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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: General Discussion

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That's a rather worrying message, not because the show is cancelled but because the park seem unwilling to refund existing tickets. Are many tickets sold this far in advance?

They're on a hiding to nothing not offering a refund, either way.
 
Probably be able to count the advance bookings on one hand.
Not as popular as it used to be, by a long way.
They struggle to fill the place for the first night.
Would have been put down a long time ago, if it wasn't for it being a pet project of the glorious leader.
 
Always thought a ‘Nickelodeon On Ice’ would be a far better replacement. Far more suited to a seaside amusement park anyway.
 
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Hot Ice is an institution, and as far as theme park shows go, absolutely one of the best out there in the world.

It's also completely past it's sell-by-date and possibly a bigger drain on resources than Valhalla? I would gun for it, in that it's been operating since 1937 and employs some very talented people, but it's ultimately a relic.

Does anyone remember Eclipse? I loved that show. It was Amanda's take on Cirque Du Soleil, for all intents and purposes, but it was one hell of a rip-off and felt edgier and more modern back in the late-nineties than Hot Ice does even now.

I never saw Mystique.
 
Amanda seems very proud of it, and it does seem like quite a pivotal part of the resort for her; when I stayed in the Big Blue Hotel, most of the pictures in the rooms and corridors were of ice shows (or some form of show, anyway)!
 
Eclipse was amazing.
Real fun and effects in the round.
Vladimirs crotch swinging right out to the back row was the finest cheese in Blackpool, by some distance.
Even if it did play out on the site of the Reel.
 
rob666 said:
Probably be able to count the advance bookings on one hand.
Not as popular as it used to be, by a long way.
They struggle to fill the place for the first night.
Would have been put down a long time ago, if it wasn't for it being a pet project of the glorious leader.
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Then why make such a point of holding on to the money?

Surely just refund it and move on...
 
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Themeparksandy1981 said:
I don’t know about the Blackpool pass but Drayton Manor emailed me to say as soon as they can fully open again the pass will run 12 months from then.
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The only question there, is will Drayton be there, 12 months after it can reopen?
It's seemed one of the most precarious parks before this stress was placed upon it.
 
WillPS said:
Then why make such a point of holding on to the money?

Surely just refund it and move on...
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And how much cash do you think they have in their account at the moment?
There have been many recent rumours that the park is in financial difficulties, before Coronavirus wandered over.
Cant give money back if it simply isnt there.
 
Plastic Person said:
Does anyone remember Eclipse? I loved that show. It was Amanda's take on Cirque Du Soleil, for all intents and purposes, but it was one hell of a rip-off and felt edgier and more modern back in the late-nineties than Hot Ice does even now.
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I liked Eclipse, but preferred Mystique. The whole show is here:



Plastic Person said:
I never saw Mystique.
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Loved Mystique, it was one of the few things my parents would willingly indulge at the Pleasure Beach. Dad always dismissed Vladimir as "The dope on the rope", which I think was somewhat unfair.

A number of the tunes came from Mystique came from EFX. This was the finale song, I think entirely unchanged other than changing every reference of "FX" / "EFX" to "Mystique".



"Magic and mystery turned to reality in the world of FX Mystique!"

Got lots of Pleasure Beach show stuff to post, one day.
 
I guess even if the park opens in time for hot ice, there wouldn’t have been enough time for rehearsals for the ice skaters and technical team.
 
Rick said:
I liked Eclipse, but preferred Mystique. The whole show is here:




Loved Mystique, it was one of the few things my parents would willingly indulge at the Pleasure Beach. Dad always dismissed Vladimir as "The dope on the rope", which I think was somewhat unfair.

A number of the tunes came from Mystique came from EFX. This was the finale song, I think entirely unchanged other than changing every reference of "FX" / "EFX" to "Mystique".



"Magic and mystery turned to reality in the world of FX Mystique!"

Got lots of Pleasure Beach show stuff to post, one day.
Click to expand...


I loved Mystique as a kid, especially trying to figure out how the illusions worked. The flamethrower hands wasn't that hard when he forgot to palm the canister properly :p

I also adored Eclipse, the jugglers were my favourite. We did used to joke about how Vladimir "FROM LAS VEGAS" was all over the posters, the main man of the show, and all he did was swoop out for less than 10 minutes of the show!
 
Russ Stevens who starred in the Mystique show posted this video today on Facebook of him in Mystique back 1988



Reading John Wardley's autobiography "Creating my own Nemesis" book, I believe that John had a hand in creating the Mystique show.

Richard De Vere took over from Russ from 2008 when the show was renamed "Beyond Belief" which also stared Schnorbitz the dog a fourth descendant of the original one owned by Bernie Winters
 
RoyJess said:
Richard De Vere took over from Russ from 2008 when the show was renamed "Beyond Belief" which also stared Schnorbitz the dog a fourth descendant of the original one owned by Bernie Winters
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Richard De Vere starred in Mystique from around 1995 until it closed in 2008. He then starred in Beyond Belief until the end of the 2013 season and sadly died before the show kicked off again in 2014.
 
Rick said:
Richard De Vere starred in Mystique from around 1995 until it closed in 2008. He then starred in Beyond Belief until the end of the 2013 season and sadly died before the show kicked off again in 2014.
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I did google the dates, the internet full of misinformation

I re-google it , looks like I was partly right, so my mistake on getting this wrong, Richard De Vere took over the Mystique show in 1995, but the show was renamed Beyond Belief in 2008

Mystique (1995–2008)
Master illusionist De Vere took the centre stage headliner for much of the proceedings and featured many illusions and tricks. Various glamorous attendants popped in and out of claustrophobic boxes, bewildering the audience.

Beyond Belief (2008–2013)
De Vere starred in his own show, Beyond Belief, from 2008 until 2013 in the Horseshoe Bar at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. The show was written and produced by De Vere himself, featuring vocalist Marc Lawlor and dancers, Schnorbitz and iCloud the Cat.

For me, Russ Stevens was the better illusionist and presented a better show.

As for Eclipse, this was a breathtaking show, it was a stunning spectacular and was the best of all the shows, it was a shame when that came to an end
 
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@RoyJess Partly right about what? Nothing was renamed. Mystique and Beyond Belief were very different shows. Mystique was largely put together by Gloria Gee, with Phil Winston, John Wardley and ideas from WGT, based on the old Viva concept of a scaled down Las Vegas show.

Beyond Belief bore little resemblance, bar reusing a number of the same tricks. It was more of a variety show. It was largely put together by Richard De Vere and his partner Mark.

Have dug this out, what a photo:

TheCarousel_JohnWardley_IllusionistConsultant_1.jpg
 
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