Full pantomime line-ups at Telford and Shrewsbury: It's that time of year – oh yes it is
It may be the stars of the show who get to revel in the limelight, but pantomimes are a real team effort.
After intense rehearsals, actors, backstage crew members and dancers of Shropshire's two major pantomimes came together to celebrate their work.
And so far it couldn't be going any better for the team behind Snow White at Oakengates Theatre in Telford or Dick Whittington at Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury.
Debbie King, theatre and programming manager at Oakengates, said: "It is a fantastic time at the theatre and involves an awful lot of effort from many different teams – actors in the cast, front house, stage crew, dancers, the marketing team.
"It really brings all teams together for such a fabulous wonderful show. We are thrilled that we have already beaten our targets and have our first main sponsor with Ssang Yong and Shukers in Telford this year. So we have been very lucky.
"We have had such a good response already with lots of shows still to go."
Mrs King added: "The cast and crew and staff are all having a really incredible time and that works really well on and off stage when everyone gets on like one big family."
The show runs until January 3. For more information visit theplacetelford.com
Meanwhile, Theatre Severn's production of Dick Whittington has been entertaining audiences since the start of the month.
The production stars BBC Radio Shropshire's Eric Smith, who will be performing in his 14th pantomime in the town and was written by Telford-born Paul Hendy.
Craig Reeves, marketing manager at Theatre Severn, said: "We are about halfway through our run now, and it is going brilliantly.
"We have 65 performances in total and the audience is loving it. We have had fantastic feedback with some people saying it has been the best one ever which is great to hear."
Mr Reeves added that preparations had been ongoing for the past 12 months with plans for next year already under way.
He said: "It really is a year-long operation. We already have things going on for next year's which will be Cinderella."
Dick Whittington runs until January 10.
