Vokins & Big Brand Beds Sponsor Pantomimes

vokins@home, the well known Sussex based retailer of beds, mattresses, duvets, quilts and pillows are thrilled to be sponsoring the Christmas Pantomime, Aladdin at the Theatre Royal, Brighton this year. This is the very first time the historic Theatre Royal has had a sponsor for a show.

The first stage version of Aladdin was seen in London’s Covent Garden in 1788. This was followed by a comedy musical version of the tale in 1813 starring the famous English clown Joseph Grimaldi. At the time people in Britain were fascinated by China and the Orient and as a result, the story of Aladdin developed into a far more Chinese tale than the original and has remained that way ever since.

Aladdin stars Kevin Kennedy who for many years played the lovable Norman ‘Curly’ Watts in Coronation Street. Initially he was signed for 3 episodes, but was such a hit with the viewers that he stayed on the Street for 21 years.

We got to meet Kevin and the cast at the press launch. He was great company and we sat talking about his first love, football and in particular Manchester City.  I thought this could be an in to supplying them with beds, mattresses, duvets, pillows and bedding as we already supply a lot of the Brighton & Hove Albion players.

The Theatre Royal, Brighton have been wonderful to work with and everyone working for vokins@home has been to the pantomime and had the opportunity to meet the cast and have photos taken with them.

Make sure you visit the show which runs from 11th December 2003 to 18th January 2004 and watch out for the very special offers coming through the post from vokins@home.

vokins@home looks forward to working with everyone at the Theatre Royal for many years to come.
 

The Vokins family have been retailing in Sussex since 1882 and last year the company, vokins@home, who sell beds, bed frames, mattresses, duvets, quilts, pillows and more, took their first steps into sponsoring the annual Christmas Pantomime at the Theatre Royal, Brighton. You’ll see why I used the expression steps later in the article.

Running from 9th December 2004 through to 16 January 2005 the story of Dick Whittington will be performed and if it is anywhere as good as Aladdin last year, we are in for a real treat.

The first recorded pantomime version of the story of Dick Whittington was in 1814 and starred Joseph Grimaldi as Dame Cecily Suet, the Cook.  The story tells of a poor boy in the 14th century who becomes a wealthy merchant and eventually becomes the Lord Mayor of London because of the ratting abilities of his cat.

Dick Whittington stars “H” from the successful band Steps. Ian ‘H’ Watkins was one of 5 members of the band formed in 1997 that has gone on to sell over 20 million records. The cover version of the Bee Gees “Tragedy” was paired with an original track “Heartbeat” and became Steps signature tune.

As with last year we got to meet the star of the show, “H” at the press release. He also joined everyone that works for vokins@home on an evening out and signed autographs and had photos taken with everyone.

This year we have a great offer for all vokins@home customers, the chance to buy 2 pantomime tickets for the price of one. So if you haven’t been to see a pantomime for years, now is the time with this outstanding offer.

Read what the Brighton Argus think of Dick Whittington

For the third year running vokins@home, purveyors of fine beds, mattresses, bedding, quilts, duvets, pillows and all things for the home are proud to be associated with the pantomime being staged at the Theatre Royal, Brighton.

This year, Jack and the Beanstalk is the show that will entertain you and to celebrate our sponsorship, our customers will be receiving through the post an exclusive 2 for the price of 1 offer when buying tickets for any performances on and between 8th – 16th December and 10th – 15th January 2006. They will also receive a very special discount on purchases of beds, mattresses, bed frames, duvets, quilts, linens, bedding, furniture and more made in any of our stores for a limited period. Full details will be in amailing coming to you soon.

Jack and the Beanstalk is an English folktale about a young lad living with his widowed mother. Their only means of income is a cow and when the cow stops milking, Jack is sent to the market to sell her. On the way to the market he meets an old man who offers to give him "magic" beans in exchange for the cow and the rest is pure pantomime.

This year’s star is Twiggy who became internationally known as the world's first supermodel. Born Lesley Hornby, her waif like figure, boyish hair cut and striking eye lashes she created an image that would epitomise an era. Twiggy became the idol for millions of teenage girls of the sixties revolution.

Twiggy was carefully guarded by her Manager/Husband so the vokins@home team had little access to her, unlike the time we had with Curly Watts and H from Steps.

Read the Argus review of Jack and the Beanstalk