King's Theatre Pantomime

King's Theatre Pantomime

The annual pantomime at the King's has been running since 1971. Before that a few pantomimes were staged from 1963/64 after Glasgow Corporation bought the theatre from Howard & Wyndham Ltd. Pantomime in Scotland has always been popular, particularly in Glasgow, and there has been a long tradition developed from the 1860s. From the 1970s pantomime productions for the King's were funded jointly by the City Councils of Glasgow and Edinburgh and staged in both cities. Stanley Baxter one of Britain's top pantomime dames performed at the King's in the 1980s in Cinderella, written and directed by him. The management asked him to bring back the same production the following year. He refused, but said 'maybe in eight or ten years.' He kept his promise and returned for his final pantomime appearance in 1991. In 2005, the company First Family Entertainment took over production of the annual pantomime, and First Family Entertainment are now responsible for a dozen productions up and down the country. The current productions run during the festive period until mid January, totalling over 70 performances during the run, with two performances daily, six days a week.

Gerard Kelly was for 20 years a regular performer at the King's Theatre pantomimes, every year taking up the lead comic role. Elaine C Smith appeared regularly between 1996 to 2005, however has since taken a break and in recent years has been involved as an Associate Producer. During her time starring in the pantomimes, she often took on the role of dame, making the King's Theatre production somewhat unique, with a female playing the dame role, which is traditionally played by a man.

After Kelly's death in 2010, Karen Dunbar has taken on the lead comic role: Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, Widow Twankey in Aladdin and The Nanny in Sleeping Beauty