Roses Theatre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Roses Theatre | |
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| Type | Arts and Entertainment |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1974 (opened 1975) |
| Headquarters | Tewkesbury, UK |
| Key people | Stan Stennett, Robert Hamlin |
| Employees | 50+ |
| Website | Roses Theatre
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The Roses Theatre is a art-house cinema and live performance venue located in the centre of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England. Its main auditorium seats 375 and accommodates 35mm film projection as well as live performance. It offers patrons a wide range of music, theatre, film and dance.
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[edit] History
The Roses Theatre was built in 1974 on the site of the Sabrina Cinema which closed in the mid 1960s.
The Roses Theatre opened on the 31st October 1975 with a huge amount of publicity by Her Royal Highness the Princess Anne.
The Roses Theatre has always been owned by Tewkesbury Borough Council but has been run by different management teams including Crossroads TV actor Stan Stennett and former Director of Coventry's Belgrade Theatre, Robert Hamlin.
[edit] Eric Morecambe
The popular British comedian Eric Morecambe collapsed in Dressing Room 1 at the theatre after taking a final curtain call in May 1984. He died shortly afterwards at Cheltenham General Hospital.
The Roses Theatre remembers the comic legend by naming the theatres' conference room after him. The Eric Morecambe Room is used by local and national companies for conferences and meetings.
The Roses Theatre has been featured in TV shows documenting his life and featured photographs of his final performance as well as interviews with Stan Stennett who was a friend of Eric Morecambe.
Rumours have it that there is some video footage of Eric Morecambe's final performance - but this has yet to be discovered.
[edit] Early 1990s Decline and Closures
Declining audience numbers around 1991 meant that Stan Stennett's lease of the theatre was not renewed by Tewkesbury Borough Council.
The last feature film to be shown was Walt Disney's Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
In May 1995, the new lease holders were declared bankrupt. The Roses Theatre closed its doors.
[edit] The Re-Opening
The Roses Theatre was left closed for one year and was on the verge of being replaced with a car park until The Roses Theatre Trust was formed by a small group of local businessmen in 1995 with one aim in mind - to save the towns theatre and cinema.
They succeeded and the new Roses Theatre re-opened in May 1996 for the Half-Term holiday as a trial run. Shortly afterwards the theatre re-opened as a full time venue and has continued to operate ever since.
In January 1997 Her Royal Highness the Princess Anne re-visited the theatre that she opened 21 years previously in 1975 to "re-launch" the theatre.
The Roses Theatre has improved year on year with audience numbers increasing every year.
[edit] Moving Forward
In September 2006, The Roses Theatre will be installing brand new projection equipment. The theatre will invest in a brand new 35mm film projector, Dolby Digital Surround Sound and a state of the art Digital Projector.
This could not be possible without the generous grant The Roses received from the Arts Council but also from donations from audiences.
[edit] The Roses Theatre Pantomime
The Roses Theatre was the first theatre in Gloucestershire and the southern West Midlands to host a professional pantomime at Christmas time.
Since 1996, The Roses Theatre's annual Pantomime is staged for just over one month between the start of December to mid January. It is written specially for The Roses Theatre by Ian Lauchlan and Will Brenton - the creaters of Childrens BBC's Tweenies and Playdays. Between 1996 and 2006 the Pantomime was Directed by The Roses Theatre's Manager, Robert Hamlin.
The 2006/2007 pantomime is Jack and the Beanstalk and runs from December 1st to January 6th. There will be no film screenings during this period as The Roses will be in full Panto-fever during this period with 2 shows everyday.
The Roses Theatre does not cast "Celebrities" - they cast professional actors who will not take the limelight from the rest of the cast. The chorus is cast from teenagers who live in Tewkesbury and the surrounding areas (i.e. Bredon, Worcester, Cheltenham, Kidderminster)
[edit] Crossroads stage show (1989)
In 1989 the Roses Theatre was transformed into the famous Crossroads Motel as part of the soap's 25th Anniversary.
Stan Stennett, manager of The Roses Theatre from 1980 to 1993, starred in Crossroads during the 1980s.
