Chuckle Brothers return for panto season

Last year’s panto Cinderella, which also starred the Chuckle Brothers, set a new record for the theatre, with the highest ever total net box office figures for a pantomime at the venue.

City venues, Hull New Theatre, Hull City Hall and Hull Arena have suffered from falling ticket sales - according to Hull Council, the first quarter is showing a “slight” decline over last year.

But launching the autumn/winter programme yesterday, general manager Janice Wincott said they expected final year-end figures to show an increase: “We know we are in a challenging economic climate but at the end of the day customers will spend money on products they want to see and we have an extremely strong programme in place. There is something for everyone.”

Mrs Wincott added: “Chuckle Brothers are back by popular demand. They have got that family friendly visual slapstick humour and are just well loved by audiences in this region. We are expecting it to be a really good panto season again.”

New Theatre will be hosting West End hits Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express and Grease.

John Godber’s Bouncers will be coming to the venue in October with a cast including Ace Bhatti who plays Yusef Khan in EastEnders, and EastEnders and Coronation Street star Ian Reddington.

The celebrated Ealing comedy Ladykillers arrives in February following a critically acclaimed and sell-out West End season. City Hall will also host some of comedy’s top stars, including Dara O’Briain, Frankie Boyle and Jimmy Carr. It also sees the return of Winmau World Darts Masters as well top class international table tennis, England v Romania. An Ed Sheeran concert at the Arena in November sold out it immediately went on sale.