Swansea Grand Theatre has welcomed more than 33,000 visitors during the last couple of months, enticed by the venue’s 2022-23 pantomime, Beauty and the Beast.
The production was so popular that ticket sales have broken previous records, and a number of customers watched the performance more than once.
Visitors also helped to raise £18,473.21 (€21,000/$23,000) in collections for the ‘Everyone Deserves A Christmas’ campaign. The donations collected at the performances were used to provide hampers for families in need during the festive period.
The campaign was created by Swansea East Member of Parliament (MP) Carolyn Harris, Member of the Senedd (MS) Julie James, Jeremy Miles MS and Stephen Kinnock MP to donate hampers to those across the Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Aberavon areas in Wales.
As they take to the stage for the final time in Beauty and the Beast at Swansea Grand a big thank you to everyone involved in this production and for making our first year here a huge success! #swanseapanto @SwanseaGrand pic.twitter.com/bTRQHLfPqh
— Imagine Theatre (@Imagine_Theatre) January 15, 2023
Some 800 hampers were donated to families nominated by local primary schools and social services in the run up to Christmas.
Swansea Grand Theatre manager Grant McFarlane told South Wales Life: “This has been a fantastic result for the theatre. Box office has broken previous records and the advance sales for our next panto, Cinderella, have exceeded our expectations.
“Notably this year, the feedback we’ve received has been overwhelmingly positive and we have seen large numbers of returning customers watching the show twice or more. It’s really encouraging that the popularity of panto continues to grow.”