Theater and club owners are sharing their joy at the return of mummering to Belfast, after dozens of shows and hundreds of tickets were canceled last year.
After a particularly difficult 18 months for theaters in Northern Ireland – due to Covid restrictions, capacity constraints and executive support – theater owners said they were happy to be able to get audiences back to their theatres. For many it has become a Christmas tradition.
The biggest mumming events in Northern Ireland this year include Goldilocks and Three Bears at the Grand Opera and Cinderella’s Waterfront Hall.
Managers of the two venues said the demand for tickets for these events was as strong, if not stronger, as it was before COVID-19.
Speaking on Belfast Live, Grand Opera House CEO Ian Wilson told us: “It’s great to be back on stage. In January 2020, we closed the door and started the €2.2 million recovery project.
“We were supposed to open last December with Goldilocks and Three Bears, but then Covid meant we couldn’t.
“Then we opened it about 20 months later, on October 6 of this year, and we were only able to do it when the director allowed theaters to open without social distancing. From a financial standpoint, social distancing meant that about 300 of the 1,000 jobs were going to work and that there was a need To 700 jobs just to make a profit, so we couldn’t work and there was a lot of uncertainty.
“We got news in September that we got the go-ahead to open without social distancing, and our first show was Six the Musical: This show sold out all locations.”
Since October, the Grand Opera House has returned with its coveted show program. Ian said that mummering always tops the biggest events of the year.
“Mime is very important to us, not only financially, but also historically. The Grand Opera opened on December 23, 1895, so we’ve been in the mummering business for about 125 years.”
When it started on November 27 — she played May McFatridge again and stole the show — Ian said there was a real furore while on vacation at the opera house.
Actors who are able to set up the show and let the audience see it are the best at this. Mime is many people’s first introduction to theater, a family event and a generational event. His return means a lot. You can see the admiration on the parents’ faces, the applause, the laughter, and the silence of the crowd attending a particularly tragic moment. This means it. To take back a lot.”
Marie Claire Caldwell, Head of Sales and Marketing at Waterfront Hall, noted that children and adults alike are thrilled to be back in mummering.
“It’s so amazing to see people come in,” he told us. “I went home and saw the kids come dressed as Cinderella – it warmed my cold heart.”
Marie Claire said she was grateful that this year’s Christmas was better than last and that places have overcome the uncertainty this year.
“Cinderella has been delayed since 2020, so we actually sold out tickets because people book early because it’s a family tradition. But around August, it was September when we wondered what was really going to happen. It’s more difficult in a fun environment. Once we heard That we could reopen, it was great. After that they were all systems. Go – Christmas is not canceled.”
Like pantomime for all ages, Waterfront was a hit with their 18+ show, Cinder On Tinder.
Marie Claire said: “We first prepared Bantu for adults in 2019 and the response has been amazing. This is something a little different and very common. It’s very closely related, so in language and very different from the usual Bantu, we’ve discovered that the audience really likes it.”
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Source: Belfastlive
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