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Dateline:
16th June, 2002
Theatre Operator
Has Debts of £690,000
Entertainment Team (Durham) Ltd., the operating company running Durham's
Gala Theatre, has debts of over £690,000, a creditors' meeting
has been told. As the company's assets total just £7,000, it is
unlikely that the majority of creditors will receive anything. The company
has two directors, each holding one £1 share.
Durham City Council is one of the biggest creditors, having pumped
£200,000 into the company to try to keep it afloat. However a
spokesman for the Council said that it had withdrawn support as soon
as the extent of the deficit became known.
At the meeting, many creditors, mainly local busineses, claimed to
have been under the impressio that they were supplying the County Council.
Liquidator Alan Marlor said that he intends to send a report on the
conduct of the two directors, Michael Power and Nicholas Rule, to the
Department of Trade and Industry.
Multi-Million Pound
Development Proposed for Sunderland
Sunderland's Empire Theatre will benefit from a multi-million pound
refurbishment, if the city's council has its way. The city has around
£1,000,000 to spend as a result of a number of initiatives, including
the sale of its shares in the very successful Newcastle Airport, and
council wants to enlarge the stage so that the theatre will be capable
of taking the very largest touring shows.
The Empire already has the largest stage between Leeds and Edinburgh
but the proposed upgrade will make it the only theatre between Manchester
and Edinburgh able to take the largest touring shows.
The council owns the building but it is programmed and run on a day-to-day
basis by Clear Channel Entertainment.
A council spokesman said that the next stage would be to explore the
possibility of obtaining grants for a further £3-£4m from
other sources, including Europe.
Theatre Still Popular
with the Young
More young people got to the theatre than attend pop concerts, a MORI
poll for the Royal Shakespeare Company has revealed. The poll, of 650
people between the ages of 15 and 35, showed that 28% had been to a
play in the last year while 25% had been to a pop concert.
The most popular recreation was cinema, with 79%, whereas clubbing
and sport only attracted 49% and 45% respectively.
Only 1% described theatre as "stuffy" and just 3% said they
were intimindated by the idea of going to a theatre. Over a thrid of
those questioned said that they believe that Shakespeareis still relevant
today.
Les Mis
to Open in China
Les Miserables is to be the first West End musical to play in
China. It has been chosen by the Chinese government to play in the new
Shanghai Grand Theatre. Sung in English with Chinese surtitles, and
starring Colm Wilkinson as Valjean, it will run for three weeks from
22nd June.
Goodman in Sondheim
at RFH
Henry Goodman is to star in a new production of Sondheim's Follies
at the Royal Festival Hall. He will appear alongside Louise Gold and
Clarke Peters. The show will run from 3rd to 31st August.
Two Theatres Win
RIBA Awards
Two theatres - the Byre at St Andrews and the Birmingham Hippodrome
- have won awards from the Royal Insitute of Architects for their high
architectural standards and contribution to the local environment.
Church to Star
in Romantic Film
16 year old classical singer Charlotte Church is to be the star of a
specially written romatic comedy film which starts shooting later this
month when her GCSE exams are finished. According to her mother, she
will not be singing her usual repertoire.
This will not be the teenager's acting debut, for she appeared in an
episode of ITV's Heartbeat a few years ago.
Cole Porter London
Premiere
Cole Porter's first Broadway Hit, Fifty Million Frenchmen, is
to receive its London premiere as part of the Lost Musicals season at
the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. It will be performed in a semi-staged
production in the Linbury Studio on 7th and 14th August and will star
Suzy Bloom, Alan Cox and Dilys Laye. It was first performed on Broadway
in 1929.
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