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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2017 22:32:54 GMT
I think the trouble is, it was too much him trying to keep up with Paul O' Grady. Usually you either have a Baron or a Baroness, you don't have both! But it wasn't that he was bad, just wasn't mine or any of the other 1000+ peoples tastes.
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Post by daniel on Jan 1, 2017 22:33:03 GMT
As it looks like FFE have gone bust/been taken over (depending on rumour) it could make next season interesting. I could see Qdos going after some of their bigger venues (Manchester, Liverpool and bristol), not sure they'd want Milton Keynes, Wimbledon etc as they are near some of their other venues If they do it could mean qdos names being stretched even more across the country, or new names being brought into the qdos fold from ffe Have you got a source on the FFE news? I've been hearing murmurings for a while that they won't be continuing in future years, but intrigued if this has developed into something more concrete. I think, should FFE fold, it's much more likely that the pantos will fall under the general "ATG Productions" banner rather than transfer to Qdos. Given that FFE are part of ATG anyway, and with Qdos being ATG's biggest regional competition in terms of both theatre ownership and panto production, I honestly can't see them giving Qdos the panto contracts for some of their biggest venues. But time will tell I guess!
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Post by Jon on Jan 1, 2017 23:39:45 GMT
As it looks like FFE have gone bust/been taken over (depending on rumour) it could make next season interesting. I could see Qdos going after some of their bigger venues (Manchester, Liverpool and bristol), not sure they'd want Milton Keynes, Wimbledon etc as they are near some of their other venues If they do it could mean qdos names being stretched even more across the country, or new names being brought into the qdos fold from ffe Have you got a source on the FFE news? I've been hearing murmurings for a while that they won't be continuing in future years, but intrigued if this has developed into something more concrete. I think, should FFE fold, it's much more likely that the pantos will fall under the general "ATG Productions" banner rather than transfer to Qdos. Given that FFE are part of ATG anyway, and with Qdos being ATG's biggest regional competition in terms of both theatre ownership and panto production, I honestly can't see them giving Qdos the panto contracts for some of their biggest venues. But time will tell I guess! I wonder if ATG management changes means that FFE isn't viable as a separate company, I suspect your suggestion of ATG Productions taking over from FFE if it folds is more likely than Qdos doing the pantos at ATG venues.
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Post by daniel on Jan 1, 2017 23:48:09 GMT
Have you got a source on the FFE news? I've been hearing murmurings for a while that they won't be continuing in future years, but intrigued if this has developed into something more concrete. I think, should FFE fold, it's much more likely that the pantos will fall under the general "ATG Productions" banner rather than transfer to Qdos. Given that FFE are part of ATG anyway, and with Qdos being ATG's biggest regional competition in terms of both theatre ownership and panto production, I honestly can't see them giving Qdos the panto contracts for some of their biggest venues. But time will tell I guess! I wonder if ATG management changes means that FFE isn't viable as a separate company, I suspect your suggestion of ATG Productions taking over from FFE if it folds is more likely than Qdos doing the pantos at ATG venues. Yep I think that's the most likely thing that'll happen if FFE don't continue.
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Post by callum on Jan 2, 2017 0:50:52 GMT
Barbara Windsor? Was expecting her to be Fairy Godmother for Cinderella, actually.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2017 9:23:43 GMT
As it looks like FFE have gone bust/been taken over (depending on rumour) it could make next season interesting. I could see Qdos going after some of their bigger venues (Manchester, Liverpool and bristol), not sure they'd want Milton Keynes, Wimbledon etc as they are near some of their other venues If they do it could mean qdos names being stretched even more across the country, or new names being brought into the qdos fold from ffe I'm so surprised to hear that about FFE!! I thought they did really well with their pantos because they do them in some of their biggest venues in the U.K. (Bristol, Manchester, Wimbledon, Liverpool etc). Before the panto at the Palladium returned, Wimbledon was classed as the 'home of London pantomime' and they used to get quite big stars too. I can imagine they might've lost some of their audience to the palladium this year though. I've seen many of their Wimbledon productions and they are always of high value and standard. If FFE do stop then I doubt ATG would want Qdos to take over as they are their main and only real rival in terms of panto. It'll be interesting to see what happens as I was surprised none of the FFE venues have announced their 2017/18 panto yet as they usually have by the new year. Yes maybe some of the regular FFE panto stars will turn to Qdos now.
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Post by daniel on Jan 2, 2017 19:08:41 GMT
Okay so contrary to what I said last night, I've now been led to believe that Qdos have got the contract to produce panto next year in all 10 of ATG's venues currently with FFE pantos (Aylesbury, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Richmond, Stoke, Wimbledon and Woking).
Interesting times ahead in pantoland...
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2017 19:11:56 GMT
Okay so contrary to what I said last night, I've now been led to believe that Qdos have got the contract to produce panto in all 10 of ATG's venues currently with FFE pantos (Aylesbury, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Stoke, Wimbledon and Woking). Interesting time ahead in pantoland. Woah!! Thank you SO much for sharing that - I find this all very interesting. I'm so surprised to hear Qdos will be producing all 10 ATG venues and that FFE have gone bust - do you know why that is? I'm interested now to hear what celebrities they put in those venues and whether the celebrities will be FFE or Qdos stars. Qdos now are the main and only really big panto company in the UK now. Again thanks for sharing that, so so interested to see it all unfold
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Post by daniel on Jan 2, 2017 19:14:24 GMT
Okay so contrary to what I said last night, I've now been led to believe that Qdos have got the contract to produce panto in all 10 of ATG's venues currently with FFE pantos (Aylesbury, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Stoke, Wimbledon and Woking). Interesting time ahead in pantoland. Woah!! Thank you SO much for sharing that - I find this all very interesting. I'm so surprised to hear Qdos will be producing all 10 ATG venues and that FFE have gone bust - do you know why that is? I'm interested now to hear what celebrities they put in those venues and whether the celebrities will be FFE or Qdos stars. Qdos now are the main and only really big panto company in the UK now. Again thanks for sharing that, so so interested to see it all unfold That's all of the information that I have thus far - I believe an announcement is due shortly so perhaps that will explain a bit more. I would imagine that most of the FFE stars will carry on with Qdos, there are a few who may not if they've had a falling out with them, but I think to most people doing panto is doing panto.
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Post by Jon on Jan 2, 2017 19:20:17 GMT
Okay so contrary to what I said last night, I've now been led to believe that Qdos have got the contract to produce panto next year in all 10 of ATG's venues currently with FFE pantos (Aylesbury, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Richmond, Stoke, Wimbledon and Woking). Interesting times ahead in pantoland... FFE have had a good run but I guess it was no longer viable for ATG to continue it especially now they have new people in charge.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2017 19:21:27 GMT
FFE are/were part of ATG, if it was unprofitable as FFE i dont see why ATG would carry on with it under another name. best to cut their losses and get in people who are able to turn a profit.
It will be a strain for Qdos though, thats a lot of extra theatres to fill and FFE didn't exactly have a lot of big names, especially regular ones
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Post by Jon on Jan 2, 2017 19:30:18 GMT
FFE are/were part of ATG, if it was unprofitable as FFE i dont see why ATG would carry on with it under another name. best to cut their losses and get in people who are able to turn a profit. It will be a strain for Qdos though, thats a lot of extra theatres to fill and FFE didn't exactly have a lot of big names, especially regular ones Qdos used to produce the pantos for the ATG venues before First Family Entertainment was set up over a decade ago so I don't think it would a strain for them.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2017 21:09:07 GMT
I think the thing is that people wil expect a big line up this year too. The line up for the 2015/16 panto was really good with probably the biggest and best names appearing in panto this year. People will expect just as big names this year especially at the prices they charge. I mean for a family of 4, a stalls ticket costs £300
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Post by stevejohnson678 on Jan 2, 2017 21:29:20 GMT
The line up for the 2015/16 panto was really good with probably the biggest and best names appearing in panto this year. People will expect just as big names this year. Amanda Holden, Nigel Havers and Lee Mead - "the biggest and best names" - really?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2017 21:39:47 GMT
The line up for the 2015/16 panto was really good with probably the biggest and best names appearing in panto this year. People will expect just as big names this year. Amanda Holden, Nigel Havers and Lee Mead - "the biggest and best names" - really? If you compare Amanda Holden, Paul Zerdin, Paul O Grady, Julian Clary, Nigel Havers and Lee Mead are the biggest names COMPARED to other pantomimes across the country. No other panto has big names like that, whether you personally like the celebrities or not you cannot deny they are popular and big.
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Post by stevejohnson678 on Jan 3, 2017 10:04:17 GMT
Amanda Holden, Nigel Havers and Lee Mead - "the biggest and best names" - really? If you compare Amanda Holden, Paul Zerdin, Paul O Grady, Julian Clary, Nigel Havers and Lee Mead are the biggest names COMPARED to other pantomimes across the country. No other panto has big names like that, whether you personally like the celebrities or not you cannot deny they are popular and big. Isn't popularity subjective and a matter of perception though, George? It’s possible to detach my own personal opinion (not that I really have one, good or bad, on most of the Palladium cast). It’s really not cold hard fact that the individuals in question are popular. The same can be said of celebrity status. Apart from Paul O’Grady and Amanda Holden, the media profile of the rest of the Cinderella cast seems pretty much non-existent. Even the use of the word "celebrity" for some of them seems a stretch. For me, the only real difference between the Palladium panto cast and many high profile regional productions is that this year’s Palladium show features a greater number of names that people may recognise in a single production, whereas regional productions in the larger venues usually get only a couple of familiar faces in each. If we compare the Palladium’s production with Snow White at my local venue, the Liverpool Empire, for example, the latter has had Jorgie Porter in the title role this Christmas. Jorgie’s casting has got the production a fair amount of press coverage (rather bizarrely, what she’s wearing as she leaves stage door is deemed to be newsworthy), while she has an association with the city through her role in Hollyoaks and has also appeared in the likes of I’m A Celebrity and Dancing on Ice. I’m not saying that Jorgie’s casting was an incredible coup for the theatre but I don’t believe that taking any of the names from the Palladium production and adding them to the Empire‘s line-up in Jorgie's place would have triggered an uplift in ticket sales or press attention, with the possible exception of Paul O’Grady who would have gone down a storm in Liverpool (probably more so than any other city). Incidentally, the Empire has confirmed that Snow White has enjoyed record ticket sales and has been the most successful pantomime in its history so they must have got something right. Even without Nigel Havers! I expect that Dick Whittington at the Palladium will get the usual mix of well-known and fairly well-known faces in the principal roles, the vast majority of whom are equally as likely to be appearing in individual productions up and down the country. The idea that the Palladium has access to an extensive directory of so-called A-list celebrities, that other pantomimes can only dream of, really doesn’t stack up for me. We’ll have to agree to disagree!
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Post by daniel on Jan 10, 2017 14:29:39 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2017 16:13:42 GMT
No that's sure whether to be surprised or not because I have realised that the names at Wimbledon have declined in previous years, imo. Looking forward to seeing who Qdos put in their Wimbledon panto given the Palladium will still be their main one!! Hopefully we won't have to wait until October like we did with FFE for the last few years!!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2017 20:38:08 GMT
I find it weird that even know it's been confirmed Qdos will run all of FFE's previous venues, they still haven't announced this year's pantomimes for any of the venues. On Qdos' website there is the pantomimes for all their venues for this year (as well as some casting already!) so they will have to release the FFE venue pantomimes soon so people can start booking.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2017 18:41:36 GMT
I came up with some casting suggestions obviously based on if there was a DREAM budget. List goes from most wanted celeb downwards.
Fairy Bowbells - Kylie Minogue (wouldn't do it), Barbara Windsor (probably wouldn't do it), Fleur East, Emma Bunton, Pamela Anderson Queen Rat - Alesha Dixon, Mel B (Scary Spice) Dick - Duncan James Alice - Ashleigh and Pudsey Idle Jack - Bradley Walsh, Paul Zerdin
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Post by infofreako on Jan 13, 2017 20:44:18 GMT
Not sure much of that would take a dream budget and looks more like nightmare casting to me. Mel B wouldnt be averse to doing it though because she was down for the Wembley Arena panto last year before it got binned
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Post by infofreako on Jan 14, 2017 9:19:55 GMT
I must admit once the palladium confirmed last year i thought Wembley would struggle and clearly now palladium are doing dick whittington the wembley one going ahead this time was doomed
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Post by infofreako on Jan 14, 2017 9:35:04 GMT
Im surprised by that but stand corrected
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2017 19:10:49 GMT
Judging by Michael Harrison's tweets, I've got a horrible feeling that the Palladium will be home to The Krankies this Xmas! Please no!! I would hate for them to sell ticket sales off word of mouth from Cinderella and then not get huge celebrities like they did last yesr
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Post by wickedgrin on Jan 29, 2017 19:14:24 GMT
Well they did Dick Whittington with John Barrowman at Birmingham this season! I could not believe my eyes and ears. I posted my thoughts up the thread!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2017 19:18:37 GMT
Well they did Dick Whittington with John Barrowman at Birmingham this season! I could not believe my eyes and ears. I posted my thoughts up the thread! Critics didn't say it was the best. I really hope we don't get John Barrowmand, Krankies and Steve Macfadden! Please not after a great lineup last year!
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Post by stevejohnson678 on Jan 29, 2017 22:31:45 GMT
Judging by Michael Harrison's tweets, I've got a horrible feeling that the Palladium will be home to The Krankies this Xmas! Please no!! I would hate for them to sell ticket sales off word of mouth from Cinderella and then not get huge celebrities like they did last yesr You can't expect the Palladium to bag megastars like Nigel Havers every year.
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Post by wickedgrin on Jan 29, 2017 23:00:00 GMT
I do think the combination of Julian Clary and Paul O'Grady will take some equalling to be honest! I haven't laughed so much in ages!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2017 23:57:57 GMT
I'm not familiar with story or characters of Dick Whittington but any chance Julian Clary can come back? Pretty please!!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2017 0:45:46 GMT
I'm not familiar with story or characters of Dick Whittington but any chance Julian Clary can come back? Pretty please!! He has played 'The Spirit of the Bells' in Dick Whittington before (previously in Birmingham and Northampton), and even 'Chris the cat' in the 2002 ITV panto (check out the first part below). So yeah, it is possible for him to return in Dick Whittington.
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