ULVERSTONIAN’S have been key to the success of a town's pantomime society for 70 years, organisers said.

For seven decades the Ulverston community has been the driving force behind the society's success, which now performs a popular pantomime each year.

Bob Needham, chairman of the society, said: “We have maintained the society's success through the community - its’ ran by the community for the community.

“Ulverstonian’s come to the show hoping to see local people, whether its friends or families, they just want to show their support.

“People always like to see someone they know on the stage, it can really help people feel engaged with the performance."

When asked why the society had such longevity, organisers said it was down to the continued effort put in by all those involved.

Mr Needham said: "Standards have continuously progressed over the years.

“We have a live orchestra, which many other pantomime societies don’t have.

“In such cases, they are forced to use pre-recorded CD’s, which doesn’t have the same effect on the audience.

“Someone from the National Organisation for Dramatic Arts (NODA) said he was thrilled to see that we have a live orchestra.

“Having an orchestra means the actors are able to respond to the music more and with the members in it.

“It is also great that the whole area, from Ulverston to Barrow has loads of amateur groups and the community is really keen to get behind them and show them their support - I know of at least five."

Feedback from the audience over the years has shown the group is especially good at interacting with the crowd.

Mr Needham said: "Another reason for our success is our interactions with the audience - we get in there amongst them, making each performance feel real and permanent.

“Our previous chairman and director Jack and Elaine Parkinson were key in developing this over the many decades that they ran the society.

“The current team of myself, Sue Little - the director and Nicky Diggle the secretary, have really been taking things forward from their hard work.

“I feel that the strength of the society has come from within the group, from the things we learnt from Jack and Elaine and though we continue to evolve we still remain as ever a community centred pantomime society.”

The society was originally ran by the Royal British Legion as a way to raise funds to support the charity.

The very reason the show takes place in January every year is because Legion's ladies were often too busy fundraising for Remembrance Day in November and so held the pantomime in January to give them more time to create the costumes.

Nicky Diggle, society secretary, said: “This was partly to uphold tradition and people in Ulverston have just come to see it this way, it’s part of their upbringing.

“The Royal British Legion is not only a pertinent part of our history, they also continue to help us succeed even though we are no longer connected with them.

“The Legion allows us to use rooms within their club to both store our costumes and set designs and they allow us to use their function rooms for rehearsals.

“Having a base to store our costumes is key, it means we have been able to build up a large collection of costumes that we can continuously have access to when we perform each year.

“We are never short of villagers costumes, which really helps.”

The societies latest production is due to take place from January 23-26 from 7pm at the Coronation Hall in Ulverston.

They will be performing a modern rendition of a pantomime classic Cinderella. Tickets start from £10 with family tickets priced at £40. To book your tickets call the Coro Box Office on 01229 587140 or you can book online at: corohall.co.uk/. To join the society email ulverstonpantomime@gmail.com.