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Dateline:
30th November, 2003
News from the North East
Theatre Royal Annual Report
Newcastle's Theatre Royal's annual report for 2002/3 shows a really
successful year, with attendances at 68% of capacity, as against a national
average of 59%, and an annual income of £5m, 86% of which was
earned income.
297,412 people attended 364 performances, an average of 6,610 patrons
a week.
Membership of the Friends of the Theatre Royal increased by 22% during
the year.
"The Theatre's continued success would not be possible,"
said general manager Peter Sarah, "without the support of our large,
loyal and enthusiastic audiences, the hundreds of performers who entertain
us, the dozens of companies and the support of many organisations in
Newcastle and the North East.
"The Theatre Royal is a very important building - part of the
nation's heritage. We intend to keep it in prime condition, and to continue
bringing the very best theatre available to our audiences, so they can
experience this beautiful setting.
"Our various partners help us to achieve our aim to be a valued
organisation working across all parts of the North East community. So
we are grateful to all the local businesses we work with, the Friends
of the Theatre Royal and Newcastle City Council for their past and future
support.
"It's been a hugely successful year, both financially and artistically,
and we're all looking forward to another one!"
The Theatre Royal has continued to build on its four areas of programming:
West End and international productions; special relationships with producers
such as the RSC and Opera North; region-wide partnerships such as The
Sage Gateshead, Northern Stage, Live Theatre and The Customs House;
and, their Education and Outreach programme.
Stolen: One Panto Script
Last Wednesday, just days before rehearsals were due to begin, the script
for the Shouth Shields Customs House panto was stolen in a break-in.
Thieves climbed an external fire-escape outide the theatre's Dalton's
Lane offices, smashed through the ceiling of the office of the PA to
the director and stole a petty cash box. They then forced their way
into the Arts Development office and took a camcorder, before breaking
in to the director's office from which they took a hand-held computer
which just happened to contain the only copy of the script of this year's
pantomime, Sleeping Beauty.
"If they'd broken in the night before," said a spokesman
for the theatre, they'd have discovered (director) Ray Spencer working
on the script. He finished it late that night and then went off home."
Fortunately he had done a print out of some twenty minutes of the show
and so was able to use that as the basis for rewriting. When the actors
arrived for rehearsals on Monday morning, there was no script for them,
but they did get it before the end of the day, so reharsals were able
to proceed with only a few hours lost.
Sleeping Beauty previews at the Customs House on Wednesday 3rd
December and opens on 4th.
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