THESE are the ticket sale figures which York Theatre Royal has used to justify its decision not to renew the contracts of panto stars Suzy Cooper, Martin Barrass, David Leonard and AJ Powell.
Executive director Tom Bird said on Monday that tickets sales for it traditional panto were 'collapsing before our eyes.'
He said only 30,000 tickets had been sold for this year’s panto Sleeping Beauty - in which Berwick does not appear- compared with almost 55,000 for Dick Turpin in 2008, and although 49,000 tickets were sold last year, he said that was because sales were up for Berwick’s final shows before retiring and there had been a 'steady decline followed by a collapse.'
But former panto dame Berwick Kaler said any reduction was due to reductions in seat numbers, 'ridiculous' prices and a decision not to sell gallery seats until others had been sold, and called for the 'collapse' claims to be backed up.
Now the theatre has responded by The Press to a request for details of annual ticket sales by providing the stats for the last 13 years, which it said showed a steady decline in most years:
Sinbad the Sailor (2007):50,539
Dick Turpin (2008):54,190
Humpty Dumpty (2009):53,526
Jack and the Beanstalk (2010):53,113
York Family Robinson (2011):49,196
Robin Hood and his Merry Mam (2012):48,152
Aladdin and the Twankeys (2013):47,419
Old Mother Goose (2014):48,151
Dick Whittington and his Meerkat (2015):46,921
Cinderella (2016):44,677
Jack and the Beanstalk (2017):42,153
The Grand Old Dame of York (BK 40th and final year as dame):(2018) 49,422
Sleeping Beauty (2019):30,580 To date
The figures seem likely to provoke further debate on a heated topic, which has seen vociferous opposition's to the theatre's decision from many panto fans.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel