news released: Mon 24th October

Pitlochry Festival Theatre's much anticipated revival of Whisky Galore - a Musical! got off to a spectacular start at the weekend, with all three opening performances sold out!

The appeal of what has been described as the best new Scottish musical in years is such that is has already attracted visitors to the Theatre in the Hills from as far afield as Denmark and the Netherlands, from South of the border (Wiltshire, Essex, Norfolk, Yorkshire, Newcastle and Derby) and from all major Scottish cities and postcodes.

Advance ticket sales have far exceeded expectations. John Durnin, PFT`s Chief Executive and Artistic Director, commented:

"Our Box Offices and our website have experienced huge volumes of calls and bookings for the show. This being our first ever Autumn production, we weren`t entirely sure what level of demand to expect, even though Whisky Galore - A Musical! was a big hit for us in 2009. So to open the show with 95% of the Box Office target already having been achieved is quite extraordinary - this gets our new Autumn slot off to the best possible start. And coming hard on the heels of the record-breaking success of our acclaimed Summer musical, My Fair Lady, this clearly signals that audiences have identified PFT as the pre-eminent Scottish venue for musical theatre of the highest quality".

With a further surge in ticket sales for the show anticipated - and advance bookings already building for PFT`s second spectacular family pantomime, Sleeping Beauty - this is also good news for the Perthshire economy. Recent research shows that every visit to Pitlochry Festival Theatre generates a daily visitor spend of between £70 and £130 on hotel and restaurant bookings, retail purchases and visits to other visitor attractions. Mr. Durnin added:

"The long-term aim of our Autumn and Winter programme has been to extend the length of Pitlochry's traditional visitor season and to boost the tourism economy of Highland Perthshire. At the same time, we've also been able to develop new kinds of programming not offered during our Summer repertoire season, remounting hit shows from the recent past and staging family-orientated Christmas shows that makes PFT's renowned quality and high production standards available to an entirely different audience."

Whisky Galore - A Musical! runs until 12th November, with evening performances every day Monday to Saturday and matinée performances every Wednesday and Saturday. To purchase tickets for Whisky Galore - A Musical!, call PFT's Box Office on 01796 484626 or select and buy your seats online.