RED RIDING HOOD Breaks Greenwich Panto Records

Greenwich Theatre has already sold more tickets for Red Riding Hood than for the whole of the run of Jack and the Beanstalk last year - and there are no signs of slowing down.

"We're still selling hundreds of tickets every day, which is absolutely fantastic," said James Haddrell, the theatre's Artistic and Executive Director. "As happens every year, we've also already had thousands of school children seeing the show on highly subsidised tickets, which everyone here is very proud of.

"It's brilliant that children in South East London get to see any live theatre, but the fact that they are able to see a show of this high quality is a massive bonus.

"With those performances under our belt, we're now moving towards the really public performances around Christmas and the New Year. Audiences during this time are just fantastic. They come with a real Christmas spirit and many of them come not only year after year but also more than once within the run itself.

"It's the sort of show that people enjoy so much that they feel almost evangelical about it and want to go out and spread the word."

Red Riding Hood celebrates acclaimed dame/writer/director Andrew Pollard's 10th anniversary at Greenwich Theatre, adding to the buzz of excitement at the venue. "It is also musical director Steve Markwick's 10th anniversary and his amazing contribution is also what brings people back year after year," said James.

"The astonishing success of the pantomime every year is one of the factors leading major producers to want to bring shows to Greenwich. We have already programmed a number of high profile family shows for the spring season, so we're looking towards 2016 in the best possible spirits."

The theatre has pulled off a coup by capturing the only London dates for the UK premiere of Rapunzel in the February half term.

"The book, music and lyrics are written by the creative team behind Friends," said James. "You can't get much higher profile than that!"

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