Loughborough Town Hall postpones Christmas pantomime

Loughborough Town Hall has announced that this year’s Pantomime Aladdin will be postponed until Christmas 2021.

The Leicestershire venue, along with Little Wolf Entertainment, say they will now focus on making sure next year’s panto is bigger and better than ever.

Charnwood Borough Council, which operates Loughborough Town Hall, decided to postpone the panto due to the pandemic and uncertainty of when theatres will be able to host larger audiences and therefore make the show viable.

All ticket holders will be contacted by the venue’s Box Office team over the next few weeks, with customers able to transfer to next year’s date, receive a credit voucher or a refund.

Councillor Jenny Bokor, lead member for Loughborough, said: "This has been a difficult decision for all to take, but we feel it necessary given the uncertain environment with which theatres and producers are operating in at present.

"We also need to make the decision now as the panto takes many months to put together.

"We understand that this will be disappointing to our wonderful audiences who make a trip to the Loughborough pantomime a key part of their Christmas festivities every year, and hope they will join us next year for the magical trip to Nan-pan-tan-panto.

"Given the record-breaking success achieved last year, staff at the Town Hall and producers Little Wolf Entertainment are more determined than ever to bring Leicestershire audiences a truly magical show in 2021, keen to build on the momentum of last year’s Great British Pantomime Awards success and critical acclaim."

Alan Bowles and Morgan Brind, Producers at Little Wolf Entertainment said: "We are heartbroken to not be creating the usual Loughborough Panto magic this Christmas but we are passionate about the shows we make and it has become increasingly clear that we wouldn’t be able to safely present a show of our usual size and spectacle. We know our wonderful audiences will understand why we are taking the difficult decision to postpone.

"We’re working with the fantastic Town Hall team to ensure no one misses out and we hope audiences will choose to support the re-opening of live theatre by transferring existing bookings to an equivalent performance at the same price and the same seats.

"Our thanks go to the Town Hall team and Charnwood Borough Council who have been hugely supportive producing partners throughout this difficult time.

"And when all of this is behind us, one of our three wishes is going to be welcoming you back with an even bigger and better show than before. We hope you’ll agree that some things really are worth waiting for… Oh yes they are!"