Aylesbury Waterside Theatre
Encyclopedia
Aylesbury Waterside Theatre is a £42million theatre in Aylesbury
, England
, United Kingdom
presenting a range of West End
and touring musicals
and plays
, along with performances of opera
and ballet
and a Christmas
pantomime
.
based architects
RHWL Arts Team was commissioned in 2007 to undertake detailed design work with a ceremony to mark the commencement of building work held on 24 May of that year with Councillor Sue Polhill, Chairman of Aylesbury Vale District Council cutting a sod from the earth . The building work was carried out by Hertfordshire
based Willmott Dixon.
On 18 February 2009 Ambassador Theatre Group
was announced as the preferred management contractor for the new venue with Joint Chief Executives Howard Panter
and Rosemary Squire, OBE signing a 6 year management contract in January 2010.
Aylesbury born actress Lynda Bellingham
marked the completion of the highest part of the building work on 24 April 2009 with a traditional topping out
ceremony.
In a joint press release on 23 February 2010, Ambassador Theatre Group and Aylesbury Vale District Council announced that the theatre would open on 12 October 2010 . The first season went on sale on 23 March 2010 with Northern Ballet's Swan Lake
set to be the first performance .
. The launch was marked with an open air live event hosted by Jonathan Wilkes
and Suzanne Shaw
. Guests included David Suchet
, Simon Callow
, Ruby Wax
, Susan Hampshire
and Richard O'Brien
. Monty Python
star and Spamalot
writer Eric Idle
sent a pre-recorded message to mark the occasion.
By the time the theatre opened in 2010 the final cost had risen again, to £47 million..
Aylesbury Vale District Council (AVDC) have appointed Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG)to manage the theatre. AVDC paid more than £192,000 in management fees to ATG from November 2010 to May 2011 an average of £24,000 a month. The management fee for the first year will total £350,000. Aylesbury taxpayers will pay out £1.75 million towards running the Theatre over the next five years..
Local residents were outraged when it emerged that AVDC paid the Ambassador Theatre Group £19,500 to hire Aylesbury’s Waterside Theatre for the 2010 general election count – despite the fact the council owns the £47 million building and even pays for its business rates.
In a bid to stem criticism of AVDC over the theatre in the local press, AVDC leaders were banned from speaking to the Bucks Herald, because the newspapers coverage is not positive enough for them.
Council leader John Cartwright, introduced the change to the way they provide quotes to the Bucks Herald because they have a number of ongoing concerns over the way in which stories relating to AVDC and Aylesbury are being reported.
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
presenting a range of West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
and touring musicals
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
and plays
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
, along with performances of opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
and ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
and a Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
.
History
In 2003, Aylesbury Vale District Council held a public consultation into plans for a new theatre to be built to replace the current Civic Centre Theatre. Norman Bragg for LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
based architects
Architecture of the United Kingdom
The Architecture of England refers to the architecture practised in the territory of the present-day country of England, and in the historic Kingdom of England...
RHWL Arts Team was commissioned in 2007 to undertake detailed design work with a ceremony to mark the commencement of building work held on 24 May of that year with Councillor Sue Polhill, Chairman of Aylesbury Vale District Council cutting a sod from the earth . The building work was carried out by Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
based Willmott Dixon.
On 18 February 2009 Ambassador Theatre Group
Ambassador Theatre Group
The Ambassador Theatre Group is an independent operator of theatres in the United Kingdom. Formed in 1992, by Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire,OBE, it acquired the Live Nation theatre group in November 2009.-List of theatres:...
was announced as the preferred management contractor for the new venue with Joint Chief Executives Howard Panter
Howard Panter
Howard Hugh Panter is a multi-award winning British theatre impresario and theatre operator. He is a Founder, Co-Owner, Joint Chief Executive and Creative Director of The Ambassador Theatre Group Ltd and Chairman of Rambert Dance Company.In 2009, together...
and Rosemary Squire, OBE signing a 6 year management contract in January 2010.
Aylesbury born actress Lynda Bellingham
Lynda Bellingham
Lynda Bellingham is a Canadian-born English actress, broadcaster and author, who is known for her distinctive husky voice.-Early life:...
marked the completion of the highest part of the building work on 24 April 2009 with a traditional topping out
Topping out
In building construction, topping out is a ceremony held when the last beam is placed at the top of a building. The term may also refer to the overall completion of the building's structure, or an intermediate point, such as when the roof is dried in...
ceremony.
In a joint press release on 23 February 2010, Ambassador Theatre Group and Aylesbury Vale District Council announced that the theatre would open on 12 October 2010 . The first season went on sale on 23 March 2010 with Northern Ballet's Swan Lake
Swan Lake
Swan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...
set to be the first performance .
Acoustics
The acoustic design, by Arup Acoustics, includes a 'Carmen' electroacoustic enhancement system. This electronically adjusts the base acoustic (designed for speech and amplified events) to provide a more reverberant sound for symphonic and choral performances.Grand Opening
Aylesbury Waterside Theatre was officially opened on 12 October 2010 by Cilla BlackCilla Black
Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...
. The launch was marked with an open air live event hosted by Jonathan Wilkes
Jonathan Wilkes
Jonathan Wilkes is an English television presenter, actor and musician. Jonny Wilkes is currently performing as Billy Flynn in Chicago at The Cambridge Theatre, London. He is also the best friend of singer Robbie Williams...
and Suzanne Shaw
Suzanne Shaw
Suzanne Shaw is an English actress, singer and television personality...
. Guests included David Suchet
David Suchet
David Suchet, CBE, is an English actor, known for his work on British television. He is recognised for his RTS- and BPG award-winning performance as Augustus Melmotte in the 2001 British TV mini-drama The Way We Live Now, alongside Matthew Macfadyen and Paloma Baeza, and a 1991 British Academy...
, Simon Callow
Simon Callow
Simon Phillip Hugh Callow, CBE is an English actor, writer and theatre director. He is also currently a judge on Popstar to Operastar.-Early years:...
, Ruby Wax
Ruby Wax
Ruby Wax is a BAFTA nominated American comedian who made a career in the United Kingdom as part of the alternative comedy scene in the 1980s.-Early life:...
, Susan Hampshire
Susan Hampshire
Susan Hampshire, Lady Kulukundis, OBE is an English actress, best-known for her many television and film roles.-Early life:Susan Hampshire was born in Kensington, London, the youngest of four children. She had two sisters and one brother...
and Richard O'Brien
Richard O'Brien
Richard Timothy Smith , better known under his stage name Richard O'Brien, is an English writer, actor, television presenter and theatre performer. He is perhaps best known for writing the cult musical The Rocky Horror Show and for his role in presenting the popular TV show The Crystal Maze...
. Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
star and Spamalot
Spamalot
Monty Python's Spamalot is a musical comedy "lovingly ripped off from" the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like the film, it is a highly irreverent parody of the Arthurian Legend, but it differs from the film in many ways, especially in its parodies of Broadway theatre...
writer Eric Idle
Eric Idle
Eric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer, and comedic composer. He was as a member of the British comedy group Monty Python, a member of the The Rutles on Saturday Night Live and author of the play, Spamalot....
sent a pre-recorded message to mark the occasion.
Controversy
At the time the theatre was given planning permission in 2006, it was expected to cost £25 million. When the contractor Willmott Dixon was appointed in 2008,the cost had risen to £35 million.By the time the theatre opened in 2010 the final cost had risen again, to £47 million..
Aylesbury Vale District Council (AVDC) have appointed Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG)to manage the theatre. AVDC paid more than £192,000 in management fees to ATG from November 2010 to May 2011 an average of £24,000 a month. The management fee for the first year will total £350,000. Aylesbury taxpayers will pay out £1.75 million towards running the Theatre over the next five years..
Local residents were outraged when it emerged that AVDC paid the Ambassador Theatre Group £19,500 to hire Aylesbury’s Waterside Theatre for the 2010 general election count – despite the fact the council owns the £47 million building and even pays for its business rates.
In a bid to stem criticism of AVDC over the theatre in the local press, AVDC leaders were banned from speaking to the Bucks Herald, because the newspapers coverage is not positive enough for them.
Council leader John Cartwright, introduced the change to the way they provide quotes to the Bucks Herald because they have a number of ongoing concerns over the way in which stories relating to AVDC and Aylesbury are being reported.