GUISELEY actor Kristian Tiffany has come a long way since playing the part of a tree in his primary school nativity play!

There is nothing wooden about his current performance though. He is currently starring in the pantomime 'Sleeping Beauty' at the famous Leeds City Varieties, the place he first saw pantomime as a child.

The ever-popular panto has been running at the City Varieties since early December and is now in its final week.

Since starting out as the tree Kristian has moved to centre stage with a string of impressive performances on famous stages such as the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, and the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds..

His roles have ranged from Jesus to Willy Wonka.

His current performance as the hero who rescues Sleeping Beauty has gained excellent reviews from the critics and he gives his last performance in the role on Sunday.

Kristian has been picking up the plaudits having been described as 'talented', 'charismatic' and 'appealing' in his role as Prince Will.

He said: "Sleeping Beauty has been a great success and it has been great fun playing Will. The City Varieties is a wonderful venue with a long history of quality productions and I hope everyone in the audience has enjoyed the show as much as we have performing in it."

After his early introduction to the stage at primary school Kristian went on to study at Intake Arts College in Bramley. He also became a member of Stage 84's school of performing arts.

He has played a string of roles including Seymour Krelborn in 'Little Shop of Horrors', Billy Fisher in 'Billy Liar', Riff in 'West Side Story', Jesus in 'Jesus Christ Superstar' and Willy Wonka in 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.'

Kristian has also been carving out a career in television with appearances in 'Emmerdale', 'Where The Heart Is' and 'Touch of Frost'.

He has also worked with comedian Peter Kay in 'That Peter Kay Thing - The Ice Cream Man Cometh'.

l City Varieties Box Office is on 08456 441 881.