New room for stars

STARS arriving to perform to crowds at an Ipswich theatre are now being welcomed by plush new dressing rooms.

The Ipswich Regent spent the summer months making improvements to the dressing rooms, redecorating the front foyer, improving lighting and creating a customer cloakroom.

The £60,000 project was the first in a series of improvements planned for the theatre, and involved the redecoration of all seven dressing rooms used by visiting acts as well as the removal of asbestos that had been used in the construction of the building.

Theatre manager Hazel Clover said the work at the theatre had been long overdue and meant the venue could now give stars a welcome to be proud of ahead of their performance.

“Most of the artists are going on very long tours, sometimes of many months, they are totally packed tours so when they are using a theatre it is their home for however long they are there. They need the right space to prepare and it is important they can prepare in an area where they feel comfortable and private.”

The dressing rooms have all been freshly painted and re-designed and given televisions, while the main dressing room also has a private bathroom.

Improved lighting at the front of the building, redecoration of some of the front foyer area, refurbishment of the seating boxes and the creation of the cloakroom were also all completed over the summer.

These works are part of a £100,000 long term project to improve facilities at the Regent and January next year will see additional seating areas for visitors with disabilities and more wheelchair spaces - including some in the front row and improvements to customer toilets and to the bar areas.

Acts to have used the new dressing rooms so far have been Joe Pasquale, Michael Bolton and James Blunt, Status Quo, who have been visiting the Regent for several years will also use the new dressing rooms when they appear on Saturday and Sunday.