Actress Annie Guy is coming home for Christmas after landing a starring role in this year’s panto at The Customs House.
The 24-year-old was born in Durham, but moved to London at the age of 16 to study musical theatre at the prestigious Arts Educational Schools (ArtsEd) in Chiswick.
She’s no stranger to The Customs House stage, having appeared in several shows as a child with South Tyneside-based stage school, Starset Theatre.
Annie graduated from ArtsEd two years ago and went straight into playing Rosalie (cover Maria) in West Side Story at Kilworth House.
She has since toured with Thoroughly Modern Milly in the UK, before jetting off to Canada with the musical last month.
Her focus now is on preparing for her panto debut as Beauty in Beauty and the Beast, which runs at The Customs House from Tuesday, November 27 to Saturday, January 5.
Annie, who also played Jane in the fourth series of online CBBC show Dixi, won the role after taking part in open auditions in July.
She said: “I live in London, so I do a lot of shows down there, but my parents are from up north and I started up here, so I used to do shows at The Customs House all the time.
“When I heard about the auditions for Beauty, I thought ‘wouldn’t it be lovely to come home for Christmas and do something where I started’.
“I was over the moon when I got the part – absolutely thrilled.”
Annie, whose parents now live in Seaham, is also a former member of Sunderland-based stage school and theatre group Centre Stage North East.
The Customs House panto has been named as the ‘Most Entertaining Panto’ for three years in succession by the North East Theatre Guide, and has also won ‘Best Costume Design’ at this year’s Great British Pantomime Awards, against the might of The London Palladium.
Tickets are priced from £11.50 and performance times vary.
For more information, contact the box office on (0191) 454 1234 or visit www.customshouse.co.uk.