Andy Ford

Making panto for adults and children

Ever since we first saw him perform in panto at the Bristol Hippodrome in 2009 we have been huge fans of Andy Ford, he is a fantastic addition to any pantomime cast with appeal to adults and children alike. We would as far as to say Andy is our favourite panto performer ever. Complete with his unique west-country charm he gives 100% at every performance and we cannot rant about him enough and for that Andy we say....ta!

“ the performance should be extravagant and flamboyant. For many children, pantomime will be the first time they’ve come to the theatre, so we have to make it memorable!”.” -Andy Ford

In an interview back in 2015 Andy gave his thoughts on pantomime - “The most important aspect of a pantomime is that it has to be entertaining! Not only entertaining for a certain demographic, entertaining for a very, very wide range of people. The whole family must be able to enjoy the same piece of entertainment. Secondly, the performance should be extravagant and flamboyant. For many children, pantomime will be the first time they’ve come to the theatre, so we have to make it memorable. The most rewarding part of doing pantomime is seeing a whole family together, enjoying themselves. There aren’t many situations where the whole family can be in one place, and enjoy the same thing.”

After working with an array of showbiz legends in his many years of pantomime, Andy states that his favourite pantomime co-stars include Warwick Davies, Henry Winkler, Bernie Nolan, Claire Sweeney and Letitia Dean. However, his favourite has been EastEnders legend Barbara Windsor, who he starred with in Dick Whittington in 2010 at the Bristol Hippodrome.

Andy is no stranger to TV and he first burst onto our screens in the 1990s with an appearance on Jonathan Ross' Big Big Talent Show before heading over to be a guest on the sofa with chat show legend Des O'Connor and appearing on Phillip Schofield's Talking Telephone Numbers. In 1997 Andy performed at the Royal Variety performance in the presence of The Queen, this should have been his biggest TV break but sadly his act was cut during the edit due to the show over running.

Andy has said his favourite comedy panto role is playing Buttons, his concern however is that he does not want to be a 75 year old Buttons declaring his love for a twenty year old Cinders. Andy has been offered the opportunity to play dame but has always turned this down...so far! playing lead comic is where Andy's heart really is. Playing a panto villain is a role Andy has not yet been asked to play but it's a role he would consider as long as there was a comedy element to it.

Amongst Andy's showbiz pals are Steve McFadden, Henry Winkler, Kara Tointon, Joe Pasquale and Barbara Windsor. In 2010 when Barbara Windsor made her panto return at the Bristol Hippodrome she was such a fan of Andy's that she stipulated in her contract as a condition that Andy Ford had to be in the cast.

Pantomime History

1997 - Peter Pan - Bournemouth Pavilion & Bristol Hippodrome

1998 - The Wizard of Oz - Reading Hexagon with Michaela Stachan

1999 - Cinderella - Sheffield Lyceum with Jansen Spencer

2000 - Jack and the Banstalk - Croydon with Kate Richie and Chris Jarvis

2001 - Snow White - The Dartford Orchard with Letitia Dean

2002 - Peter Pan - Derngate Theatre Northampton with John Altman

2003 - Aladdin - The Ashcroft Theatre Croydon with Dean Gaffney

2004 - Cinderella - Doncaster Civic with Maureen Nolan

2005 - Snow White - Theatre Royal Nottingham with Claire Sweeney

2006 - Snow White - Ashcroft Theatre Croydon with Bernie Nolan

2007 - Peter Pan - Churchill Theatre Bromley with Paul Michael Glaser