[T]he Sands Centre has announced that ‘Carlisle-boy’ Lee Brennan will be staring in this year’s pantomime Sleeping Beauty as the Prince!
Lee was born in Carlisle on 27th September 1973. Growing up he always wanted to perform. His first thoughts of stardom were wanting to perform magic tricks like his then hero, famous magician Paul Daniels. Lee would perform his magic tricks in front of anyone who would watch him as he dreamed of stardom! He was always singing around the house & loved Wet Wet Wet who were his favourite pop act at the time.
Lee went from being a sign maker to working at Laser Quest then quickly on to ten pin bowling at Hollywood Bowl.
One night at home in Carlisle, Lee decided to write a letter to his local radio station CFM. In the letter Lee asked if there was any way they could help him to perform on one of their road shows or if they knew any bands looking for a singer. The next day Lee went to the radio station, passed his letter with a photograph of himself to the receptionist and asked her to pass it on to the boss.
Daryl Thomas who was commercial manager of CFM at the time received Lee’s letter and at the time knew a Glasgow promoter called Steve Gilmour who used to put on gigs for the likes of Boyzone in Scotland. The very next day, Lee would receive the phone call which would end up changing the rest of life! Steve invited Lee to up Glasgow and after a second meeting Lee also met Spike & Jimmy – instantly there was chemistry and the rest is history!
911 were one of the biggest pop acts of the 90’s, the decade when boy and girl bands ruled the music world! Lee, Spike and Jimmy were well known for their amazing stage shows and jaw dropping dance routines and of course not forgetting their massive pop tunes like ‘Bodyshakin’, ‘More Than A Woman’, ‘Day We Find Love’ and ‘Party People’. The three lads appeared on the front cover of every teenage magazine and became pop pin ups for thousands of young girls around the world during their 5 years together in which they achieved huge success.
911 were one of only five acts in the 90’s to achieve ten consecutive UK Top Ten Hit Singles, eight of which were Top Five Hits and included their platinum selling Number One single ‘A Little Bit More’. 911 sold over 10 million records around the world & toured the UK four times including performing at the likes of Wembley Arena & Manchester’s MEN Arena during two sell out arena tours in 1998 and 1999 and played to 70,000 fans in Singapore on their tour of Asia.
Lee made his musical theatre debut in April 2016 performing in Footloose the musical on its UK tour’ Lee played the character ‘Willard’ and received rave reviews during his 80 shows. In Dec Lee once again took on the lead role of Aladdin in the Christmas panto in Chesterfield performing 52 shows!
Pantomime Executive Producer Jonathan Higgins is delighted with the news. “We have been talking with Lee for a couple of years about ‘coming home’ to do panto and I’m so pleased that everything has worked out for this year’s show. Lee has a huge following and having seen him in a recent performance of ‘Footloose’, I know that he will be perfect in the role of panto Prince”
Come and join in the festive fun as The Sands Centre brings the world’s best known and most loved pantomimes to life. Packed with great songs, amazing dance routines and plenty of laughter, this is a tremendous treat for all the family you won’t want to miss!
Sleeping Beauty commences on Monday 11 December with performances running until Sunday 31 December 2017. Tickets are £16.50, child £15, group (10+) £14.50, family £43 plus a booking fee* available online at thesandscentre.co.uk or from The Sands Centre Box Office on 01228 633766 or in person.
*55p per ticket in person/by phone or 7% per transaction online
