Kings Theatre, Southsea

Infobox Theatre
name = Kings Theatre

---

caption = Kings Theatre, 2007
address = Albert Road
city = Southsea
country = England
designation =
latitude = 50.787171
longitude = -1.081313
architect = Frank Matcham
owner = Kings Theatre Trust Ltd
capacity = 1,600
type = Large scale touring venue
opened = September 1907
yearsactive =
rebuilt =
closed =
othernames =
production =
currentuse =
website = www.kings-southsea.com

Kings Theatre is a theatre in Southsea, Portsmouth which opened in 1907. It is operated by the charity Kings Theatre Trust Ltd.

History

The theatre opened on the 30th of September 1907 with a production of "Charles 1" followed by 2 further of Sir Henry Irving's Works. The theatre stayed in the control of its original owners, The Portsmouth Theatre Company, until 1964 when it was purchased by Commander Reggie & Mrs Joan Cooper. In 1990 it was sold again to Hampshire County council. After a threat of closure the theatre was purchased by Portsmouth City Council and leased to the Kings Theatre Trust Ltd who undertook the restoration of the building. The present day theatre has a seating capacity of 1600 and a computerised booking system. Much of the backstage area is still fully manual, allowing it to retain the tag of a traditional hemp house, though powered flying bars have now been installed to allow large scale productions.

The Kings Theatre Trust

The Kings Theatre Trust Ltd. is a registered charity which oversees both the day to day running and the restoration of the building, as well as productions at the theatre. The restoration is in part funded by Hampshire and Portsmouth councils. Chairman Ron Hasker, Vice-Chairman Ian Pratt, Marketing Director Robin Tucker, Education and Heritage Director Sean Bowman, Finance Director Paul Wragg.

taff

General Manager David Cooper, Marketing Manager Alan Jenkins, Technical Manager Louise Birchall, Front Of House Manager Lorraine Garrard, Finance Manager Shirley Pullen, Group Bookings and Publicity Officer Sandra Smith, Box Office Supervisor Erin Petraca

Restoration Work

The Kings Theatre underwent a £500'000 refurbishment of the auditorium, including the ceiling. Beginning on the 17th of June 2007 the theatre was cleared and scaffolding was constructed to allow access to the higher areas of the auditorium. There was work to restore the decorations of the theatre and maintain the areas. During this work a small 120 theatre was created within the auditorium which was known as the Stage 2 Studio. The Studio season was such a success that it is being repeated during the Summer of 2008 (throughout August) with music, comedy, children's shows, drama and dance all part of the line up.

Pantomime 2008

Charlene Tilton from the hit american tv show Dallas will star in Cinderella, as Cinderella's evil stepmother. The Pantomime shall also star CBBCs Simon Grant and James Crossley (Hunter from the hit 1990s show Gladiators).

Showing from December 10th 2008 until Janurary 4th 2009, tickets are already selling fast!

Events

A full list of the events at the Kings Theatre is available by logging onto the official site, www.kings-southsea.com

Box Office

To book tickets call the Box Office on 023 9282 8282

References

* [http://www.kings-southsea.com Kings Theatre] Official site