131 posts
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Post by critchyboy on Jul 12, 2018 21:03:20 GMT
Don't know if any of you have caught this news, hopefully it'll be good for Theatre in Blackpool and the North West. The town is lucky to have two great theatres and a good number of different shows visiting..! Selladoor Worldwide have gone into partnership with the Winter Gardens to give the Pavilion Theatre a new lease of life as a 'creative hub'. Selladoor will concentrate on 'programming the space with both produced and received work' and the Winter Gardens will concentrate on getting the venue restored and renovated. Full story here: www.selladoor.com/news/announcement-the-historic-pavilion-theatre-set-to-become-creative-hub-once-again |
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316 posts
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Post by martello736 on Jul 12, 2018 21:06:56 GMT
That's great news. Randomly, I was reading the theatres at risk list a couple of weeks ago and thought how bizarre it was that a theatre within the Winter Gardens was out of action, so it couldn't be better news that it's being renovated.
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3,321 posts
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Post by david on Jul 12, 2018 21:34:39 GMT
Some great news there. So with the Pavillion theatre in Blackpool, the proposed Shakespeare North Playhouse along with the Hope Mill in Manchester as well as the already established theatres in the Manchester and Liverpool areas, the North West really is becoming a hub of theatrical activity.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2018 5:33:58 GMT
Some great news there. So with the Pavillion theatre in Blackpool, the proposed Shakespeare North Playhouse along with the Hope Mill in Manchester as well as the already established theatres in the Manchester and Liverpool areas, the North West really is becoming a hub of theatrical activity. Not forgetting Storyhouse's stellar efforts in Chester. |
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239 posts
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jul 13, 2018 9:55:51 GMT
The entire Winter Gardens complex is being redeveloped over the next few years, so its great that the Pavilion is being included in this renovation. It's a lovely space - I've been to a couple of events there in the past - and you can see what a beautiful theatre it once would have been.
Perhaps they'll also refurbish the Opera House whilst they're at it! I was there a couple of weeks ago, to see 'Beautiful', and I was frankly horrified at the state of the theatre. Actual chunks of plaster missing from the walls, flaking paint everywhere, plus a weird hole in the auditorium floor on my row, bodged up so that you sank into a sizeable dip as you walked over it!! Perhaps the Pavilion will take precedence over the Opera House for some touring productions. The Opera House auditorium is just too large, IMO, for many of these shows. It's great for the one-night gigs (and any time Peter Kay comes to Blackpool!) but the other shows fail to fill it in a fairly embarrassing way!
The Grand Theatre, Blackpool, is a wonderful place - beautifully restored, and a Frank Matcham gem of a theatre - but it's exciting to think that Blackpool will perhaps, once again, become a town with a multitude of outstanding live theatre venues, and even more choice for us locals to find good theatre, without having to schlep to Manchester or London to access them!
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491 posts
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Post by djdan14 on Jul 14, 2018 19:43:07 GMT
I’m excited by this! The opera house has become my local recently with more and more tours now including a stop. The only problem is so many shows look lost on that stage and it’s often half empty due to the sheer size so hopefully this will go some way to rectifying this. Although it would be nice to see the Grand get some more tours, this explains why Selladoor have been going there over the grand which would be more suited imo.
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239 posts
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jul 15, 2018 9:13:43 GMT
I’m excited by this! The opera house has become my local recently with more and more tours now including a stop. The only problem is so many shows look lost on that stage and it’s often half empty due to the sheer size so hopefully this will go some way to rectifying this. Although it would be nice to see the Grand get some more tours, this explains why Selladoor have been going there over the grand which would be more suited imo. I agree - Blackpool has been getting some good shows in recent years, but the Grand Theatre seems to be losing out on a lot of shows that would, on paper, be tailor-made for a theatre of its size. Like I said, the Opera House is far too big for many of these tours - even just a week's length of a tour there means the need to fill 3000 seats per show - an impossible task. I'd say most touring shows have managed about 800-1000 seats filled (balcony closed, rear circle mostly empty and large gaps in rear stalls). Selladoor giving favourable business to the Winter Gardens, perhaps even loss leading, in advance of the Pavilion deal makes more sense now. |
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