POPULAR fairy tale The Snow Queen has been given a pantomime makeover by a theatre group.

Tyldesley Little Theatre's (TLT) production of the classic Hans Christian Andersen story opened on Saturday but there is still time to catch it tomorrow and Saturday.

Ian Taylor said the group's Christmas show always proves popular and promises this year's is better than ever.

Ian, the production's co-director and pantomime dame, said: "Not only can children of all ages enjoy the traditional story of the evil titular character and Kai, the young boy who she ensnares by piercing his eye with a fragment of a magical looking glass, they also know they’re going to get TLT’s panto staples of crazy characters, colourful costumes, songs, dances and really, really corny jokes."

The Snow Queen is being played by the award-winning Karen Ward and Kai is played by Luke Hope-Nixon.

Determined Gerda, played by Alana Howarth-Lees, stays true to the original tale — boldly searching for her lost friend.

But who knew that her Granny, played by Ian, was a pantomime dame and her cousin was the extremely silly Helmut, played by Connor Parkinson?

Throw in some hippies, crazy gardeners and a bunch of talking flowers and TLT has all the ingredients for a night of festive fun.

Directed by the three-strong team of Ian, Garth Waddup and Andrew Sutton — and featuring popular music from musicals to Madness to Pharrell Williams, a talented gang of young dancers and a talking reindeer — Tyldesley’s panto version of The Snow Queen is sure to be unlike any other version you have ever seen.

Ian added: "Seasoned regulars stand shoulder to shoulder with a host of fresh, young actors, to ensure fun-filled vibrancy from beginning to end."

The Snow Queen is at Tyldesley Little Theatre, Lemon Street, tomorrow at 7.30pm and Saturday at 2.30pm and 7.30pm.

Call 01204 655619 or visit tlt.org.uk for tickets.