Type | Limited |
---|---|
Industry | Entertainment |
Founded | 1999 |
Defunct | 2021 |
Headquarters | Scarborough |
Key people | Nick Thomas MBE |
Website | qdosentertainment.co.uk |
Qdos Entertainment was one of the largest entertainment groups in Europe.
Qdos Entertainment was the world's largest pantomime producer, [1] having produced over 700 productions since it started.
In 2017, [2] Qdos Entertainment confirmed it produce pantomimes for ATG venues (previously produced by First Family Entertainment) from the 2017–2018 season; at its peak it produced 35 pantomimes a year.
In 2020, due to COVID-19, Qdos Entertainment ran a reduced number of pantomimes, [3] with the support of The National Lottery.
In 2021, Qdos' pantomime division was bought by Crossroads Pantomimes.
The business owns and manages the award-winning [4] Copper Horse Restaurant & Cottages at Seamer near Scarborough, The Mayfield Hotel in Seamer, [5] The Plough Inn in Scalby in North Yorkshire and The Yew Tree Cafe also in Scalby plus other accommodation properties totaling over 50 bedrooms.
In April 2014, the TED Group, which was part of the Qdos Entertainment Group, was sold through a Management buy out. [6]
Scarborough is a seaside town in the Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Scarborough is located on the North Sea coastline. Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town lies between 10 and 230 feet above sea level, from the harbour rising steeply north and west towards limestone cliffs. The older part of the town lies around the harbour and is protected by a rocky headland.
The Gaiety Theatre is a theatre on South King Street in Dublin, Ireland, off Grafton Street and close to St. Stephen's Green. It specialises in operatic and musical productions, with occasional dramatic shows.
Craig Revel Horwood is an Australian-British author, dancer, choreographer, conductor, theatre director, and former drag queen in the United Kingdom. He is also a patron of the Royal Osteoporosis Society.
Scarborough and Whitby is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Robert Goodwill, a Conservative.
Pantomime is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and in other English-speaking countries, especially during the Christmas and New Year season. Modern pantomime includes songs, gags, slapstick comedy and dancing. It employs gender-crossing actors and combines topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or folk tale. Pantomime is a participatory form of theatre, in which the audience is encouraged and expected to sing along with certain parts of the music and shout out phrases to the performers.
First Family Entertainment was an entertainment group specialising in pantomime and other family theatre entertainment, formed in January 2005 as a joint venture between the producers David Ian for Live Nation and Howard Panter for the Ambassador Theatre Group.
Berwick Kaler is a British actor most famous for playing the dame in York Theatre Royal's annual pantomime, which he also wrote and directed. He has been awarded the freedom of the city, and in 2002 received an honorary degree from the University of York. Having grown up in "the slums of Sunderland", Kaler left school at 15 to seek success on the London stage. He got taken on at Dreamland in Margate to learn his trade. He has had TV roles in such shows as The New Statesman, Crocodile Shoes, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Spender as well as steady theatre work. However, it is his role in the York pantomime that has won him the most acclaim.
The Churchill Theatre in Bromley, southeast London was built by the London Borough of Bromley to designs by its borough architect's department. The Churchill is an example of a repertory theatre built in the style of European opera houses, with a large stage and sub-stage workshops. Integrated into the central library complex overlooking Church House Gardens and Library Gardens, it was built on the side of a hill, disguising the number and size of the lower levels and giving the impression of being smaller by setting the auditorium below ground level which is entered by descending staircases from the foyer.
The Marlowe Theatre is a 1,200-seat theatre in Canterbury named after playwright Christopher Marlowe, who was born and attended school in the city. It was named a Stage Awards, 2022 UK Theatre of the Year.
York Theatre Royal is a theatre in St Leonard's Place, in York, England, which dates back to 1744. The theatre currently seats 750 people. Whilst the theatre is traditionally a proscenium theatre, it was reconfigured for a season in 2011 to offer productions in-the-round. The theatre puts on many of its own productions, as well as hosting touring companies, one of which is Pilot Theatre, a national touring company which often co-produces its work with the theatre. Additionally the main stage and studio are regularly used by local amateur dramatic and operatic societies. York Theatre Royal was one of the co-producers of the historic York Mystery Plays 2012 which were staged in York Museum Gardens between 2–27 August. The theatre reopened on Friday 22 April 2016 following a £6million redevelopment, with a new roof, an extended and re-modelled front of house area, a refurbished and redecorated main auditorium and with major improvements to access and environmental impact.
The Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) is a major international theatre organisation headquartered in the United Kingdom, with offices in Woking, London, New York, Sydney, Mannheim and Cologne. ATG's key operations comprise three inter-related activities: theatre ownership and management, ticketing and marketing operations, and show productions
Nicholas Jeffrey Thomas is a British entertainment entrepreneur and an Olivier-award-winning theatre producer. He is the founder, Chairman and joint-owner with his wife Sandra, of Qdos Entertainment Ltd (Qdos), whose subsidiaries include Five Star Collection Ltd, Adverset Media Solutions and Q Talent Ltd. In March 2021, Nick & Sandra sold HQ Theatres & Hospitality Ltd to Trafalgar Entertainment Group led by Sir Howard Panter and Dame Rosemary Squire, partnered with Barings, the global investment pension fund manager. In April 2021 Nick & Sandra Thomas sold Qdos Entertainment (Pantomimes) Ltd to Crossroads Live Holdings UK Ltd Live entertainment acquisition vehicle partnered in the US by Raven Capital Management LLC, and chaired in the UK by David Ian.
The Rhoda McGaw Theatre is part of the entertainment complex adjacent to the Peacock Centre in Woking, Surrey.
Anne Solway Hegerty is an English quizzer and television personality. Since 2010, she has been a "chaser" on the ITV game show The Chase as "The Governess", and was a contestant on the 2018 series of the ITV reality show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!
Nicholas Wilton is an English actor and scriptwriter. He has appeared as Mr Lister in the BBC soap opera EastEnders as a recurring character; he has also appeared in Carrott's Lib and Jackanory.
The Scarborough Tramways Company provided an electric tramway service in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England, between 1904 and 1931.
American pantomime, panto for short, refers to works of theatrical entertainment that have been presented in the United States of America since 1876. The works are derived from the entertainment genre of pantomime that developed in England, presented either as they are in Britain or adapted for the American stage and tailored to American audiences. Pantomime in America, as in England, is usually performed at Christmas time. The entertainments, aimed at families, are based on nursery stories and fairy tales, and they incorporate songs, slapstick comedy, often topical jokes, magic, some cross-dressing, local references, audience participation, and mild adult innuendo. Like the British productions, American pantomimes incorporate audience participation. Earlier productions often also included a harlequinade.
Dame Rosemary Anne Squire, DBE is a British commercial theatre owner and entrepreneur. She was founder, co-owner and joint chief executive of the Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) Ltd. Squire and her husband/business partner, Howard Panter, are the second-largest shareholder of ATG.
Neil Hurst is an actor and presenter born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England best known for his television and stage theatre career.
Scarborough Rugby Union Football Club is an English rugby union club that is based in Scalby near Scarborough, North Yorkshire. The clubhouse is the UK's largest amateur clubhouse and is set within a 32-acre site with 5 senior pitches, a training pitch and 6 minis pitches. The club operates four senior men's teams, a women's team and pre-micro/micro/mini/youth rugby. The men's 1st XV currently plays in North 1 East – a league at level 6 of the English rugby union system – having been promoted into the division from Yorkshire 1 via a playoff at the end of the 2017–18 season.