It's been a long time coming!! The people of Dunstable have been waiting for their own theatre ever since the Queensway Hall was knocked down at the beginning of the new century, but this April sees the opening of the new Grove Theatre, a brand new £16 million arts and entertainment venue for the town.
 | | The reception area (artist's impression) |
The 780 seat theatre, which is managed by Leisure Connection in conjunction with South Bedfordshire District Council, is part of a development that also includes bars and restaurants and is expected to attract around 300,000 visitors each year. General Manager Jo Ditch has been involved with the project for the past 18 months and she told us what residents can expect and how excitement is growing as their prepare to open the doors! This venue has been quite a long time coming hasn't it? Jo: Yes - I think the community in Dunstable have waited quite along time for this so we're getting an awful lot of really positive feedback from people phoning up and people popping in. Everyone is very excited about being able to get into the Box Office and actually come and buy their tickets. As Leisure Connection we've been involved in the project for about two years and I've been working on the project for about 18 months so it's been really interesting growing the team that are going to be working at the theatre. And there's not just a new theatre is there? Jo: A developer built the theatre and all the units attached to the side and eventually there'll be all these bars and restaurants that will run alongside it. As Leisure Connection we're operating the theatre side and the units will be let out to various restaurants. We'll run our own bars for pre and post-show drinks but there'll also be the option of these other bars and I think they will just bring a whole new world to Dunstable! What sort of things will be on at the theatre, what can people expect? Jo: We have done a mix of theatre because we needed to know what people in the area were interested in. We sent out mailing list cards so people could come back to us with their interests and from that we've programmed the theatre accordingly. So we have drama and children's shows, opera, musicals and over the next few seasons of work we'll hopefully be able to tailor them more to the people of South Beds. But for now we've put on quite an eclectic mix. There's very few gaps in the schedule at the moment. So the people of Dunstable have been really involved in the programming? Jo: Absolutely and we always welcome feedback. We've had people phone up and ask will there be any ballet in the theatre and due to that sort of interest we have now programmed some ballet for later on in the year and also there's been some children's theatre booked in for later. There's a big opening gala isn't there? Jo: Yes - the gala evening has been put together to show people a variety of the different things that are going to be on the stage. It's being hosted by Brian Blessed and it will include a pop / opera group called Milan and the Ellen Kent Opera Stars and the Welsh Guards, who have composed a fanfare for the opening of the Grove. There's lots of stars that we're keeping under wraps and the names will be released soon - but tickets are selling extremely quickly. And after that there's a very popular musical coming in?
 | | Seats in the circle |
Jo: Yes - we'll then have a week of Joseph [and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat] which is a lovely family show and involves children from the local community. It's just quite a colourful musical to start off the season. I think it was just really important that we had a large musical in first to show what we were able to do at the Grove. There's been a lot of surprise from people that we've got London shows coming in. It does give a good idea of the scale of the theatre - but how many seats has it got? Jo: It's got 780 seats and in the stalls you can remove about 400 seats so it goes to a flat floor. So it's multipurpose - is there a circle as well? Jo: Yes - you've got the stalls and then the circle level and then there are some very nice rear stalls which are raised. So you can put a lot of different sorts of events on? Jo: Yes - that's why it was created the way it was so that it can be moved around. We also have a function room which can accommodate 100 people for parties and things so we're hoping to do some workshops in that area and we have an education person on board who has already booked up quite a lot of the space! So it's a real kind of community space for the area? What about local groups? Jo: We have the Dunstable Operatic Society who are coming in with 42nd Street in November and so they will be the first of the amateur groups to come into us. They've worked very hard to fund raise to put on the show at the theatre and they had some help from South Beds District Council with their discount scheme that's been set up. They'll be the first of many I hope. There's a hire cost to perform at the theatre and South Beds District Council have done a 50 per cent discount on that. You have to fit a certain criteria to be eligible for that discount and that can all be done in writing through the Council, but it's usually for groups and people who are based in South Beds. Is one of the challenges of moving into a new theatre is that it's all quite unknown? Jo: It's difficult to know the different areas and what people would like. It would be very easy to go into a regional venue and say what works in that venue but I think every community is different and every area is different and disposable income is different so you have to tailor for those needs. What's been the most difficult thing for you?
 | | Milan will perform at the opening gala |
Jo: One of the most challenging things has been to pick the right team for the building. I think we've been given a great opportunity to create a professional team to run the venue and that's been quite challenging to try and hand pick those people. I'm really pleased to say that I think we have the best team to run it, we've got an awful lot of experience coming from lots of different theatre backgrounds from the West End to the larger and smaller regionals - everybody's professional in their own field. It's all going to create an amazing experience for the people to come along. There's a lot of hard
work that goes on behind the scenes. Is it quite scary to be setting up a whole programme before you've actually got a theatre to go into? Jo: It IS a scary experience and it's also quite scary for the producers bringing shows in. The one thing they say to me is, 'is it really going to open on April 21st?' But you just have to take that leap of faith really. I knew it was going to open and we had to trust in each other to present these shows and get them on. I've noticed Brian Blessed is confirmed to play Captain Hook in your panto Peter Pan. I think this is the earliest that I've ever talked about panto?! Jo: Yes - it's very exciting and we're really pleased that he's coming to do the gala as well because that ties in quite nicely. I think he's almost like a friend of the theatre already! And already our panto sales are doing really well. Before we'd even announced who was in it or what the title was we were having booking for the pantomime. It was absolutely amazing. People are quite loyal to their area I think. So for you - what do you think will be great about the Grove Theatre? Jo: I think that the Grove Theatre gives everybody in the area an opportunity to get involved with theatre in some way whether it is joining one of the youth theatre schemes or a summer scheme in the summer holidays, or giving them a chance to see West End Theatre but at more reasonable prices. I think it's just giving everybody an opportunity to be involved if they want to be and I do think that there's something for everybody. If there's not then we'd like to know! | 
