Regal Trust Report May 2015

Regal Trust Report May 2015

Attendance figures

May 2013 1516 patrons

May 2014 1358 patrons

May 2015 1061 patrons

A disappointing month with audience figures down on previous years.

With the exception of Cinderella the film programme this month failed to excite.  We are of course governed by what is available and there have been complaints across the industry about the large number of very similar 15 rated films which were released in close proximity to each other.  

The national trend is a reduction in audience sizes as we come out of recession and people spend more on large ticket items such as cars and holidays.

Two highlights this month were a ballet from the Royal Opera House and Pirates of Penzance from English National Opera.  The later having broke all worldwide records as the biggest ever “Opera” event ever.

Representatives from the Trust met with the Conservation Officer from MHDC to discuss the proposed improvements to the building. (full details of these will be submitted to the Council later this month)

There have been a number of personnel changes at the Trust recently.

Management Assistant Danni Wiggins has been replaced by Julie Cox.

Play Leader Karen Wallace has been replaced by Leah Williams.

Relief Cleaner Emma Little has been replaced by Danni Fisher.

Grateful Thanks

Dear Ian and all the team

                

                             On behalf of Tenbury Town band I would like to convey our grateful thanks to everyone at the Regal for all the hard work and support given to us towards our annual concert. The evening was once again a great success and it’s clear that everyone at the Regal played an important part from the front of house to the technical staff. This year we needed additional sound and lighting which was delivered professionally and with enthusiasm. We have had so many good reports from our audience that everything came together so well and a good night was had by all.

          We are extremely lucky to have this amazing facility in such a small town and we will continue to support the Regal as I’m sure it will go from strength to strength.

Thanks  to you all and we look forward to our next function in December.

Best regards

Mark

      

Mark Yarnold

President of Tenbury Town Band

Tel 01584 811831

www.tenburytownband.co.uk

Regal Trust Report April 2015

Regal Trust Report April 2015

Attendance figures

April 2013 1298 patrons

April 2014 1902 patrons

April 2015 1497 patrons

A steady month but with audience figures down on April 2014. This April only two titles stood out.  The Second Best Marigold Hotel which accounted for more than 50% of the month's audience and Still Alice.  The second half of the Easter holiday this year produced

very poor audiences.

About 50 children have come along for trial sessions at the Saturday morning Musical Theatre School.  30 have paid up and joined for this term and have completed sessions in Drama, Dance, Prop Making and Scenery design and a Matilda workshop.

Many of the Technical Volunteers took a trip to Cwmbran to attend a stage lighting training session.

All of the insulation jobs have now been completed and we have seen an improvement in being able to maintain heat in the auditorium.

An additional radiator has been added in the foyer and an additional power circuit installed to enable the installation of a door “heat curtain”

Plumbing problems still continue with both the cisterns in the Ladies toilets.

The trust has engaged an architect, to consider changing the layout of the Community Centre toilet, kitchen and dressing room facilities, and alterations to the stage roof.

Regal Trust Report March 2015

Regal Trust Report March 2015

Attendance figures

March 2013 3074 patrons

March 2014 2058 patrons

March 2015 2164 patrons

A good month with audience figures up 5% on last year, but still down on 2013 where we saw 1650 attending for just two titles, Les Miserables and Quartet.

The Easter selection of films failed to produce audiences of the size we had hoped, the best being Shaun the Sheep which played to 460 people.

The new Regal Musical Theatre School launched in March, and the three sessions held to date have been a great success.  The emphasis is on fun, and we have received great feedback from children and parents alike.

A session on stage makeup saw the first group of younger children making each other up as skeletons and the older children applying bruises and lacerations and emerging streaming with blood to shock the shoppers in Teme Street.

The first of the insulation jobs have now been completed and we have already seen some improvement in being able to maintain heat in the auditorium, although the West Wind problem remains and the work to help solve this is being discussed tonight.

Plumbing problems continue with both the cisterns in the Ladies toilets developing faults on the same night and Gents toilets in the function room randomly flooding.

The stage curtains also broke again this month, but luckily not at a critical moment and we were able to work around the problem.

We have installed an override system that enables us to operate the cinema screen if the remote control unit fails.

We have also installed baby change stations in both the function room toilets and the main toilets, as we are now getting quite a group of very young children attending the MiniCineMokeys playgroup.

And finally a story on the Regal’s facebook page went viral, with the search for the owner of a little lost Bear called Biscuit. Over 9,000 people saw the original post and a further 2,500 followed the lost Bears adventures until he was reunited with his owner.  All good publicity for the Regal.

Regal Trust Report Feb 2015

Regal Trust Report Feb 2015

Attendance figures

February 2013 1261 patrons

February 2014 1706 patrons

February 2015 2074 patrons

Another great month with good audience figures, a 21% increase on last year.

This was helped by some good planning and a degree of luck, with this years Oscar’s being spread out amongst a large number of films including Best Actor for Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything, which we played to over 730 people last week.

Our next Pantomime went on sale last week and we have already had strong sales.

February brought more than it’s fair share of plumbing problems, with three different leaks.  We have also identified why the auditorium is so cold when there is a west wind.  We have taken some immediate corrective actions and have other longer term solutions being costed by contractors.

We had a picture quality problem with a satellite screening.  Initial finding pointed at a local equipment fault, but now that we had had everything tested it seems the fault might have been with a lower than expected transmission signal.  We have taken the precaution of having a second satellite receiver installed and can switch from one to the other with only 8 seconds loss of signal if the need arises.  A subsequent broadcast has been received without any problems.

25,000 of our show diary leaflets are being distributed by Royal Mail this week and our latest brochure was delivered door to door on Saturday and over the weekend to much of the Tenbury area.

Regal Trust Report Jan 2015

Regal Trust Report Jan 2015

January was rather successful.  It’s impossible to say whether this was because of increased advertising, the raising of our profile thanks to the pantomime or because of a particularly strong programme.   What we do know is that we have been busy.

Attendance figures

January 2013 556 patrons

January 2014 1311 patrons

January 2015 2266 patrons

There were no live shows in January and our tech team have been busy replacing all the equipment removed for the pantomime, servicing all the lamps and installing a second set of LED par cans.

Our first live show of the year is Abbamania on the 7th February which has been sold out for many weeks.  Whilst this is great news, we are slightly concerned that pre-sales for many of the other live shows that we have planned are still very weak and it is likely that some with be cancelled as promoters move to protect their expenses.

We are putting the final details together for the launch of our Musical Theatre School which is being supported by Orchard Valley Foods.  We plan to initially start with two Saturday morning fun classes catering to different age groups.  The emphasis will be on movement and dance, but with drama and singing content added as we progress.

We will also be launching this years Christmas Pantomime during February.  The final details are still being worked out, but it will be bigger and more ambitious than last year.  We will be using the profits from last years pantomime on infrastructure improvements to make it all possible.

We recently held a very successful evening for our existing volunteers and a few potential new volunteers, updating them on our progress and detailing some of our plans for the future.  We also discussed what we do well and what we can do better.  We are still looking for new volunteers in all areas and are keen to hear from anyone who wants to get involved, no matter how little time they have available.

Letter to the Trust from Tenbury Town Council

Regal Trust Report December 2014

Regal Trust Report December 2014

December was as usual very busy.  With a flurry of Nativity plays, a Christmas Concert, the seasonal ballet from the Royal Opera House, an excellent one man drama, and of course the Christmas Pantomime.

This year, the trust embarked on a very ambitious project.  To produce the best possible show, within the limitations of the building.

Professional set builders were engaged to produce a spectacular set, with many scene changes but designed so that they could be changed by a single person, or in our case a Panda.

Luxurious costumes were hired and then expertly fitted by our own fantastic team of wardrobe ladies.

Additional lighting was installed, and special effects were designed, including a magical flying carpet designed and built by Paul Daniels.

A mixed cast of professional actors and seasoned amateurs were engaged and supported by a troupe of Babes and Junior Dancers.  Professional Musicians were hired to give the show that added professionalism.

In addition to the thirty people on stage a large support team of crew, chaperones and technicians were also assembled and our usual team of front of house volunteers were supplemented by additional local people, and sometimes visiting relatives to cater to the needs of the 2227 ticket holders.

The Trust invested a lot of time and money into the Pantomime, with the final cost likely to exceed £23,000, but the result appears to universally acclaimed as very successful from an artistic and enjoyment perspective and is also likely to make a financial contribution to the Trusts ongoing investment programme. The show also brought a lot of visitors to Tenbury, many for the first time, so will have also boosted both the local day & night time economy.

Regal Trust Report November 2014

Trust Report November 2014

November was a much busier month, with good numbers for most shows & films.

The Mistletoe Music Showcase was a great success.  We were able to use a small grant from the Philip Bates Trust, in conjunction with volunteers from the Mistletoe Association to provide support to three young bands to help them become ready to perform in public.  The show was headlined by the Misers, who gave their time & loan of their equipment for free.

The preparations for the pantomime are gathering momentum, and nearly all the tickets for nine performances have been sold.

The latest brochure arrived at the weekend and a team of volunteers distributed copies to much of Tenbury & Burford on Friday & Saturday.  Royal Mail are also distributing a show diary to 25,000 local addresses.

Regal Trust Report October 2014

Trust Report Oct 2014

October was a month of contrasts,  The month began with a very successful broadcast by Stephen Fry, then we had a number of films that barely broke even.  In the middle of the month we had the excellent live drama, Around the World in 80 Days which unfortunately also failed to break even.  The half term week was very successful with 780 people enjoying live Music, Films and finally Magic with Paul Daniels.

The ticket sales for the rest of the year appear to look reasonably healthy, but our main focus is our Pantomime Aladdin.  

The cast are hard at work rehearsing, and the technical team are ramping up to cope with the requirements of building unusual props and using far more complex technical equipment than they has so far been exposed too.

We have already sold 30% of the tickets.  This is good, but we all need to keep up the effort of promoting the show, as bringing people into town in the Christmas season also has a tremendous effect on the whole town's vitality and viability.

Over the next few weeks 30,000 leaflets advertising the pantomime will be distributed by Royal Mail in a wide area around the town and hopefully this will encourage even more people to come and give us a try.

The new mid-stage curtains have now arrived and were used for the first time for the Paul Daniel’s show.  The new LED lighting has also been installed to replace the somewhat unreliable and expensive to run Par Cans.  The replacement cinema screen is due to be installed later this month.