Kenneth Alan Taylor (born 1937) is a British pantomime writer and actor. [1] He is best known for having played the pantomime dame for thirty years in his own productions at Nottingham Playhouse. [2]
He started writing Pantomimes in 1962 in Oldham, and then moved to the Nottingham Playhouse to write there for more than 30 years. [2] He was artistic director of Nottingham Playhouse for seven years. According to Nick Clark of The Stage magazine, "He is one of the UK’s foremost pantomime writers, directors and, until recently, dames." [1] [3] [4]
He also played Cecil Newton in Coronation Street from 1987 to 1988 and again in 1990.
He was awarded best actor in a lead role and MTA for The Father. He was also awarded the BEM for services to theatre.
His awards include the Manchester Evening News best supporting actor for Price and a Nottingham University honorary doctor of letters in 2011. [1] In January 2019, Nottingham City Transport named one of their buses after him to mark his 35th Nottingham Playhouse Pantomime. [5] [6]
He was born in 1937 in Canning Town, London. [1]
Taylor is married to Judith Barker. They have two children; award-winning make-up designer Jessica Taylor [7] and Award-winning lighting designer Jason Taylor.
He has five grandchildren.
Peter Duncan is an English actor and television presenter. He was a presenter of Blue Peter in the 1980s, and made a series of family travel documentaries between 1999 and 2005. He directed, produced and performed in Jack and the Beanstalk which received a national cinema release in the UK in 2020.
Darren Day is an English actor, singer and television presenter, known for his West End theatre starring roles.
West Bridgford is a town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Rushcliffe, in the county of Nottinghamshire, England. It lies south of Nottingham city centre, east of Wilford, north of Ruddington and west of Radcliffe-on-Trent. It is also southwest of Colwick and southeast of Beeston which are on the opposite bank of the River Trent. The town is part of the Nottingham Urban Area and had a population of 36,487 in a 2021-census.
Widow Twankey is a female character in the pantomime Aladdin. She is a pantomime dame, played by an older man.
A pantomime dame is a traditional role in British pantomime. It is part of the theatrical tradition of travesti portrayal of female characters by male actors in drag. Dame characters are often played either in an extremely camp style, or else by men acting butch in women's clothing. They usually wear heavy make up and big hair, have exaggerated physical features, and perform in an over-the-top style.
Nottingham Playhouse is a theatre in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. It was first established as a repertory theatre in 1948 when it operated from a former cinema in Goldsmith Street. Directors during this period included Val May and Frank Dunlop. The current building opened in 1963.
Pantomime is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and in other English-speaking countries, especially during the Christmas and New Year season. Modern pantomime includes songs, gags, slapstick comedy and dancing. It generally combines gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or folk tale. Pantomime is a participatory form of theatre, in which the audience is encouraged and expected to sing along with certain parts of the music and shout out phrases to the performers.
The West Bridgford School is a co-educational comprehensive school with academy status in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England.
Reece Dinsdale is an English actor and director of stage, film and television. He is a Huddersfield Town fan.
Berwick Kaler is a British actor most famous for playing the dame in York Theatre Royal's annual pantomime, which he also wrote and directed until 2020. In 2021 he parted ways with York Theatre Royal and took his brand of traditional panto to the York Grand Opera House. He has been awarded the freedom of the city, and in 2002 received an honorary degree from the University of York. Having grown up in "the slums of Sunderland", Kaler left school at 15 to seek success on the London stage. He got taken on at Dreamland Margate to learn his trade. He has had TV roles in such shows as The New Statesman, Crocodile Shoes, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Spender as well as steady theatre work. However, it is his role in the York pantomime that has won him the most acclaim.
Nottingham City Transport (NCT) is the major bus operator of the city of Nottingham, England. NCT operates extensively within Nottingham as well beyond the city boundaries into Nottinghamshire county. Publicly-owned, it is today the second largest municipal bus company in the United Kingdom after Lothian Buses in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Shaun Prendergast is an English actor and writer.
PACE Theatre Company is a registered charity and non-profit making theatre company based in Paisley, Scotland. Formed in 1988 by David Wallace, PACE has four main components: a professional theatre production and theatre-in-education (TIE) company; PACE Youth Theatre, PACE Casting, a casting agency which represents Youth Theatre members; and PACE Media Productions, a media production company specialising in educational and dramatic video productions.
Tony Maudsley is an English actor. He is best known for his portrayal of hairdresser Kenneth Du Beke in the hit ITV sitcom Benidorm, and George Shuttleworth in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street (2020–present).
Nicholas Wilton is an English actor and scriptwriter. He has appeared as Mr Lister in the BBC soap opera EastEnders as a recurring character; he has also appeared in Carrott's Lib and Jackanory.
Alan Hughes is an Irish television personality, pantomime actor and producer. He works for Virgin Media and appears on Ireland AM. He also hosted Family Fortunes from 2012 to 2014.
Alan McHugh is a Scottish actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his roles in television shows such as Taggart, Take the High Road, Limmy's Show, and Rab C. Nesbitt. He co-wrote the jukebox stage musical I Dreamed a Dream about the rise of Scottish singer Susan Boyle alongside fellow comedian Elaine C. Smith.
West Bridgford was an Urban District in Nottinghamshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It was created under the Local Government Act 1894.
David Fleeshman is a British actor, broadcaster, drama lecturer and theatre director with experience in film, radio, television, theatre and commercials.
Neil Hurst is an actor and presenter born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England best known for his television and stage theatre career.
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