Lewis is back for a Geordie panto

And the 23-year-old is delighted to be back on home turf to play his role, for which he has just started rehearsals.

Lewis will play the role of Herman the Henchman in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves at the Tyne Theatre and Opera House, starting next Friday and running until December 31.

Olympic Torch event at Alnwick pastures.
Lewis Denny on the stage with the flame. — Olympic Torch event at Alnwick pastures. Lewis Denny on the stage with the flame.

He will be starring alongside the likes of Liberty X and Atomic Kitten singer Michelle Heaton, Matt Pagan of Collabro, and Britain’s Got Talent star Danny Posthill.

Also in the cast list is Geordie comic Charlie Richmond and ITV Tyne Tees presenter Rachel Sweeney.

For the majority of this year Lewis has been out of the country.

He spent most of it working on the Fred Olsen cruiseliner the Boudicca in the entertainment team, performing nightly to huge audiences while travelling to the likes of Bermuda, Norway and other countries.

Lewis Denny makes an appearance in an episode of Inspector George Gently.

For the end of the summer season he returned to Lanzarote to help out a former entertainment team.

Over the years Lewis has had a number of TV performances on CBBC shows, as well as others.

But now he is back and excited to get stuck into panto life.

“I honestly can’t wait,” he said.

“We have nine days of rehearsals and then we are into the shows, all 43 of them, and I’m really excited about it.

“I love pantos, watching them and performing in them. It’s not a serious role, I couldn’t do that, but it’s just so much fun.

“I would do panto anywhere in the country, but the fact that this is at home in the North East makes it even more special. It means I have got Christmas at home and it just gives it that bit of something more.

“It is a proper Geordie panto and I think it is going to be spectacular.”

This year will mark Lewis’s third at the Tyne Theatre, and his third working with Charlie Richmond.

Snow White is played by Robyn McEnaney after the production company launched a search to find its leading lady.

Lewis puts a lot of his success down to his role as a torchbearer in the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay.

“I have had so many opportunities since then,” he said.

“It really is remarkable and I put a lot of the successes I have had down to that.

“I still remember my Mam telling me that I had been nominated.”

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves will be on stage at the Tyne Theatre from Friday, December 8 to Sunday, December 31. Book at tynetheatreandoperahouse.uk or 0844 249 1000.