As the curtain comes down this weekend on Whisky Galore - A Musical!, Pitlochry Festival Theatre's first, highly successful foray into Autumn productions, preparations are now well underway at the Theatre in the Hills for the opening of Sleeping Beauty, PFT's enchanting - quite literally! - and fun-filled family entertainment for the festive season.

Last year`s spectacular first panto at PFT, Cinderella, prompted both critical plaudits and wildly enthusiastic audience reactions. With expectations now running high for Sleeping Beauty, PFT's "fabled workshop teams" (The Times), who created the record-breaking smash hit My Fair Lady in the Summer, are now busy building magical, large-scale sets, whilst the wardrobe department transforms a thicket of wonderful (and outrageous!) costume designs into rail upon rail of dazzling outfits.

Once Upon A Time...

When King Roland the Uncertain and Queen Priscilla forget to invite the temperamental Faerie of the Earth, Cara Bossi (and she is!), to the christening of Princess Beauty, she casts a terrible spell on the babe: she will prick her finger on a spinning wheel on her 18th birthday - and die! Thanks to the intervention of Polly, the Faerie of the Sky, Beauty avoids her fate and instead, falls into a deep, deep sleep . . .

But Beauty`s sleep goes on much longer than Polly had planned. And when Polly finally awakens Nurse Nancy and Fester the Jester and sends them off in search of a Prince to release the slumbering Princess from the spell, they find that the world has changed. Quite a bit. It`s the 1970s. And where are Nancy and Fester going to find a Prince . . . in Discoland?

 Cast News:

Deirdre Davis - River City's Eileen Donachie - leads a cast of familiar faces from PFT`s 60th Anniversary Season and Whisky Galore - A Musical! in this hilarious, song and dance-filled version of one of the most popular panto stories. Featuring in the host of colourful heroes, heroines and villains will be actor-musician extraordinaire Dougal Lee, 2010 Leon Sinden Award winner, George Rae, last year`s worst (best!) Ugly Sister in pantoland, Alan Steele, the achingly funny Gavin Wright and local Perthshire favourite, Helen Logan.

With the best value family tickets in Perthshire (2 adults and 2 children for only £45 - how good is that?), demand for the show is running high, so don't sleep on it, book now to secure your seats! Call the PFT Box Office on 01796 484626 or select your seat and pay online.