Twopence To Cross The Mersey
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Wirral producers hit £2m at box office

Wirral-based Pulse Records & Productions has announced its show Twopence to Cross the Mersey will celebrate reaching £2million at the box office when it returns to the Liverpool Empire next month.

Producers Rob and Alan Fennah first introduced the show to audiences in 2004 and now, after a further three visits to the Empire due to popular demand, the show has become a multi-million pound selling production.

Rob Fennah, who has used Helen Forrester’s book of the same title for the musical play, said: “Considering the show will only have been staged for seven weeks in total, hitting two million at the box office in such a short space of time is a real achievement.”

His younger brother, Alan Fennah, who helped write twelve songs for the production, added: “Helen Forrester has sold over four million books in the UK and Ireland alone and our aim now is to tour the show and give Helen’s vast readership a chance to see her most famous book come to life.”

Commenting on the production, author Forrester said: “The feeling of the show is very accurate and the writers have put real understanding of life into the songs.”

For those unaware, Twopence to Cross the Mersey tells the true story of how Forrester and her formerly wealthy family had to leave behind the nannies and the servants and survive with the streetwise working class during the depression of the 1930’s.

Hannah Ashdown, general manager of the Liverpool Empire, said: “Twopence to Cross the Mersey is one of the most successful shows to appear at this theatre in recent years. People are even travelling from as far as Japan and Australia to come and see it - we are delighted to have supported this great production from the start.”

Twopence stars actress and comedienne Pauline Daniels (Shirley Valentine, Breezeblock Park) in the role of Helen Forrester Senior and Mark Moraghan as John Forrester, Forrester’s spendthrift father.

The show also stars Ciaran Kellgren who flies in direct from playing Peter Pan in a sell-out run at Kensington Gardens. He will also be working with his father Ian Kellgren, who directs.

Emma Grace Arends replaces Jamie Clarke in the role of Young Helen.

Twopence to Cross the Mersey opens at the Liverpool Empire from 6–17 October. Tickets are priced from £12, call the box office on 0844 847 2525.

- by Michael Hunt

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