LIVERPOOL’S EPSTEIN THEATRE
REOPENS THIS CHRISTMAS WITH
PANTO BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
FAMILY FAVOURITE SHOW WILL FEATURE WEST END AND
TV STAR BEN RICHARDS IN LEAD ROLE OF GASTON
The Epstein Theatre in Liverpool reopens this December with family favourite pantomime Beauty And The Beast.
Actor Ben Richards – well-known for his West End appearances and television roles including Hollyoaks, Footballers Wives, Holby City and The Bill – will appear in the lead role of Gaston. The full cast will be announced shortly.
Beauty And The Beast runs at The Epstein Theatre from Thursday 16 December 2021 and Sunday 9 January 2022. Tickets are priced from £15 and are on sale now.
Please note, there are no performances on Christmas Day (Saturday 25 December), Wednesday 5 January, or Thursday 6 January 2022.
The pantomime is the first live performances in the city centre venue since it closed its doors in March 2020 as part of the Government national Covid-19 lockdown.
The show announcement comes in the same week that it was revealed the Hanover Street venue has a new management team at the helm – Epstein Entertainments Ltd is a joint venture between Liverpool producers Bill Elms, Chantelle Nolan and Jane Joseph.
The theatre will retain the same name and continue to run as a variety venue with a mixed programme of entertainment.
Beauty And The Beast is sure to wow this Christmastime with a tale of love and kindness. Audiences will go on an exciting adventure during the family friendly pantomime. This is the timeless story of Belle, a beautiful young woman who falls in love with the most unexpected of princes, who has been cursed to look like a hideous beast. Will the Beast learn to love and be loved? Will the spell be broken in time for all to live happily ever after?
Ben Richards will lead a talented cast of performers. Ben is a successful West End leading man and television and film actor. His extensive theatre career includes the roles of Kenickie in the original West End cast of Grease; Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever at the London Palladium; Skye Masterson in Guys And Dolls, for which he was nominated for a TMA Award for Best Actor In A Musical; Tick/Mitzi in Priscilla Queen Of The Desert at London’s Palace Theatre; Franklyn Hart in the original UK production of 9 To 5 The Musical; and the UK tour of Rock Of Ages playing Stacee Jaxx. His most recent theatre performance was opposite Beverley Knight in The Bodyguard at the Dominion Theatre, London.
His film credits include Relationships (pilot); Monsoon Tide; Bring Me The Head Of Mavis Davis; and Julie And The Cadillacs. Ben is probably best known for his regular television roles in Footballers’ Wives, The Bill, and Hollyoaks.
Actor Ben Richards commented:“I am really pleased to be back on stage in Liverpool, and looking forward to a great panto run to mark the exciting reopening of The Epstein Theatre.”
The new Epstein Entertainments Ltd management team are Bill Elms, Artistic and Communications Director; Chantelle Nolan, Artistic and Operations Director; and Regal Entertainments Ltd Company Director Jane Joseph.
Beauty And The Beast will be directed by Jane Joseph and produced by Regal Entertainments Ltd. The full creative team will be announced in the coming weeks.
Regal Entertainments Ltd Company Director Jane Joseph added: “This is a very exciting time – a long awaited return to a stunning venue with a fabulous history. In 1994 I produced my very first professional panto in what was then The Neptune, now in 2021 I’m bringing live family entertainment back to the Epstein stage. It’s special to be reopening The Epstein with Beauty And The Beast, a lavish and warm production – what our shows are all about.”
For more details check out www.epsteintheatre.co.uk and join the theatre’s mailing list. Follow the venue on Facebook www.facebook.com/EpsteinTheatre and Twitter @EpsteinTheatre
SHOW LISTINGS
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST presented by Regal Entertainments Ltd
Thursday 16 December 2021 – Sunday 9 January 2022
The Epstein Theatre
85 Hanover Street, Liverpool, L1 3DZ
Tickets from £15
HOW TO BOOK
Book online: www.epsteintheatre.co.uk
Telephone bookings: 0844 888 9991 (calls cost 7p per minute plus your phone company’s access charge)
Group and school bookings are available by calling 0844 888 9991 (calls cost 7p per minute plus your phone company’s access charge)
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
Thursday 16 December – 10.30am / 6pm
Friday 17 December – 10.30am / 7pm
Saturday 18 December – 10am / 2pm / 6pm
Sunday 19 December – 10am / 2pm / 6pm
Monday 20 December – 10.30am / 6pm
Tuesday 21 December – 10.30am / 6pm
Wednesday 22 December – 6pm
Thursday 23 December – 1pm / 6pm
Friday 24 December – 9am / 1.30pm / 6pm
Sunday 26 December – 1pm / 6pm
Monday 27 December – 1pm / 6pm
Tuesday 28 December – 1pm / 6pm
Wednesday 29 December – 1pm / 6pm
Thursday 30 December – 1pm
Friday 31 December – 1pm
Saturday 1 January – 10am / 2pm / 6pm
Sunday 2 January – 10am / 2pm / 6pm
Monday 3 January – 1pm / 6pm
Tuesday 4 January – 1pm / 6pm
Friday 7 January – 6pm
Saturday 8 January – 10am / 2pm / 6pm
Sunday 9 January – 1pm / 6pm