Hope Street-based Burjesta Theatre bring panto to their home of the Casa for the first time this week – with a Mother Goose that promises “a combination of traditional pantomime and Italian ‘commedia dell’arte’ comic knockabout”, meets… Johnny Cash? Based on the original 1806 Drury Lane production, the panto tells the tale of Columbine and […]
Continue Reading
Panto season is nearly upon us, and for something a little different this year, Beauty & the Beast will be the debut production from new theatre company Drops of Light CIC, who are busy transforming the city centre’s Black-E in to an enchanted castle for the venue’s first ever pantomime. They say audiences can expect […]
Continue Reading
Swapping one singin’, dancin’, unexpectedly buff ex-Brookie star for another (see gratuitous pic), the Empire has announced that Philip Olivier will be taking over as the lead in this year’s panto Peter Pan for the tail end of its run. Ray Quinn is currently doing his stint as the boy who never grew up, but […]
Continue Reading
The festive entertainment season began in earnest this week with the larger than life Hitchhiker’s Guide to Fazakerley, from the usual Christmas crew at the Royal Court. Has it really been a year since the whole David Gest debacle? There’s no deviations from the norm this time, and the venue delivers its usual crowd-pleasing adult […]
Continue Reading
There had to be a loser in the festive entertainment onslaught that has been dubbed ‘panto wars’, and the plan to revive the Summer Pops’s big top tent to stage a pantomime and family fair at the arena site was up against it from the start. After …
Continue Reading
If you still haven’t had your panto fix, I’m hearing good things about Cinderella, the first panto at the new Epstein Theatre. In its former guise as the Neptune, the venue was well known for its annual festival family show. Eighties pop star Soni…
Continue Reading
Every year, round about now, places want to start flogging their panto tickets. It???s something MADEUP always tries to ignore until it all becomes too much (can’t we have summer first?) but this week a genuinely intriguing announcement was made. Wh…
Well, the day has finally come, and MADEUP will be reporting on the closure of the Everyman and the big finale over the course of the weekend. The theatre has been asking the public for their memories and it will be exciting and poignant to hear t…
Continue Reading
How time flies, dear reader. No sooner were we a-liggin’ and a-jiggin’ and a-sneezin’ all over Pamela Anderson at the Aladdin press night, than the Empire’s Christmas panto is about to wrap up with the last few shows of its run. All together now -…
Continue Reading
A good panto baddie always has a scheme as well as a bit of a head for business ??? and David McGranaghan is no exception. Not only does he have his work cut out onstage as ousted fairy Oderon in Sleeping Beauty at the Everyman, he???s also snapping u…
Continue Reading
It???s big, it???s brash, it???s finally here ??? the city???s flagship panto with the Hollywood star. It???s Aladdin this year, not that it really much matters, and Baywatch’s Pamela Anderson the Genie of the Lamp we???ve all been waiting to see. Everything yo…
Continue Reading
I’ve been struggling with flu this week, and not only has that stopped me doing my proper job just at the worst possible time of year, it has also interfered with some really fun things as well. First, I had to cancel a meeting with THIS GUY. I kn…
Continue Reading
The Empire has announced the arrival of Pamela Anderson to our little city this afternoon, as she prepares to take to the panto stage there from tomorrow. And she sounds game, apparently being heard to mutter: “I???ll be finding my local pub and als…
Continue Reading
The team behind the Everyman’s rock ‘n’ roll panto are putting the finishing touches for this year’s show – and the last in the venue as we know and love it. Writing team Sarah Nixon and Mark Chatterton, the best panto dame in town Francis Tucker …
Continue Reading
“There’s only eight weeks left ’til Christmas gerls, SO GO FER IT!” my aerobics instructor Wendy has taken to shouting mid-leg curl in an attempt to motivate us all. With that in mind, there was some by-the-book horseplay at the Empire this week a…
Continue Reading