Shows

19th November - Cliffs Pavilion Panto Train

The Cliffs Pavilion ran a special panto train on the Liverpool Street/Southend Victoria line, on the morning of Saturday 19^th November! It was the same day as the Southend Christmas Lights switch on. In exchange for some great publicity for our Dixon Shows in February, we were asked to provide some magical entertainment on board. So Leon, Adrian, Don, Doug and Ray, along with several staff from the Cliffs Pavilion and Widow Twanky from the panto, duly climbed aboard the 09.37 train from Southend Victoria for a direct non-stop trip to Liverpool Street.

As the train sped to London, the Cliffs staff decorated the carriages to make them themed with the Panto Aladdin. Then after stopping briefly at Liverpool Street, we started our homeward journey stopping off at various stations to pick up passengers. With an eight carriage train our members spread themselves out so as to cope with the rush.

Unfortunately, in spite of two or three half page adverts in the Evening Echo and thousands of emails to their customer base, Emma from the Cliffs Pavilion’s marketing team was disappointed (as were we) that passenger numbers were well down on last year’s venture. As a result we didn’t have much work to do, but those we did entertain were delighted. It certainly felt like the fastest trip from London to Southend I’ve ever taken.

Thanks to all our members who gave up their precious time to help out – if nothing else it was good for us to meet up for a laugh!