Wolverhampton Grand Theatre has launched its 130th anniversary celebrations today, 130 years after the foundation stone was laid on 28 June 1894, with the display of the original pantomime poster and programme from its inaugural pantomime, Sinbad the Sailor.

The theatre officially celebrates its 130th anniversary on 10 December 2024. With exciting celebrations ahead, from today, audiences can see an original copy of the poster and programme from the theatre’s first ever pantomime Sinbad the Sailor. The panto opened on Christmas Eve 1894, just two weeks after the theatre opened. The poster and programme are displayed at the top of the staircase leading from the foyer to the dress circle.

Until now, only the title and opening date of the Grand Theatre’s first pantomime was known, but thanks to the kind loan of the poster and programme from Bradney Mitchell, from the collection of his Great, Great Grandfather George Bradney Mitchell, much more is known about the show.

The title role was played by one of the great British Music Hall stars of the Edwardian Era, Queenie Leighton. Miss Leighton was a much-loved star of the West End pantomimes at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane and starred in Wolverhampton alongside Ted Young as Mrs Sinbad, the Grand Theatre’s first ever pantomime dame. The pantomime ran for 17 nights with four matinee performances.

Scott Bird, Communications Manager at the Grand Theatre said; “This poster and programme are a crucial part of the Grand Theatre’s history and something we are very proud to have on display at the theatre. We have always known the title of our first pantomime but very little more. On our 129th anniversary in December last year, I mentioned Sinbad the Sailor in a reflective Facebook post. To my absolute delight, Bradney Mitchell commented on it, with a photograph of the original poster he had used on the ‘Lost Wolverhampton’ page. Within days of making contact, Bradney had brought the original poster and programme from the production into the theatre for us to see and we decided that it was a shame for such a historic item to be hidden away. Now, we’re delighted to have it on proud display for everyone to see, back in its original home for our 130th anniversary year.”

Bradney Mitchell said; “Following my mention about having a copy of the pantomime poster on the Facebook site “Lost Wolverhampton” by Billy Howe, I was contacted by Scott Bird, Communications Manager at The Grand Theatre. The poster along with the show programme and a great many unpublished works of art by John Fullwood and John Reid, along with photographs by Edwin Haseler had been kept by my great, great, grandfather (George Bradney Mitchell) in his private archive. He had been intending to publish a book in colour entitled ‘Wolverhampton and its Environs’ to inform future generations of the changes for the better to the town of Wolverhampton at the latter end of 19th century.  But at this time, despite his experimentations in print, the colour printing process had not yet been commercially successful.130 years later I have been privileged enough to continue his wishes by publishing the information electronically to bring it to the attention of a wider audience. Something that was his main reason for collecting his archive. Having met with the Management of the Grand Theatre, I acknowledged their importance not only to the Grand Theatre but the wider public and agreed for the poster and the programme to go on display in the Theatre, so that they could be enjoyed by all.”

The Sinbad the Sailor poster and programme can be seen on the dress circle level of the theatre at the top of the staircase that leads from the foyer. They are the first items to be displayed in celebration of the Grand Theatre’s rich history of pantomime, spanning all 130 years. More pantomime memorabilia from iconic pantomimes such as Mother Goose starring Ian McKellen and John Bishop and the Grand Theatre’s award-winning in-house 2023/24 production of Snow White will also feature as part of the 130th anniversary celebrations in the near future.

If anyone has any old Grand Theatre memorabilia they wish to donate or share with the theatre, they should contact Scott Bird by email,ScottB@grandtheatre.co.uk.

Photo credit: Alex Styles