Birmingham Hippodrome cancels Christmas programme and delays re-opening until 2021
Birmingham Hippodrome has cancelled its Christmas pantomime as it announced that theatre shows will be postponed until at least February 2021.
The theatre was due to show this year’s pantomime Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and an annual performance of The Nutcracker.
But bosses have said it is not “financially viable” to host productions on stage while social distancing is still in place.
In a statement, the theatre said: “After much discussion and heartache, we are saddened to announce that Birmingham Hippodrome will not be staging live theatre productions in our main auditorium until 1 February 2021 at the earliest.
“We have spoken at length with both Qdos Entertainment and Birmingham Royal Ballet, exploring various scenarios for this year’s pantomime, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and the annual performances of The Nutcracker. However, it is still not financially viable to host full-scale productions on our main auditorium stage while social distancing remains in place.
“We are delighted to confirm that both Jason Donovan and Matt Slack will still be joining the cast of Goldilocks and the Three Bears for its rescheduled dates over Christmas in 2021.”
The venue said its sales team will be contacting all ticket holders for both the pantomime and The Nutcracker, along with other affected productions over the coming weeks.
The news follows Birmingham Hippodrome’s announcement in June about redundancies, saying it had entered a period of consultation with staff after suffering from the “devastating” enforced closure brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
