Stafford Gatehouse Theatre has announced that the 2023 pantomime Beauty and the Beast was the theatre's best-attended pantomime ever, with more than 18,000 people seeing the show over the festive period.

The production, starring CBBC’s Mark Rhodes, as well as family favourites Theo The
Mouse and Wink Taylor from The Sooty Show, earned rave reviews from critics and audiences alike.
Theatre-goers described it as ‘a fantastic fun night out’ and ‘the best panto ever’, while critics gave it
several five-star reviews and bloggers rated it as ‘absolutely brilliant’.

The show was produced by top pantomime production company Imagine Theatre and the
attendance was more than 1,500 up on last year’s Cinderella, which had previously set new sales
records.

Gatehouse General Manager Gary Stevens said: "We’re absolutely delighted to see so many people
come and have a great time at our panto.

It’s a real family occasion and a trip to the Gatehouse is becoming a festive tradition now for many
people.

Towards the end of the run, we were absolutely sold out and some people were even coming back
to see the show twice!

Incredibly, we’ve already sold almost 2,000 tickets for Jack and The Beanstalk later this year and
our message to people is to book early to avoid disappointment."

Freedom Leisure, one of the UK’s leading charitable and not-for-profit leisure trusts, manages the
Gatehouse on behalf of the Stafford Borough Council. Freedom Leisure’s Area Manager for Stafford,

Liz Hulse said: "It’s fantastic to see so many people coming to the panto in Stafford – the numbers go
up every year and the feedback we get is amazing. It’s a real community event.

‘It was a great year for the Gatehouse and the success of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST rounded it off
perfectly. Now we can’t wait to do it all again over the next 12 months!"