The Wycombe Swan's new look will be revealed next week (From Bucks Free Press)
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The Wycombe Swan's new look will be revealed next week
2:23pm Wednesday 8th September 2010 in
THE Wycombe Swan has been revamped with a new look for the first time since it opened- hoping to encourage bigger and better shows to the theatre.
Wycombe District Council has allocated £1.195m for the refurbishment but say so far the works are well under budget.
The investment comes as the new Aylesbury's Waterside Theatre gears up for opening in October.
The refresh works included new blue seats, as opposed to the traditional red, new carpet throughout, new furniture in the foyers, technical improvements backstage and work at the town hall.
Theatre director Emma Sullivan said although the autumn season is already strong with hits like Blood Brothers and Spamalot the refresh will make the theatre more attractive to producers.
She said: “It really enables us to talk to producers of shows and say we can fit you in now. What we are really trying to do is make sure producers want to bring their shows to Wycombe.”
Mrs Sullivan is currently in talks with the producers of Hairspray, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Opera North in the hope they will bring their shows to the Swan.
The St Mary Street venue is managed by HQ Theatres under a lease and subsidy from WDC and this is the first time it has been given significant investment since it first opened in the 1990s.
Mrs Sullivan said the fact the investment has come at the same time as Aylesbury opening is “brilliant.”
She said: “it is something new to say about Wycombe. It also nice to be an established theatre. We have been here 18 years.
“It has really lifted the place and improved the atmosphere
“We just hope people will be curious to come back now. We have a fantastic autumn season coming up and next spring there are some fantastic shows.”
Mrs Sullivan said the theatre are “really pleased” WDC invested the money in the project, which HQ Theatres has also contributed to.
She said: “Money should be invested in assets in the town- in the things that make Wycombe attractive.”
Community groups in the area interested in hiring the Swan or the town hall for events may be eligible for the Wycombe swan Community Fund, administered by WDC. For more details go to www.wycombe.gov.uk/arts.
The refurbishment will be revealed to the public on Monday as Blood Brothers starts.
Comments(10)
acjy1985
says...
3:55pm Wed 8 Sep 10
MCarey
says...
6:47pm Wed 8 Sep 10
miccles
says...
11:15pm Wed 8 Sep 10
Anyway even tho i've been in Wycombe for years, and can remember when they were building the swan, i can honestly say i have never stepped foot in the place, so i wouldn't know if it needed doing or not. Knowing WDC it probably didn't,.
acjy1985
says...
11:00am Thu 9 Sep 10
dtap
says...
12:29pm Thu 9 Sep 10
r word which seems to have mysteriously been abbreviated: apparently this is a "refresh". Has anyone else noticed that buildings are also becoming "builds" recently? Very ugly. Incidentally, the Swan`s a nice theatre, but it remains a great shame that a little more artistry wasn`t commissioned for it externally - a skein of swans flying up the valley, for example, would have really caught the eye on the brickwork, particularly from Marlow Hill on entering the town.
bakerbill
says...
5:23pm Thu 9 Sep 10
themoominator wrote:I hope they replace the seats as they are set two close together for most men , as your shoulders overlap and this makes you having to sit in very uncomfortable positions, but this would mean replacing 1000 seats with say 800 and I cart see WDC doing that .
It would help if the seats didn't break when you are trying to sit down as happened to me on Sunday when the Swan reopened!
We don't use this venue now because of this .
Ewartwhatyoubulldoze
says...
8:26pm Thu 9 Sep 10
dtap wrote:Nothing pretentious in that post, then.
Interesting...anothe r word which seems to have mysteriously been abbreviated: apparently this is a "refresh". Has anyone else noticed that buildings are also becoming "builds" recently? Very ugly. Incidentally, the Swan`s a nice theatre, but it remains a great shame that a little more artistry wasn`t commissioned for it externally - a skein of swans flying up the valley, for example, would have really caught the eye on the brickwork, particularly from Marlow Hill on entering the town.
-
Next time, email "Pseuds' Corner" in Private Eye for a bigger audience.
acjy1985
says...
11:30am Fri 10 Sep 10
bakerbill wrote:Maybe you should stop eating your cakes Bill.
themoominator wrote: It would help if the seats didn't break when you are trying to sit down as happened to me on Sunday when the Swan reopened!I hope they replace the seats as they are set two close together for most men , as your shoulders overlap and this makes you having to sit in very uncomfortable positions, but this would mean replacing 1000 seats with say 800 and I cart see WDC doing that . We don't use this venue now because of this .
bakerbill
says...
5:12pm Mon 13 Sep 10
acjy1985 wrote:Stopping eating cakes will make no difference to my shoulder width.
bakerbill wrote:Maybe you should stop eating your cakes Bill.
themoominator wrote: It would help if the seats didn't break when you are trying to sit down as happened to me on Sunday when the Swan reopened!I hope they replace the seats as they are set two close together for most men , as your shoulders overlap and this makes you having to sit in very uncomfortable positions, but this would mean replacing 1000 seats with say 800 and I cart see WDC doing that . We don't use this venue now because of this .
I don't eat cakes anyway .
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themoominator says...
3:01pm Wed 8 Sep 10