Oh yes he is! Andy Gray is leaving King's panto

Published on Saturday 14 July 2007 11:50

HE has been one of the faces of the King's Theatre panto for almost a decade.

To thousands of theatre-goers, the comedy sparring of Andy Gray and his stage partner Allan Stewart has been one of the highlights of the Christmas show.

But now 47-year-old Mr Gray is swapping Edinburgh's King's for its counterpart in Glasgow, to star in their pantomime.

Mr Gray, who first appeared in the King's panto in 1993 before returning for an eight-year run, said he had decided it was time for a change.

But the show's producer Paul Elliott suggested he had been unable to find a role for his long-established star in this year's show, Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

The popular actor said that after nine Edinburgh pantomimes - including three Cinderellas - he wanted to do something else.

He will be taking a well-earned rest from Christmas shows this year before returning for a three-year run with the King's in Glasgow in 2008.

Mr Gray said: "I start in Glasgow next year for three years so I fancied a year out so I can have a decent Christmas.

"Panto is great fun, but it is a bit of a slog, and the Glasgow schedule is even more punishing than Edinburgh.

"I'm looking forward to getting excited about Christmas. For the past two years I've had Christmas in January when the panto was over because I was so knackered.

"This year I will be able to go round the country watching other pantos."

Mr Gray, who recently moved to Perth from Edinburgh, said he would miss his panto partner, Allan Stewart, with whom he regularly brought the house down at the King's.

He said: "Audiences do like to see the same things, but they also like something fresh.

"It's kind of sad, but it's just one of these things that happens.

"This doesn't mean I can't come back. I'll come back in a few years and tell the same jokes because everyone will have forgotten them.

"And I'll be sitting in the front row this year heckling."

Mr Elliott, who has written, directed and produced the King's panto for the past five years, said he had wanted to make changes this year to keep the show fresh.

"Every year, what we try to do is make the framework slightly different because if you don't, it does get a bit like wallpaper," he said.

"This year it was very difficult to find the right role for Andy within this new framework and we agreed we would just give it a break.

"I have to cast the show as I see it and you can never shoe-horn a character in because you end up repeating what you did before.

"I love Andy Gray to death, he is one of the most talented people I have ever worked with, and I'm looking forward to working with him again in the future."

Familiar faces Grant Stott and Allan Stewart will be appearing in Goldilocks and the Three Bears, which runs from December 1 to January 20.