Theatre thrives with sell-out nights

Volunteers at the Alexandra Theatre were delighted to be putting out the '˜House Full' signs on successive nights.

The mixture of entertainment which attracted the capacity audiences made the feat probably unique in the theatre's 27-year history.

Every one of the 364 seats was sold for last Thursday'sappearance by medium Tony Stockwell, arranged by Bognor Regis Spiritualist Church, to start the sequence.

The theatre was again packed for the following night's free Christmas concert staged by the Salvation Army.

Next performers to enjoy playing to the maximum-sized audience possible were the tribute band, Abba Gold, who had concert goers dancing the night away to the Swedish group's popular tunes.

Sunday saw Art of Dance and Fitness students of varying ages perform a selection of songs, including traditional Christmas carols, to an appreciative audience. On stage were an adult choir as well as younger singers aged from six to 17.

The show was compered by Ben Richards, who is appearing in The Bill on ITV following parts in Casualty and Footballers' Wives.

The evening was in aid of the Chestnut Tree Children's Hospice and The Samaritans.

The successes are set to be followed by this year's panto at the theatre.

Six shows of The Wonderful World of Oz have already sold out.

The rest of the 41 performances '“ featuring soap star Alison George and local actress Chelsie Padley '“ from December 15 to January 6 are between half and three-quarters full.

Theatre manager Adam Cunard said the enthusiastic turnouts for the shows proved the growing popularity of the theatre.

'This is an absolutely brilliant start to Christmas for us. It doesn't get much better than this.

'It shows that a large number of people are now supporting the theatre and that there's a real demand for live entertainment in the town,' he commented.

The success comes at a time when the theatre is threatened with closure in the long term.

Its site has been earmarked for a new leisure, entertainment and housing complex as part of Bognor's regeneration plans.

The intention of Arun District Council and developer St Modwen Properties is to enable a combined cinema/theatre venue to be opened within the building from 2013.

But Mr Cunard said: 'Even if the Alexandra Theatre is replaced, which I have my doubts about, what is going to happen to live entertainment in the town after it is demolished and the new venue is being built?

'It's taken a couple of years for us to build our audiences up their present level. How long will it take afterwards?'

The theatre attracted 30,000 patrons in its first full year of operation under the current management to last June. Mr Cunard expects the next annual tally to be much higher.

n Seven entertainment providers have been shortlisted by Arun and St Modwen to submit detailed proposals by February 1 about how they would run the new venue '“ with a main auditorium of 500 seats '“ on Bognor seafront.

See next week's award-winning Observer Magazine