THIS pantomime season produced record audiences at Blackburn and Darwen theatres and a major award for Burnley’s Christmas show.

Snow White at King George’s Hall, Blackburn, was the most successful panto there for more than 20 years. It brought in the highest box-office returns for a panto there. Audiences were up by 10.6 per cent on 2013’s Cinderella.

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Darwen Library Theatre’s production of Beauty And The Beast was the best-attended panto there for 11 years, also bringing in record box-office receipts.

Burnley Pantomime Society’s January run of Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs at Burnley Mechanics saw a 97 per cent average attendance — some performances sold out two months in advance. And it was named best pantomime in the North West at the National Operatic & Dramatic Association awards at the Dunkenhalgh Hotel, Clayton-le-Moors, on February 6.

The staging of The Sleeping Beauty — written, directed and produced by George Critchley for PMA Productions Ltd — at The Muni Theatre in Colne saw an increase in ticket sales compared to previous years.

Blackburn’s Thwaites Empire Theatre’s run of Jack And The Beanstalk by Pendle Productions recorded the second-best figures for a panto at the venue. Some 12,000 people went through the doors across 52 performances.

Oswaldtwistle Civic Theatre saw its season of Sleeping Beauty, by PMA Productions in association with Hyndburn Leisure, awarded four stars by The Stage magazine. Audience figures were on par with 2013.