Panto stars go for magical fun-filled bus ride

Blackpool Gazette

The cast of Aladdin broke off from a dress-rehearsal to launch a ‘books on busses’ giveaway outside Blackpool Grand Theatre on Church Street.

Transcript

00:00 [laughing]

00:02 - Hang on, we've got a package.

00:04 - Can we just--

00:05 - Sorry, we've got to sort this out.

00:06 - Yeah, that's not--

00:07 - Packages.

00:08 - Which is such a--

00:09 [mimicking car noises]

00:12 - I've got it upside down.

00:14 Feels stupid.

00:15 - We were on the buses today

00:18 to promote a reading project for Blackpool.

00:21 - Get Blackpool reading.

00:22 - Yeah, absolutely.

00:23 - So we were there with the original story

00:27 that birthed the story of Aladdin

00:29 and the pantomime of Aladdin,

00:30 which was Arabian Nights and lots of other short stories.

00:33 So we were checking out that book.

00:35 - 'Cause what people don't realize

00:36 is most times Blackpool children

00:39 only have the inside of rock to read.

00:41 That's all they have.

00:42 And when they have a full story to tell,

00:44 it's a lot of rock.

00:45 So they'll have to do each piece

00:48 shown by the teacher like that.

00:49 So what I think the council have done

00:52 is brought books into Blackpool for the first time.

00:55 So it's all there in one, easy to handle thing.

01:00 - Less sugar as well.

01:01 - Less sugar as well.

01:02 So it's a bonus both for the reading,

01:04 for the education and for teeth.

01:06 - Yes, for dentists.

01:07 - Well, it's bad news for dentists

01:09 'cause they're not gonna--

01:10 So listen, that's the case for most of these things.

01:13 It swings, no, that's at the Pleasure Beach.

01:16 - All right, yeah, sorry.

01:16 - That's the Pleasure Beach.

01:17 You're getting totally confused now.

01:18 - Yeah.

01:19 [laughing]

01:20 Teeth and libraries.

01:21 - That is comedy gold.

01:22 That's the kind of thing we do.

01:23 That's the kind of things we create.

01:25 - But it's a story of magic and love and--

01:30 - Lamps.

01:32 - Lamps and--

01:33 - Genies.

01:34 - Silliness and genies and villains.

01:37 - Lot of washing.

01:38 - And Twanky's laundrette.

01:39 - Washing.

01:40 - Loads of washing.

01:41 - Washing.

01:42 - Some amazing kids.

01:43 - Washing.

01:44 - Doing some incredible backflips and dancing

01:45 and doing really impressive stuff.

01:49 Then we'll just come on and make everybody laugh.

01:52 [crowd chattering]

01:55 - The Books on Buses initiative is between,

02:04 a partnership between Blackpool Transport

02:06 and Blackpool Grand Theatre,

02:07 where we have a number of books,

02:09 usually correlated to the pantomime that's on

02:11 here at the Grand Theatre.

02:13 And these are placed on buses early mornings

02:15 for all of our customers,

02:17 especially school children, to read.

02:18 It's all about getting Blackpool reading,

02:20 having that chance to read on the bus.

02:22 Children and families can take these books

02:23 home with them to finish,

02:25 or maybe pop them back on the seat

02:26 for the next person to enjoy.

02:28 So anything that we can do within the community

02:30 and the social needs for the town

02:31 is something that's actually really important to us.

02:33 So getting involved in initiatives such as this,

02:35 which really do support families and children,

02:38 is something that's at the core of our values

02:40 and how we want to be presented

02:41 across the town and the Fylde Coast.

02:43 So the books will be available

02:44 from the beginning of next week.

02:46 They'll be on the buses for up to four weeks,

02:48 depending on stock,

02:50 'cause like I say, families can take these home.

02:52 But you will start seeing these appear

02:54 in your morning commutes,

02:55 and especially at school times

02:57 with school children and families travelling on the seats.

03:00 So when you're bored, pick one up and have a read.

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