In association with
The Roses Review Summer 2018
Welcome... I have been Interim Director since January, running The Roses until a full time Director is recruited. I have much enjoyed my time in Tewkesbury. While I have been aware of The Roses and visited occasionally, I have been constantly amazed by the sheer range and number of its offerings. As you will see in this Review, we are adding an art gallery to the live events and the films and all the community and education activities. The spring/summer programme is strong again with some well known comedians and plenty of music including jazz afternoons in the bar. We also have the follow up film to Mamma Mia! on its UK release date - a first for us which we have high hopes will beat Box Office records once again! I hope to see you at The Roses over the summer.
Geoffrey Rowe Interim Director
Booking Dates Booking dates for this brochure are as follows:
Patrons: Thursday 17 May Friends & Seat Donors: Monday 21 May General Public: Thursday 24 May
Could You Spare Any Time? Over the last couple of years we have quite significantly increased the number of film screenings we offer. This is fantastic for our audiences and the town benefits from the extra footfall too, but it does mean we are having to ask more and more of our loyal volunteers, who diligently chaperone every single performance here. If you would like to join our team and could spare a few hours now and then, we would be incredibly grateful to have you on board! If you’re interested, please drop Richard a line at richard.booth@rosestheatre.org - we would be very glad to hear from you!
There are plenty of events within this brochure that are brand new to sale. Highlights include: • All films from June onwards (pages 24 - 34) • All summer workshops (pages 18 - 19) • The Lindsay Martin Group (page 7) • Outdoor theatre with The Tempest (page 12) • Yolanda Brown (page 13) • Dad’s Army Radio Hour (page 14) • Adam Kay: This Is Going To Hurt (page 15) • Chris Ramsey (page 16) • Tom Allen (page 16)
Backstage Pass
Linda Pike
Linda is The Roses’ Projectionist and is the longest serving member of staff with 32 years’ service under her belt. Here she is interviewed by her son, Spike (who is The Roses’ other Projectionist!) paper parcel tied up with string)… trying to show a film dressed up like that was a challenge but I did it! Of course I’ve had some fun times with films; I’ve shown a film to Hollywood legend Charlton Heston when he visited the theatre for a talk, I’ve shown a film supplied to us from someone’s shed (which disintegrated as it went through the projector), I’ve shown an original archive film about Scott in the Antarctic from the BFI (of which each reel had to be shown individually as we couldn’t splice them together like a normal film). I’ve had multiple films snap on me while projecting – it’s action stations when film starts piling up on the floor instead of onto a reel! How long have you been at The Roses? I joined The Roses in October 1985, originally working for Stan Stennett and his family who operated the theatre at the time. How did you come to work at The Roses? I saw an advert in the paper and on the theatre doors advertising for someone who enjoyed films. I thought it was for an usherette! The head projectionist, Charlie Ruddle, was retiring and I was interviewed by his assistant Ian MacLachlan. When I joined, as well as Projection, I also rigged and operated the lights for live productions. During Stan’s time he often scheduled back to back productions which meant once one show had finished at 10pm we had to clear the stage and then reset for the next production for the next day – we were often here until 2am! What was the first film you projected at The Roses? When I was being trained the film was A Chorus Line starring Michael Douglas. Some of the other early films I showed included E.T., Out of Africa and Gremlins. What’s your most memorable story about your time so far at The Roses? Well, there’s several… I’ve been chased around backstage by Acker Bilk who wanted to show me his liquorice stick (his clarinet); Ken Dodd who just wouldn’t come off stage (his own production team went home at 1am leaving us to get him off!); Gary Willmott being very charming to me; Fascinating Aida were regulars with Dillie Keane and were so generous they bought everyone cakes when they performed here. We were the first theatre in the UK outside of London to screen Singalonga-Sound of Music so we all dressed up. I was dressed up in a brown box (brown
What do you love about your job? I was trained by Charlie, who was a traditional showman. He taught me that putting on a film is the same as a live show – it’s putting on an event. This is why we still use curtains, tab warmers and adjust the house lighting accordingly – we put on a show which is something that you don’t see in the multi-screen cinemas today. We never leave a blank screen visible. It is our responsibility as projectionists to ensure that the films are presented in the absolute best way possible and to not compromise the time and money spent to create the film. As well as the technical side of my job, I love being part of a team working closely with Front of House staff and other backroom personnel. It’s also lovely being able to work with and rely upon my son Spike, who has been here since he was a baby in a Moses basket in the corner, and is also Projectionist here. I also like to chat to some of our regulars about up and coming films that they might enjoy. The Roses is part of our family. My Son, Spike, has grown up at The Roses and as a small child he was given toys from Stan Stennett and helped the kiosk lady, Joyce, with her ice cream trays. I started to show him how to show films when he was 9 and has now been a projectionist here at The Roses for nearly 20 years. My daughter Debbie got engaged in the auditorium and I had a surprise 60th This Is Your Life event on the stage a few years ago. After 32 years I still get a buzz from it.
An Unprecedented Easter
Who on earth could have predicted that one mischievous furry rodent would sell over 3,000 tickets over a 7 day period? Certainly not us, but that’s what happened over Easter weekend this year! The combination of less than springlike weather and a whopping 25 film screenings in a week, of not only Peter Rabbit but also the topical Mary Magdelene and the upbeat Finding Your Feet, saw a total of 4,451 film tickets sold in just 7 days. And they say they don’t make ‘em like they used to! Thanks to everyone that came along to help make this Easter our best ever.
Dick Whittington It always feels wrong to mention Christmas at this early stage in the year... but we are well into planning for this year’s pantomime, Dick Whittington! As this went to print, well over 5,000 seats had already been sold or reserved by schools and groups, making this the fastest selling panto in our history. If you’d like to arrange a group outing to us this year, we would be delighted to help you organise one. Kate (who you may know from Box Office) is our Group Booking Co-ordinator and will be your sole point of contact to make life as easy as possible from initial enquiry to successful visit. She can be reached at kate.shaw@rosestheatre.org.
Hot Off The Press! In between sending the brochure to print and this newsletter to print, we were asked to put the following show on sale:
Beyond The Barricade The UK’s longest running Musical Theatre Concert Tour features past principal performers from Les Miserables and delivers over two hours of the best of Broadway and the West End. Saturday 26 January 7.30pm A B C £25 (No concessions available)
New Life For Our Gallery Following the departure of our curator last May, exhibitions at The Roses sadly dwindled, with nobody with the experience within the building to take on the job of curating a gallery. Happily, all that has now changed with the appointment of Heather Sunderland, who has taken on the job with gusto and as well as solidly booking a hugely varied programme of work has also given the space a much needed lick of paint. Full listings are always be available online, but here is a handy list of exhibitions that were booked as this newsletter went to press: Graeme Robb | Monday 14 May - Friday 8 June James Fowkes | Monday 11 June - Friday 6 July Through The Lens | Monday 9 - Friday 20 July Keith Browning | Monday 6 - Friday 31 August Penny Gaj | Monday 3 - Wednesday 26 September
Graeme Robb
The Daily Expresso...
An update from Ethical Addictions (sponsors and suppliers of our delicious coffee) Quality of Coffee Our Kilimanjaro coffees are exceptionally grown Arabicas and cup consistently highly year after year. This year’s trip was a reflective one after 10 years in Tanzania, and we were able to map the increased quantity and quality of the crop, especially from the smallholders higher up the mountain slopes.
As Ethical Addictions we have only ever bought the higher grades (AA / AB / PB) but the percentage of their overall crop reaching that standard was at an all-time high this year. It comes to us following its diligent processing by the farmers to ensure excellent selection, utmost care to washing and gentle drying under the African sun. First cupping of this crop shows the usual strong, bold coffee with its subtle hints of dark chocolate and orange. Quality of Life The quality of our coffee is important to us as coffee drinkers, as a business for our customers, and because it offers a sustainable way to help those who work hard to grow it. That’s why we have endeavoured to build a business that does coffee, trade and social action excellently. Ian’s recent trip to Tanzania did all of the
above - checking quality, agreeing the trade, and digging furrows for the latest water project. For more on the water projects and some of the villagers it has helped, including photos and video, check out www.eacoffee.co.uk. Meet Chief Mushi In honour of the work EA has done in Mweka for the past 10 years Ian was surprised to be made a chief in the Chagga tribe. We think he looks fantastic!
Ethical Addictions ground coffee or beans are now available to buy from The Roses’ Coffee Shop!
Staff Picks
Shirley Grant (B ox Office & Customer Relatio ns Manager) “I wouldn’t norm ally go to somet hing like The Magic of Motown (Thur 9 & Fri 10 Aug) but af ter watching som e of their YouTube clips, I’m there! Plus it was one of our bestselling shows when it ca me to us last year ”
e) p)... “Lindisfarne (Sun 23 Se dle!” because I love a good fid
Alan Tickner (Box Offic
e) Emily Chapman (Box Offic “I’m interested to see Ballet e). Cymru’s Cinderella (Fri 15 Jun diately As a Disney fan I was imme lly ua drawn to it. It looks vis at things stunning and I’ve heard gre from about this ballet company m” the n see ve colleagues who ha
Richard Booth (O perations Manager ) “Without giving aw ay my age, I’m looking forward to 80s Mania (Fri 31 Aug), I’m a New Ro mantic at heart!”