Beauty and the Beast summer pantomime at Whitley Bay Playhouse

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A pantomime in the summer? Oh yes there is! 

Once again Reece Sibbald productions is back at Whitley Bay Playhouse in North Tyneside with a summer panto. Now I know what your thinking pantos are for Christmas, well they are just as much fun in the summer and are definitely not just for Christmas. 

This years production was Beauty and the Beast staring popular regular cast members Reece Sibbald, Cal Halbert and Pippa Smith alongside Ryan Hill as the beast, Leah Cook as Belle and Phil Dixon as Dame Dotty. This year they had a special guest Jamie and Chuck from Britain's Got Talent. 

The show was running from the 3rd to 7th of August 2022 so you have probably missed out on seeing it this year as today is the last day. Hopefully they will be doing another summer panto next year so you can grab some tickets as we have watched the summer panto a few times before. 

What We Thought

My children are 7 and 9 and honestly I have never heard them laugh so much at a show as I heard them at this. They laughed non-stop from start to finish. Beauty and the Beast was everything that you want from a panto it was silly, fun, upbeat and entertaining. 

The costumes were fab, music choices and singing was brilliant and there was tons of jokes (half of which went over the kids heads) and plenty of slapstick humour. Expect silly rhymes, water guns (yes we did get wet), music, laughter, jokes and dancing. 

The children dancing in the show were dead canny and all had big smiles on their faces, especially the boy dancer who everyone around us commented had the biggest most infectious smile on his face. 

Jamie and Chuck were also a great addition to the cast and both my children loved him, he is brilliant at what he does and made everyone laugh. 

Need To Know

The summer panto was located at Whitley Bay Playhouse, which is close to the beach and town centre. There is a car park outside or a one near the beach, there are bus stops near by and the metro station is in the town centre - making it really easy to get too. We love the Whitley Bay Playhouse as I don't think there is a bad seat in the house - they all have great views, are comfy and have plenty of legroom. 

Door's opened an hour before the performance and the bar area was opening selling drinks and snacks. We got a coke which was £2, all drinks are in plastic glasses. The merch stand was open and the prices were really reasonable a programme was £4, poster was £1, badge was £1.50 and a light up toy was £6. 

The show ran for about 2 hours with a short interval. I also really liked that at the end some of the cast - Reece, Cal and Jamie and Chuck came out to the foyer and got a photograph with the audience as they left. 

Final Thoughts

Once again Reece Sibbald products have pulled it out the bag and delivered a hilarious summer pantomime. The show gets a big thumbs up from us as I genuinely have never heard my children laugh as loud as they did watching this. Keep an eye on the Reece Sibbald website and social media channels for future events. They have already announced they will be doing a Christmas pantomime production of Cinderella at Stanley Civic Hall this December - if your local I 100% recommend you get tickets.