Council waits in wings to run theatre

With just months to go until Scarborough’s Open Air Theatre reopens for the season, the borough council’s Cabinet member for tourism, David Jeffels, said the authority was preparing to unleash a back-up plan and stage its own events if a line-up wasn’t announced soon.

It comes after Apollo Leisure, the operator of the £3.5m venue, which was opened by the Queen in May 2010, sparked confusion this week when a list of top acts for this year were spotted on the entertainment company’s website.

People took to social networking site Twitter to express their excitement over the line-up, which included the English National Ballet’s production of Swan Lake.

However, when approached by the Yorkshire Post, Apollo’s chairman Paul Gregg admitted the company had made a mistake and the official programme would not be revealed until the end of this month.

“It was premature unfortunately on our part and we apologise for that,” he said. “It will be taken off the website until the new programme is announced at the end of January.”

Mr Gregg said the shows, which also included a classical spectacular, had been posted online following a series of early discussions with promoters. But the company was unable to secure the acts after additional permanent seating and a stage extension, which was planned for this year, did not go ahead as expected.

“Unfortunately the council won’t be able to deliver that until at least November 2013,” he added. “Without that we can’t stage attractions like the English National Ballet.”

Mr Gregg denied claims that no acts have yet been booked to perform for the 2012 season, but refused to reveal any names.

He insisted, however, there was a planned programme in place, which included two major weekly events that were more “visitor orientated”.

“We have taken a very positive approach to next year and we are very optimistic about everything,” he added.

Despite a huge fanfare surrounding its launch, the venue has failed to reach its 6,500-seat capacity on a number of occasions, despite a host of big names appearing on the stage, including Elton John and Kiri Te Kanawa.

Mr Gregg blamed the problem on a lack of public support despite offering low ticket prices, with a concert by pop group N-Dubz filling just 60 per cent of the venue.

He said: “We are disappointed that some of the attractions didn’t pull in the audiences that were expected but at the end of the day it’s only the people that pay for the tickets that make the decision.”

Coun Jeffels said the stage extension, which would see a floating platform positioned over the venue’s water feature, was never promised for this year.

“The council did say it would look into the possibility of a floating stage being provided because we appreciate this was seen as key to attracting a number of shows where artists wanted closer contact with the audience, but that is still something that is under investigation.

“It will be subject to a business case and we need to explore where the funding will come from.”

He said the council had been locked in constant discussions with Apollo over the 2012 programme but expressed disappointment that details had not yet been released.

“The council has been making contingency plans in light of the present situation. If Apollo finds it cannot provide a programme for the theatre we have the contractors and the experts available to us to do that.

“We have an agreement where we have the right to put on attractions and stage events. I’m hoping a line-up will be revealed by the end of January but we do have a plan B.”

Eager to involve the town’s tourism industry with the promotion of the summer programme, Coun Jeffels said he hoped Apollo would follow through with its promise of delivering an attractive line-up by the end of the month.

“We are anxious to get the names in the public arena as soon as possible because we need to make sure there is enough time to publicise the shows to ensure they are a success. This will bring people into the town and benefit the tourism industry as a whole.”

Scarborough and Whitby MP Robert Goodwill said he shared Coun Jeffels’s concerns that the line-up had not yet been released.

“It’s disappointing we haven’t got a list of acts coming to Scarborough this summer given that it has such a short season.”

Day the Queen came to visit

The Queen was given the best seat in the house when she officially opened Scarborough’s open air theatre in front of a 6,500-strong crowd who had gathered to welcome her and the Duke of Edinburgh on May 20, 2010.

The Royal party arrived in the North Yorkshire resort – the Queen’s first visit to the town since July 1975 – by train before being driven to the theatre in Northstead Manor Gardens, which is the largest operating open air theatre in Europe.

The amphitheatre first opened in 1932 but – apart from a handful of performances in the 1980s – productions largely ceased there after 1968 and in 1977 the dressing room and stage, set on an island, were demolished.

A ruin for two decades, planning permission for a major restoration of the theatre was granted in 2008 as part of the multi-million-pound Sands development in the town’s North Bay. Work started on the site in 2009.