Jack and the Beanstalk

Ellesmere Port family audiences are promised a giant adventure this Christmas in the company of Jack and the Beanstalk.

Coronation Street star Connor McIntyre will play the evil Fleshcreep in the panto which is presented by the award-winning Anton Benson Productions.

He will be joined on stage at Ellesmere Port Civic Hall by Ben Sherlock, Chelsey Morgan, Stacey Coleman, Matthew Fordy and Wayne Morgan-Williams.

Jack and the Beanstalk runs from Saturday 12 December – Thursday 24 December 2026 at the popular Cheshire venue.

Tickets are on sale now priced from £19, with a range of family, group and concessions also available.

The Kingdom of Skid Row is in peril with the townsfolk knee-dee in debt. So, when poor Jack Trott takes the family cow to market and comes home with a bag of beans instead of a pocket of pounds, mum Dame Trott isn’t best pleased.

But it is just the start of a madcap adventure. Join Jack and his friends as they climb a magic beanstalk, do battle with a giant enemy and attempt to rescue the kidnapped Princess Jill from Fleshcreep’s evil clutches in this most brilliant of tall tales.

Theatregoers young and old are guaranteed a magical time with dazzling sets and costumes, a superb soundtrack of songs performed live by the cast and lots and lots of giant laughs.

Connor McIntyre plays Fleshcreep. Connor is best known for treading the cobbles playing Pat Phelan in Coronation Street, for which he won Villain of the Year at the British Soap Awards twice in three years.

His other screen credits include Drop Dead Gorgeous, Always and Everyone, Wire in the Blood, Murder City, The Case and Ackley Bridge, and films The Be All and End All and Charlie Noads RIP. Notable stage credits include The Comedy of Errors (Theatre Royal Plymouth) and Audience, Lunch, One for the Road and Harry’s Christmas (all the Barbican). Panto roles include the Ugly Sister in Cinderella, Captain Cockles in Robinson Crusoe and Fleshcreep in Jack and the Beanstalk.

Ben Sherlock is Jack ‘Wally’ Trott. Popular panto performer Ben has appeared in more than a dozen seasonal shows for Anton Benson Productions, most recently as Buttons in Cinderella at Ellesmere Port, and as Wally in Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Beauty and theBeast. Further stage credits include As You Like It and The Wind in the Willows (both Folksy Theatre), King Lear (Cream-Faced Loons), The Three Musketeers and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (both Box Tree Productions) and Harriet, Harry & the Pirates (Death by Pie).

His film credits include Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, The Heist and Split.

Chelsey Morgan is Princess Jill. Chelsey trained at The Hammond and made her professional acting debut playing Wendy in The New Adventures of Peter Pan at Albert Halls Bolton in 2025. Further stage credits include Victor’s Big Adventure, The Pirates of Pantaloon Bay and Indiana and Bones (all for Gary Starr Creative).

Stacey Coleman appears as Fairy Feebee. This Christmas is Stacey’s fifth pantomime for Anton Benson Productions. Her other panto credits include Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty and Jack and the Beanstalk, while she returns to Ellesmere Port after playing the title role in Cinderella last Christmas.

Further theatre credits include Samson Fox – the Man Who Captured Sunlight (Royal Hall Harrogate), King John (Cream Faced Loons), I Am Not a Robot (Bluestocking Theatre), Send Help and Box Room (both Hung Theatre), and Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens (Teal Heart Productions). Her screen credits include a recurring role as a nurse at Weatherfield General in Coronation Street, Derelict, Polterheist and Emmerdale.

Matthew Fordy is the King. Matthew is an actor, acrobat and puppeteer. His stage credits include A View From the Bridge (Bolton Octagon), Borderline Electra (Hope Mill Theatre), Virtual Reality (One For the Road Productions) and Children of Cain and Buckets (both Postcard Theatre). Panto appearances include Wishee Washee in Aladdin and Buttons in Cinderella.

And Wayne Morgan-Williams plays Dame Trott. Panto favourite Wayne’s many appearances include Sarah the Cook in Dick Whittington, Dame Dolly in Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Rapunzel, Widow Twanky in Aladdin, an Ugly Sister in Cinderella and as Dame Dolly in an national Easter tour of Robin Hood. Last Christmas he appeared as Dame Hardup in Cinderella at Ellesmere Port Civic Hall.

Screen credits include Cracker, and films Veils and Eastern Promises.

Anton Benson Productions Ltd produces successful Christmas pantomimes for venues across the UK in addition to providing Easter pantos for more than 15 venues nationwide each spring.

The company has worked with many big-name stars including Les Dennis, John Thomson, Kerry Katona, Mark Labbett, Su Pollard and Basil Brush.

Anton Benson of Anton Benson Productions said: “We’re thrilled to be returning to Ellesmere Port Civic Hall this Christmas with this tallest of tales, Jack and the Beanstalk, and with a talented cast of both family favourites and new faces for what I know is going to be a brilliant festive season.

“Ellesmere Port audiences are always a joy to perform for, and it’s wonderful to see people returning year after year and introducing new generations to the thrill of live theatre. I can guarantee everyone, from four to 104, an action-packed adventure to remember this December.”

For more information visit https://brioentertainment.org/event/jack-and-the-beanstalk/