ROB McVeigh, alias "Rob The Builder" from BBC1's Any Dream Will Do, will return to the Grand Opera House pantomime in York this winter.

After playing the Prince in Show White And The Seven Dwarfs in the 2013-2014 panto, he will appear as Dandini in Cinderella from December 12 to January 4 in New Pantomime Productions' 16th year at the Cumberland Street theatre.

Rob is not the only new addition to producer Simon Barry's cast. The Prince and the Fairy Godmother will be performed by two members of Britain's 2007 Eurovision pop act Scooch, alias Russ Spencer and Leeds-born Caroline Barnes, who will join the already confirmed Anita Harris, as the Baroness, Tom Owen, as Baron Hardup, and former Emmerdale soap star Stuart Wade, another Opera House panto returnee, as Buttons. The parts of Cinderella and the Ugly Sisters will be announced in due course.

Rob McVeigh, a Rotherham builder, found fame when progressing from South Yorkshire musical society lead roles to being one of seven finalists in Any Dream Will Do, the Beeb's 2007 talent show to find the new Joseph for Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s West End revival of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Rob went on to performOwe It All To You on the BBC’s Eurovision – Your Decision in 2008, He has since toured the country with Paul Daniels, Frank Carson, Cannon and Ball; performed alongside the American Four Tops; appeared in the Billy Pearce Laughter Show on Blackpool’s North Pier and played Bert Healey in Annie and Danny Cassidy in The Eva Cassidy Story on national tours. This winter's Cinderella will be his fifth season in panto.

Scooch, should you need to refresh your Eurovision memory bank, sang Flying The Flag (For You) in the 2007 contest in Finland. Written by duo member Russ Spencer, it made number five in the British charts, still the highest charting Eurovision single since the UK last won the contest in1997.

Russ has presented many television shows, appeared in Footballers Wives and Shameless and numerous pantomimes. Caroline Barnes was dance captain in the original West End cast of Mel Brooks’s musical The Producers and has been resident choreographer on musicals in London, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, as well as pantomimes around the country, and has appeared in two Royal Variety Performances.

She has worked in television, including in Footballers Wives and Shameless, TV commercials for American Express and Calvin Klein and modelling for House of Fraser and the Alternative Hair Show at the Royal Albert Hall.

Tickets for Cinderella are on sale at £10 to £22.50 on 0844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/york

 

• CHILDREN'S auditions for the roles of the Babes and other parts in Cinderella will be held at the Grand Opera House, York, on Tuesday, September 23.

Boys and girls aged seven and over and a maximum height of 5ft 2ins will audition as Babes at 4.30pm; boys and girls of a minimum height of 5ft 2ins will audition for senior roles at 7.30pm.

Everybody should wear clothes suitable for auditions. All candidates will be auditioned in groups and taught a short dance routine. Those auditioning should ensure that, if successful, they would be available to attend every rehearsal from November 24, mainly after school and weekends.

Please be aware that this is a competitive dance audition; those who are chosen will perform as dancers and these positions are unpaid.