Theatre’s stamp of approval

MAKE a wish . . . Barrie Ryan English, alias the Genie of the Lamp, conjured up his very own stamp

THEY have been topping the bill for hundreds of years, but now some of our favourite pantomime characters are set to take centre stage on millions of Christmas stamps.

The Royal Mail today launched a new set of festive stamps emblazoned with the faces of some of Britain’s best-loved panto characters. The genie from Oldham Coliseum’s Christmas pantomime, “Aladdin”, leaped from his lamp to unveil the image of his character on the new first-class stamp. Other characters included on special stamps include the Ugly Sisters from “Cinderella” and Peter Pan’s Captain Hook. “Aladdin” runs at the Coliseum from November 22 to January 10. The genie is played by Barrie Ryan English.

Claire Phillips, marketing manager at the Coliseum, said: “We definitely give our stamp of approval to the pantomime stamps.”