Huge progress is being made with the relaunch of Felixstowe’s seafront theatre – with the announcement of six shows, and the start of on-line ticket sales.
Managers of the Spa Pavilion say they now have a timetable for the re-opening and will provide a box office within the building, for both telephone and in-person sales, from late September, to be followed by a café and bar in October, with shows starting in November.
The first act on stage will be The Stars from The Commitments on November 14 when the theatre re-opens with a gala night. The group will bring a high-energy soul night which will be a sneak preview of its 25th anniversary tour next year.
On November 15, musician and comedian Richard Digance returns to the Spa, while on December 3 Neil Sands brings his Christmas Memories show, and on December 13 the Rat Pack Live tribute will perform.
Dennis Lowe Theatre Comapny will present the panto Cinderella from December 19 to January 3, and on January 9 Marshall King will bring his tribute show The Only Way is Elvis.
Ray Anderson, the theatre’s chief executive, said the opening of the box office had been delayed slightly by the discovery of an old light tunnel in the foyer.
He said: “We’ve been working hard on the building, carrying out repairs and improvements, especially tracing and fixing leaks.
“One leak, which ended up nowhere near where it started, turned out to be coming from some glass bricks in a pod on the roof, which had been completely obscured with roofing mastic. Once we discovered this, we pulled down the ceiling in the foyer and found a lovely natural light tunnel, which we are now in the process of restoring.”
Provided the works go according to plan, box office staff will begin working at the Spa during week starting September 21, to enable people once again to call in and buy tickets.
Mr Anderson said ticket sales had been very encouraging with more than 800 already sold or reserved for the pantomime.
He said: “I couldn’t be more excited at the moment, as the building comes back to life. It seems that we are getting the support from the audience that we hoped for, and we are very thankful to all those who have booked already.”
Work is continuing to book more acts and it is planned to announce full details of the season in October.
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