Derby's annual panto is to return in 2015—and it will be staged in the city's new arena on Pride Park.
The 2014 panto, Beauty and the Beast, was called off after a fire devastated Derby's Assembly Rooms in March. The city council has yet to make a decision about the building’s future.
Now the authority has announced that its entertainments arm Derby LIVE and Paul Holman Associates will present Aladdin at the city’s £28 million, 5,000-seat velodrome and arena which is expected to open in January 2015.
Councillor Alison Martin, cabinet member for leisure and culture, said, “we’re really pleased to be able to confirm the return of the pantomime, the city’s largest annual cultural event. I’m sure the move to the arena stage will make Aladdin our most spectacular pantomime yet.”
The council estimates the cost of the fire and lost revenue at the Assembly Rooms is £5.5 million.
Meanwhile, Derby's Civic Society has called on the city council to be more transparent in its Assembly Rooms decision-making.
The society’s chairman Alan Grimadell said, “nine months have passed and we’re hearing very little. The council’s struggling to find an answer.
“There should be transparency, openness and communication between the city council and the general public. I think the communication has been non-existent.”
Councillor Martin said the authority had nothing to hide. “It’s basically a process of having to make the right decisions as to what represents value for money in the long term.”
The authority is expected to reveal in March whether the Assembly Rooms will be refurbished or demolished.