THE curtain comes up on a busy few weeks at Greenock’s Beacon Arts Centre tomorrow night with the launch of the theatre’s star-studded professional panto.

Still Game stars Mark Cox and Jane McCarry, aka Tam and Isa, will lead the cast in Beauty and the Beast, pictured.

The first show is tomorrow at 7pm, and the production runs until the end of the month.

It is written by Scottish panto king Alan McHugh and completing the acting line-up is Jimmy Chisholm as ‘Dame Betty’, Lee Samuel as ‘Boabby’, David Rankine as ‘Hunter’ with Brooke Allen as the ‘Beauty’ and the ‘Beast’ played by Liam Mulvey.

Younger audiences will also be kept entertained at the Beacon during the festive season, with new children’s show Flora’s Fairy Challenge in the studio theatre while popular radio play It’s a Wonderful Life is heading back to the venue in a fortnight’s time.

Jackie Shearer, the Beacon’s chief executive, said: “With three casts in the building rehearsing for Beauty and The Beast, Flora’s Fairy Challenge and It’s a Wonderful Life, we are certainly gearing up for a busy festive period at Beacon Arts Centre. We think we have something to suit all Christmas tastes.”

Flora’s Fairy Challenge is a festive tale for those aged three to six and follows the main character on an adventure to the North Pole to visit Santa.

But she encounters a problem when she gets there as his sleigh is broken and only Flora can save the day.

Not being one for dresses, wands and tiaras or anything else that makes a fairy, the little girl has her own challenges to overcome with help from her friends.

Also heading to the waterfront venue is an adaptation of It’s a Wonderful Life, which is now in its fifth year there.

Starring River City’s Tom Urie, it is written and directed by Greenock playwright Kevin Jannetts of No Nonsense Productions and is on from December 20-23 following a tour of Glasgow and the west coast, which kicks off tomorrow. Beauty and the Beast also starts tomorrow night and is on until Hogmanay while Flora’s Fairy Challenge starts on Saturday and runs until Sunday December 18.

For tickets and more details about the Christmas schedule, visit www.beaconartscentre.co.uk or call the box office on 723723.