Vera is officially a record breaker in Whitley Bay after an event celebrating the much love drama broke box office records at the Playhouse.
As fans wait for the remaining two episode s of Vera series 11 to be shown by ITV and keep an eye out for news of when the recently hot 12th series will be on television, the Playhouse team delivered some very exciting news earlier this week, announcing that leading lady Brenda Blethyn, her on screen sidekick Kenny Doughty and Ann Cleeves, the author who gave the world DCI Vera Stanhope, would be appearing at a night in honour of the iconic crime character.
As soon as details of the Viva Vera event, taking place on September 1, were posted on the theatre's social media channels, the response was insane, with the Facebook post commented on thousands of times and shared hundreds more. There was an equally sizeable reaction to ChronicleLive's story on the show when it was posted on Facebook as well, which meant there was great anticipation for tickets going on sale on Friday, as fans hoped they'd manage to get their hands on some.
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Well done to those who did, as just after an hour after tickets for Viva Vera went on sale, Playhouse Whitley Bay confirmed they'd ben snapped up as soon as they went on sale, with Viva Vera setting a new record for the fastest selling ever show at the coastal entertainment venue.
Phil Smith, Playhouse Whitley Bay Theatre Director told us: "With the connection author Ann Cleeves and the Vera cast have with the region – especially Whitley Bay, we knew this event would be incredibly popular, but the speed with which fans have snapped up tickets shows just how dearly people love Ann’s books and the TV series, brought so brilliantly to life by Brenda, Ken and the rest of the Vera team.
Like many other venues, the Playhouse doors were closed for almost two years during the pandemic, so to have an event sell out so quickly is just fantastic and something we don’t take for granted. It just goes to show that like us, fans are so happy to have live events back, and to be able to come here and enjoy what we all love – a great night out at the theatre."
He added: "Viva Vera! is going to be a very special night. Thank you to everyone who set their alarms early and managed to grab their tickets this morning. We really appreciate it and can’t wait to see you on the 1st September."
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