A winter wonderland
lies at the heart of Cloud Cuckoo Land, where icicles crown the
grand colonnaded facade of the Cloud Cuckoo Land Theatre. The home of the
most magical shows on earth, the laughter and fun found within will capture the imaginations of adventurers young and old alike.
Originally the
building contained the Fun House of the park's old fun fair, however
it was converted into a theatre for 1981 as part of the development
of Talbot Street. For many years after it first opened the theatre
was home to the Fantastic Fountains, the park's dancing water show,
as well as being available for conferences.
The Fantastic
Fountains operated in the venue for over ten years, until Tussauds
took over the park and the venue was converted into a regular
theatre for the Land of Make Believe's magic show. It was during
this redevelopment that building gained its colonnaded entrance,
which has been a defining feature of the area ever since.
At the end of 1996
the magic show came to a close and with it the theatre closed its
doors to sit vacant for the first years of Cred Street. However in
1999 Barney and Friends arrived at the park for the summer season
and once again brought the theatre to life. In fact Barney was so
successful that in 2000 he returned to the park full time, meaning
the theatre once again became a central entertainment venue for the
park.
And so the theatre
became home to a series of famous children's TV characters for many
years, as part of the ever changing line up of Cred Street. It was
not until 2007 that the park once again began to produce small scale
in house shows for the the theatre, with the Sir Algenon and friends
spending several seasons performing at the venue.
However it was all
change again for 2011, as the park's own show was replaced once
again, this time by The Go!Go!Go Show, which was brought in from the
west end to try and turn around the theatre's flagging audiences.
But it was not to last, and for 2012 the theatre was converted into
a 4D Cinema.
Join Manny and Sid
and all their prehistoric friends for the park's first 4D
adventure in Ice Age - The 4D Experience.
The fun is sure to
snowball in this new adventure for all the family, as 4D
technology brings the story to life as the gang discover a secret
world of the dinosaurs.
When Talbot Street opened in 1981,
the middle of the street was dominated by the new theatre which
housed the park's dancing waters show, The Fantastic Fountains.
The show saw a series of lighted
fountains programmed to dance in time to a range of musical
numbers. The Fantastic Fountains was the longest running show
the park has ever had, running for eleven years.
With the arrival of the Land of Make
Believe, magic was in the air at Alton Towers, and no more so
then in the area's new Magic Theatre.
Henry Hound was on hand, along with
a host of other characters to bring to life the story of an
enchanted theatre, long abandoned but now rediscovered and ready
to provide fun for all the family.
After a few
years out of action, Barney bounded into the park and took over
the theatre along with his friends. Having spent the summer at
Alton in 1999, he enjoyed it so much he moved in permanently for
the 2000 season, even including the playground opposite in the
fun.
The start of the
2006 season saw the arrival of Chocolate Towers, the park's new
Easter event.
This meant the
theatre's first engagement after the Tweenies was the Chocoholic
Follies, a very special cabaret act, based all around the sweet
entertainment to be found in chocolate.
Once Chocolate
Towers had come to a close, Bob the Builder became the third big
children's TV Character to get his own show in the theatre.
The main
difference for Bob was that unlike his predecessors the theatre
received minimal theming for the new show, instead becoming
generically known as the Cred Street Theatre
The third show of 2006 to be
performed in the venue saw the Draw-a-Toon event take over the
theatre during the summer season.
As part of the event, daily shows in
the Cred Street Theatre saw the park team up with Cartoon
Network, to encourage youngster to develop their cartoon drawing
skills.
In 2007 it was
all change at the Cred Street Theatre, as the park once again
ventured into producing it's own shows for the venue.
ATTV was
essentially a game show, performed as if being filmed for TV,
where members of the audience got to take part and win prizes.
For the first Scarefest, ATTV received a spooky makeover at the
end of its season.
After twelve
years at the hotels, Sir Algenon made his first appearance in
the park for the 2008 season, when the Cred Street theatre
revealed the secret world of his magical Attic.
Guests were
invited to join Lucy and Snorlix as they explored the world with
Algenon's close friend Reg. Once again a special version of the
show was produced for Scarefest, becoming the Haunting of
Algenon's Attic.
Lucy and
Snorlix's adventures continued after the arrival of Cloud Cuckoo
Land, though the new season saw the action move from Algenon's
Attic, down into his living room, from which Lucy was able to
use her imagination to explore the Wonderful World of
Cloud Cuckoo Land.
Milkshake! Workout Live
Years: 2010
During the Summer
of 2010, Channel 5's Milkshake performed daily in the Cloud
Cuckoo Land Theatre.
In 2011, the Cloud
Cuckoo Land Theatre was home to Fluffalope and the gang of The Go!Go!Go Show, a pop musical for kids, which transferred to
Alton Towers from London's Westend.
Every day, guests
were invited to join the Gos for an all singing, all dancing,
all sock-eating adventure.
