.

 Paul is no stranger to pantomime having appeared in both Aladdin and Cinderella. He has also starred in Macbeth, Great Expectations and Sunset Song amongst others. On television he has appeared in Emmerdale, Taggart and Monarch of the Glen.

 Steve Boden, Managing director of Imagine Theatre who produce the pantomime, says

“We are very sad that Billy will no longer be able to be part of the pantomime and we wish him all the best. We are very grateful to Paul Morrow for stepping in at the last minute. Paul is a really talented actor and we feel very fortunate to have someone of his calibre taking on the role at such short notice.”

 Beauty and the Beast, written by panto king Alan McHugh, also stars River City’s Sally Howitt in the role of Deadly Nightshade, with Fraser Boyle as Dame Betty and Garry Morrison as Boabby.

 The panto opens on Saturday 26 November and runs until Friday 30 December.