PANTO stars will cash in on a £10million Christmas box office battle this year.
Behind the cross-dressing dames and slapstick comedy, there is now a serious scrap on to fill over 600,000 theatre seats across Scotland during the festive period.
And to tempt families through the doors, panto chiefs are stumping up Premiership footballer-style wages for big-name acts. Top of the league is Doctor Who and Torchwood hunk John Barrowman, who is rumoured to be on £35,000 per week.
He's followed by Mary Doll actress Elaine C Smith, who'll pick up around £22,000 per week. But with the industry on course to turn over nearly £10million in just one month, it's a price producers are willing to pay.
ALADDIN - John Barrowman: £35k a week
WHERE: Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow
WHEN: December 11 to January 9
CAPACITY: 3,000
NO OF PERFORMANCES: 46
NO OF TICKETS AVAILABLE: 138,000
AVERAGE TICKET PRICE: £18.25
POTENTIAL TAKINGS: £2.5million
STARS: John Barrowman, The Krankies
BATTLE lines were drawn when Aladdin announced it was entering the Scots panto wars.
Staging the UK's biggest pantomime is a hugely ambitious project - but John Barrowman and The Krankies might just pull it off.
Telly hunk Barrowman, 43, has vowed to ditch the Yankee drawl he picked up after emigrating when he returns to his home city in the lead role.
The Doctor Who and Torchwood actor will be Scotland's top-earning panto star on an incredible £30,000 per week. That will increase by an extra £5,000 per week if the show breaks through the £2million mark at the box office.
PREDICTION: The 'Armadillo' is a big barn to fill and parking costs a fortune at the SECC - but it could be the slickest panto in town.
(c)
получается что оно идет 4 полных недеди +2 предстовления (суббота и понедельник в начале и конце) ~ 140 000
25 вечеров, это 5 600 за день))))))))))) что-то мне подсказывает, что это не его предел. теже Travel awards наверняка стоили раза в 2-3 больше.
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2008 год до кризиса
TV entertainer John Barrowman will be taking home a merry pay packet when he plays Robin Hood in panto this Christmas - to the tune of an estimated £270,000 for a six-week run.
The star of BBC television's Torchwood and those mind-numbing musical casting shows on TV will command the record sum for 73 shows, often two a day, for £45,000 a week (which works out at more than £3,500 each time he steps on stage and slaps his thighs at the Birmingham Hippodrome).