Page 48 - MISER

THE MAGIC OF THE FIRST THEATRE EXPERIENCE
I still remember, aged four, perched in the Upper Circle of the London Palladium watching Tommy Steele in Hans Christian Andersen, a magical musical to welcome me into the world of theatre. From that moment on,
I was hooked. Coming into London to the bright lights
of the West End – it had me,
I was a theatregoer for life...
The house lights go down,
the music starts up, the stage lights go on, the magic begins.
Producing shows and running theatres at Nimax, I wanted to help pass on that first magic to thechildrenoftoday–theyare our theatregoers for tomorrow, the West End audience of the future. I am proud to lead our family programme. Importantly, I wanted it to be accessible, inclusive and affordable for all.
Seven years ago at Nimax, we began this journey to open our doors and with the wonderful co-operation of our staff, producers, technicians and partners – we began a programme to present theatre during the days for families that was of the highest quality at affordable prices – and with
the clear objective of delivering the magic of a first theatre experience to the most important members of our future audiences – the children...
Since then, we have welcomed over 1,900,000 people through our doors seeing these shows mainly during the summer and
Christmas holidays. We have celebrated Olivier Award nominations, rave reviews, full houses – but nothing is more important than the smile on the child’s face as they walk out of theatre and turn to their parent and say ‘Can I come again tomorrow?’.
• Julia Donaldson’s
The Gruffalo
• Judith Kerr’s
The Tiger Who Came to Tea
• Julia Donaldson’s Room on the Broom
• HorribleHistoriesBarmy Britain 1, 2 and 3 adapted from the books by
Terry Deary
• Michael Rosen’s We’re Going On a Bear Hunt
• Jacqueline Wilson’s
Hetty Feather
• Michael Morpugo’s
I Believe in Unicorns
• Potted Potter, Potted Sherlock, Potted Panto
• The Three Little Pigs
by Stiles and Drewe
These are just some of the shows that have graced the stages throughout the Nimax group: the Apollo, Lyric, Garrick, Vaudeville, Duchess and Palace Theatres. Amazingly, performances go on throughout the day with often up to three
shows a day from 10am to 4pm. During one week of August 2015 alone, we presented 19 performances of The Gruffalo at the Lyric, 14 performances
of Horrible Histories at the Garrick, 12 performances of
I Believe in Unicorns at the Vaudeville and 13 performances of Three Little Pigs at the Palace. Fifty-nine performances of four different shows in one week, tens of thousands of theatregoers enjoying these wonderful shows and beautiful buildings during the day.
This would not be possible without the creative skills of the teamsinvolvedinbringingthese shows together including Tall Stories Theatre Company, Kenny Wax Ltd, Birmingham Stage Company and many more, the commitment and hardwork of the staff throughout the Nimax Theatres Group and most importantly the audiences – the families who begin their theatre journeys in these wonderful, magical buildings.
Summer 2017: we will welcome four more daytime family shows to Nimax Theatres including Horrible Histories at the Garrick and What the Ladybird Heard at the Lyric.
Visit: www.nimaxtheatres.com for more information.
Laurence Miller Commercial Director