PANTO season is almost over and theatres in south Essex have lots to celebrate following a very successful Christmas period.

Southend’s Cliffs Pavilion is anticipating a record-breaking end to their Christmas production of Jack and the Beanstalk, which contained a star-studded cast including Holby City’s Lee Mead, former X Factor star Stacey Solomon, Bobby Davro and Robin Askwith.

During the short run through Christmas, the theatre opened its doors to a huge 50,000 audience members.

This weekend is the final opportunity for families to see the show at the Station Road theatre.

Speaking about the success of this year’s pantomime, Paul Driscoll, marketing manager for the Cliffs Pavilion, said: “The Cliffs Pavilion is having a tremendous panto season with more than 50,000 people having already seen our production of Jack and the Beanstalk, which doesn’t actually finish until this Sunday.

“We’re well on the way to hitting our target and this is due, in no small way, to the incredibly enthusiastic response from critics and public alike.

“Lee Mead, Stacey Solomon, Bobby Davro, Robin Askwith and the rest of the cast have been delighting audiences, with social media comments such as ‘best panto in years’, ‘we haven’t laughed that much in years’, ‘unmissable Christmas panto fun’, ‘a fab first family panto’ and ‘definitely the best panto ever!’

“They matched up well with the professional reviewers’ opinions such as the Echo’s own ‘Go and take your kids to see it if you possibly can!’

“With two performances each day until it finishes on Sunday evening, it certainly looks as though we’ll be close to, or even break the record for a three-week run!”

Towngate Theatre in St Martin’s Square, Basildon has also enjoyed a very successful season, taking Disney’s beloved 1992 cartoon, Aladdin, to the big stage.

The show which ended its successful run on Tuesday night was heaped with praise throughout December.

Our What’s On reviewer, Kloe Hackett, hailed the production as a being full of side-splitting humour, flawless choreography and jaw-dropping special effects.

She also praised Sophie Ladds, the panto’s baddie, Aunty Banazar, for her banter and versatility during the show.

The production received top billing from The Stage magazine.

In the review, the pantomime was described as being “one of the highlights of the Christmas season” and Sophie was praised as being “arguably one of the best female villains in the business.”

Among the special performances from throughout Christmas, the theatre played host to 300 children for an exclusive night in support of Autism Got Talent.

Contestants in the competition which included children with different learning difficulties and autism, were welcomed to enjoy the show for completely free.

The Cliffs is already in planning for next year’s production, with it said that tickets are already selling fast.

Going by the huge success of this year’s pantos, the Basildon and Southend theatres may have to be “must sees” during 2018’s festive season.