Published: Monday, 18th January, 2010 12:22pm

Thanks for panto success

Liam Dolan, Adele Rankin, theatre manager Janice Gilmour and musical director Mark Edwards.

The cast and crew of the Palace Theatre's Christmas panto have sent out a big thank you to the people of East Ayrshire for making the show such a success.

Sleeping Beauty delighted and entertained thousands of people of all ages throughout its festive run, with plenty of laughs, singing and one particularly messy scene involving Nurse Nanny Nora!

The show which starred Liam Dolan as Josh the Jester, Brenda Cochrane as the evil fairy Carabosse and Adele Rankin as Sleeping Beauty, received rave reviews from critics and audiences alike and was the Palace's most successful panto ever selling a staggering 23,244 which is close to 90% capacity and beats the panto all time record of two years ago.

Liam Dolan returned to the Palace on Saturday 16th with his own variety show which he is launched at the theatre where his career began as a teenager. Theatre manager Janice Gilmour took the opportunity to present Liam who directed and starred in the Sleeping Beauty and Adele who appeared in the show with a bottle of champagne to thank them for their contribution to the continued success of the panto.

Liam said: "This year's show has been absolutely fantastic! I have loved every minute of it, both on stage and behind the scenes as director. We played to more than 23,000 people during the run which is phenomenal and I would like to say thank you to everyone who came to see us - we're glad you had as much fun as we did!"

Preparations for this year's Christmas panto have already started! Dick

Whittington will be coming to the Palace at the end of November for a five week run! Dick Whittington is promising to be full of adventure for the whole family, and the traditional tale will even have a special Scottish twist!

Tickets go on sale soon, so make sure you get yours early and get the best seats in the house!