Northern Ireland's very own Panto queen May McFettridge got a very
big surprise at the end of yesterday's matinee performance of Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs at the Grand Opera House in Belfast.

Theatre Director John Botteley interrupted the finale to present May
with a beautiful framed montage of photographs, showing the
transformation from John Linehan to May McFettridge, to celebrate
her 15th consecutive year starring the in Grand Opera House Panto.

The Grand Opera House commissioned local award-winning photographer
John Harrison from Harrison Photography to produce the montage, to
illustrate May's significant contribution to the theatre and to the
entertainment industry in Northern Ireland over the past fifteen
years.

Over the fifteen years that May has appeared on the Theatre's stage
during the Festive season, she has taken on the roles of Sarah the
Cook, Dame Trot, Fairy Godmother, Baroness Hard-Up, Widow Twankey,
Mother Goose, Nurse May and a singing Mermaid, to name but a few!

May has donned hundreds of outrageous costumes and has appeared on
stage with an exhaustive list of celebrities including Lisa Riley,
Su Pollard, Britt Ekland, Rod Hull and Emu, John Daly, Pamela
Ballantine, Ivan Little, Ray Meagher, Sooty, Jimmy Cricket, Zippy
George and Bungle and this year, Linda Nolan, who plays the Wicked
Queen.

Theatre Director John Botteley said; "By the end of the current run,
May will have clocked up over 1200 performances on the Grand Opera
House stage which is a fabulous achievement.

"May has become an integral part of our business and is one is one
of the main reasons that we have one of the most successful pantos
in the UK. On behalf of the Grand Opera House Trust, I would like to
sincerely thank May for all her hard work over the past 15 years and
look forward to welcoming her back for her 16th year in Peter Pan
next December."

May said: "I can't believe this is my 15th year in the Panto, it
feels like yesterday since I performed for the first time here! I am
totally shocked and delighted to be presented with this beautiful
framed montage. I would like to thank John Botteley and all the
theatre staff for putting up with me over the past fifteen years.

"I would also like to say a big thank you to the very talented
photographer John Harrison, who did a fabulous job in actually
making me look good!!"