Regal Trust Report April 2016

Regal Trust Report April 2016

Attendance figures

April 2013 1298 patrons

April 2014 1902 patrons

April 2015 1497 patrons

April 2016 639 patrons

Our worst month for patrons since our launch in September 2012.

This was partly due to a lack of live shows. This time had originally been planned as a period for remodelling the function room service block.

Film sales were particularly weak with no blockbuster in this month’s available films.  First run cinemas were reporting a strong month, but only time will tell if we will see better figures for those films or whether they will be a spent force by the time we screen them.

We have just finished booking films for our summer season, and perhaps as an indication of the fragmentation in the marketplace, this has been the most time consuming and complicated process of all the seasons we have booked so far.  The good news is our summer programme is much stronger than last years and for the first time we have been able to secure a film on a first run basis so we we be screening  Steven Spielberg’s The BFG at the same time as the big cinemas.  As an indication of the fragmentation.  The BFG  is a Spielberg production, Spielberg productions are owned by Disney, so this is a Disney Film, but we are negotiating with Entertainment One (EOne) who have the UK rights.  The trailer is being distributed by MPD via the Lansat system, how we will receive the DCP or digital package is at yet unknown.  As the different distribution platforms roll out I’m sure there will be further confusion until a dominant player emerges.

Regal Trust Report March 2016

Regal Trust Report March 2016

Attendance figures

March 2013 3074 patrons

March 2014 2058 patrons

March 2015 2164 patrons

March 2016 2351 patrons

Although we increased the number of patrons this month, only a few films performed well.  The best was Dad’s Army but even this failed to deliver the numbers that had been expected.

We only hosted one live show this month, The Sounds of Simon, a Simon and Garfunkel Tribute show.  The show was excellent and did perform better than our target. Broadcast shows were poorly supported and there may now be an oversupply in the market, with less popular titles and events being screened.  The award winning adaptation of the Railway Children wasn’t as well attended as we had hoped.  Sales across the country had been very good and we gave it maximum exposure so we are at a bit of a loss to understand this.

Lindridge School held their Oscar’s evening at the Regal, screening a selection of short films shot by and featuring the Children from the school.  We did have a small technical problem with the media supplied, but experience has now taught us to have a back-up copy, so we were able to switch with a very short delay.  After the screening, the children were presented with awards.  From the exit chatter, I think we can conclude that the evening was very successful.

The newly formed Regal Theatre Company for adults are to host an open day at the Regal on Saturday 9th April.  They are encouraging anyone with the slightest interest in Theatre to come along and find out more about the Regal and how they can “Make Theatre Happen”.

Regal Trust Report Feb 2016

Regal Trust Report Feb 2016

Attendance figures

Feb 2013 1261 patrons

Feb 2014 1698 patrons

Feb 2015 2074 patrons

Feb 2016 1498 patrons

A disappointing month with a limited choice of good titles available to us.  Although Danish Girl and Revenant performed better than expected they were no match for last years The Theory of Everything.  

The half term films (Snoopy & Pan) were also less popular titles than last years (Penguins of Madagascar & Annie).  

The Musical Theatre School has now restarted with new tutors and the numbers attending are close to our maximum capacity in the older age group.

We have also announced our intention to form the Regal Theatre Company for adults and are in the process of collating information about what people want.

February saw a number of electrical failures in the building.  The Aisle lighting system had to be repaired as a section of the cable had corroded leading to short circuits.  The fire shutter control mechanism also overloaded blowing its fuses.  Also the Community Centre emergency lighting charging system developed a fault and the control switch was replaced.  

Regal Trust Report Jan 2016

Regal Trust Report Jan 2016

Attendance figures

Jan 2013 699 patrons

Jan 2014 1311 patrons

Jan 2015 2266 patrons

Jan 2016 3082 patrons

A good month starting with the last two pantomime performances. Suffragette, Bridge of Spies, Addicted to Sheep and Star Wars did very well.  The Lady in the Van was a film that crossed over and brought in many people who don’t usually go to the cinema.

Our Shakespeare season from the Globe hasn’t achieved the successes of previous years.  This maybe as the plays were less popular titles or because people were more attracted to other films.

We distributed in excess of 17,000 brochures at the beginning of December and this has helped to make the venue more popular.  We have also been lucky so far with the weather with only a few icy nights.  The heating in the building is better since all the additional insulation work done last year, but is still insufficient to keep the auditorium warm on very cold days.  The additional radiator and warm air door curtain helps to keep the box office to an acceptable working temperature.

We have had disappointing news from potential funders with two grant applications being turned down at the initial stage.  We now have the necessary planning permissions in place for the alterations to the function room and the stage so will continue to pursue funding opportunities.

Our technical team have almost completed the annual clean and maintenance of the lighting rig, and a number of lamps have been earmarked for disposal.  Additional LED lights have been integrated into the rig and linked with DMX control.  They have also completed the supplementary power supply installation in the projection room to power these lamps.

Regal Trust Report Dec 2015

Regal Trust Report Dec 2015

Attendance figures

Dec 2012 2297 patrons

Dec 2013 2459 patrons

Dec 2014 3054 patrons

Dec 2015 5283 patrons

A good month overall, starting with Spectre, and a number of school visits including Burford Primary for their annual nativity play, and a sell out Band Concert.  We then closed for a week to the public whilst we made preparations for our Pantomime.

This year we more than doubled the number of performances and whilst some performances did sell out we had an overall average loading of 80%, which was our initial target.

The pantomime was very well received and we have had lots of positive comments by email and on social media.

We have also heard that the businesses that stayed open to match our shows had a significant increase in footfall and takings.

The success is only due to the hard work of about 100 people and so once again we would like to publically thank all of our volunteers who gave up extra time during December and at Christmas to make the Regal and ongoing success.

Regal Trust Report Nov 2015

Regal Trust Report Nov 2015

Attendance figures

Nov 2012 1447 patrons

Nov 2013 1303 patrons

Nov 2014  1433 patrons

Nov 2015  2031 patrons

A good month overall with only three films making a loss. One a supposed blockbuster that completely failed to deliver.

We had a good audience for Raymond Froggatt and for GAGA, reversing the recent trend for live shows.  Our live Children’s show staged after the Christmas Lights switch on was also well received.

The Tenbury Floral Club’s Christmas Show was another successful evening.

We also staged three performances of a Dance show with a cast of 165 children.  This was a fantastic success and we hope they will book their next show with us.

We have seen a marked increase in school visits, with Tenbury Ormiston Academy seeing Of Mice and Men, Orleton Primary and Bayton Primary seeing Hotel Transylvania 2 and Luston seeing Polar Express.

We have now completed most of the wiring infrastructure improvements, which will be utilised for future live shows, and especially for the Pantomime.  The rehearsals for which are now fully underway.  Ticket sales are still strong, but we do have plenty of tickets left for shows after Christmas.

We now enter our busiest period of the year and would like to thank all of our volunteers who will be giving up extra time during December and at Christmas to make the Regal and ongoing success.

Regal Trust Report Oct 2015

Regal Trust Report Oct 2015

Attendance figures

Oct 2012 1293 patrons

Oct 2013 1010 patrons

Oct 2014  1247 patrons

Oct 2015  1323  patrons

A better month overall with only two films making a loss and one live show cancelled due to low ticket sales.  Unusually we were able to benefit from this by scheduling a film that we have missed and this proved to be very successful.

The live Shakespeare production of Much ado about nothing also proved more successful than we had expected, with reasonable audiences for all the performances.

Two of this month’s broadcasts were headlined by household names.  David Suchard in The Importance of being earnest and Benedict Cumberbatch playing Macbeth.  Both were successful, but numbers were slightly down on expectation.  Tony Stockwell also had a disappointing audience of about 50% of his previous visit.

The sales for the Pantomime are doing well and reacted immediately to our large mailshot.  A number of the performances have already sold more than 50% of the available tickets.  We are hoping to appear in next weekend’s Mail on Sunday in their top 100 pantomimes. We also hope that our new look website will launch this week.  As more than 50% of people now look at our website using a tablet or phone, it has been optimised for this growth area.

To address the slightly disappointing audiences of late we are doubling our print run of brochures and having them delivered by a distribution company in Ludlow, Leominster and most of Tenbury.  We will then ask our volunteers to concentrate their efforts in the area’s not being covered.

We have completed the installation of the new “clean power” circuits for the sound system, and have almost completed the installation of the sound circuits.  This should enable us to support smaller shows with our PA system without the background hum & crackle.

The replacement function room fire escape doors have now been replaced making that end of the building more secure.

We have completed the installation of a heat curtain in the box office, which along with the additional radiator should mean that this winter the cashiers can work without having to resort to additional outdoor clothing.  

The application for grant aid to support the internal renovation of the function room has now been submitted.  Hopefully this will be successful as yet again this month we have had random flooding events in the function room toilets, but still cannot ascertain where the problem is.