First Family Entertainment
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First Family Entertainment is an entertainment group specialising in pantomime and other family theatre entertainment, announced the formation in January 2005 as a joint venture between the producers David Ian for Live Nation and Howard Panter for the Ambassador Theatre Group. First Family Entertainment is funded and supported by Live Nation and the Ambassador Theatre Group.[1]
Their pantomimes follow the traditional mould, but they claim to use only genuine star performers rather than the more usual B and C list pantomime stalwarts. They have criticised other companies for bringing the pantomime form into disrepute, but there is little evidence to support such an assertion. FFE produced eight of the 250 or so commercially produced pantomimes in the UK in the 2005-2006 season. Pantomime is an important source of revenue for provincial British theatres.
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[edit] Cast List
2005
- Susan Hampshire
- Richard Wilson
- Simon Callow
- Richard O'Brien
- Stephen Gately
- Jonathan Wilkes
- Caprice
- Patsy Kensit
- Twiggy
- Bobby Davro
- John Rhys Davies
- Toyah Willcox
- John Barrowman
- Kym Marsh
- Simon Shepherd
- Christopher Biggins
- Warwick Davies
- Gerard Kelly
- Jonathan Watson
2006
- Patrick Duffy
- Bobby Davro
- Aled Jones
- John Challis
- Sue Holderness
- John Savident
- Suranne Jones
- Warwick Davies
- Kacey Ainsworth
- Bradley Walsh
- Jeff Hordley
- Vicky Entwhistle
- Stephen Mulhern
- Gerard Kelly
- Eric Potts
[edit] 2006 Productions
9 productions are planned for 2006 with the addition of the Manchester Opera House as a venue. Pantomimes at the Opera House have previously been produced by Effective Productions and more recently Qdos Entertainment.
The list of productions is as follows:
- Theatre Royal, Brighton - Aladdin
- Churchill Theatre, Bromley - Mother Goose
- Kings Theatre, Glasgow - Aladdin
- Manchester Opera House - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
- Milton Keynes Theatre - Cinderella
- Richmond Theatre - Jack and the Beanstalk
- Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent - Aladdin
- New Wimbledon Theatre - Peter Pan
- New Victoria Theatre, Woking - Cinderella
[edit] 2007 Productions
10 productions are planned for 2007 with the addition of the Sunderland Empire, owned by Live Nation.
The list of productions is as follows:
- Theatre Royal, Brighton - Cinderella
- Churchill Theatre, Bromley - Peter Pan
- Kings Theatre, Glasgow - Sleeping Beauty
- Manchester Opera House - Cinderella
- Milton Keynes Theatre - Aladdin
- Richmond Theatre - Cinderella
- Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent - Cinderella
- Sunderland Empire Theatre - Cinderella
- New Wimbledon Theatre - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
- New Victoria Theatre, Woking - Peter Pan
[edit] 2008 Productions
The 2008/2009 season will see the Bristol Hippodrome and Liverpool Empire added to the company's network of Christmas pantomimes.
[edit] Sources
- Press release announcing FFE
- Private Eye, issue 1148
- [1] Pantomime diary.
[edit] Disambiguation
First Family Entertainment, not affiliated with the pantomime group, formed in 2004, to produce DVDs among other media forms for family-based audiences. The company is headed by Dean Valentine, formerly CEO of UPN and president of Walt Disney Television and Walt Disney Television Animation; Richard Cohen, former president of MGM Home Entertainment and Nicholas Van Dyk, former executive VP and chief strategic officer of Artisan Entertainment.[2]
[edit] References
Official website - http://www.ffe-uk.com
