Marcus Jones who played Jimmy ‘Prince’ Charming in our festive production of Rapunzel has been shortlisted for an award in the equivalent of the UK pantomime ‘Oscars’.
The nominee shortlist has been announced by the UK Pantomime Association ahead of their 2024 Annual Awards Ceremony to be held on 18 June at G Live in Guildford. Marcus has been nominated for the Best Secondary Lead in this prestigious competition.
This is the second time that Marcus has made the Award’s hotly contested shortlist having been nominated for ‘Best Newcomer’ in 2022 when he burst onto the Richmond stage as George Gaston in Beauty and the Beast. He then went on to take the title role in the Georgian’s production of Pinocchio in 2023.
“We are absolutely thrilled that Marcus has been nominated for this prestigious award,” said Georgian Theatre Royal CEO, Jo Mawhinney, who was also Production Coordinator for Rapunzel. Marcus was one of a multi-talented cast of five who worked so well together to bring the much-loved fairytale to life. Richmond may only have a small cast compared to some of the region’s bigger pantomimes but each person is carefully chosen and they always give their absolute best to making the Georgian’s production so legendary.”
Undoubtedly an up-and-coming actor, Marcus is skilled in both acting, music and dancing. He holds a degree in music from Royal Holloway, University of London and trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. His pantomime hat-trick on the Georgian stage has meant that he spent the last three Christmases in Richmond.
As part of the judging process, 70 judges collectively visited 259 venues to see over 728 performances, far and wide across the United Kingdom.
The Georgian Theatre Royal has been producing its own professional pantomimes since 2010 and in that time has built up a reputation for staging one of the best Christmas shows around. Sleeping Beauty was chosen by The Observer as one of its top festive shows of 2018, and in 2015, The Telegraph named the Theatre as the No.1 place to see a pantomime in the UK.
Tickets are now on sale for this year’s pantomime, Treasure Island, which runs from Wednesday 4 December 2024 until Sunday 5 January 2025. Please visit www.georgiantheatreroyal.co.uk for online bookings or call the Box Office on 01748 825252.