Mumford Theatre?

[Michael Kilpatrick]

Folks, anyone know what's happening at the Mumford Theatre, ARU?

It appears to have nothing on and hasn't reopened since the end of
lockdowns etc. The website, as far as I can see, doesn't explain
anything and the Twitter account has been silent since Aug 2020.

I was wondering if I might try and book it for a concert with my jazz
orchestra given that it's got (or certainly /had/) a pretty good grand
piano when we performed there in 2015.

I want to put on a performance of Duke Ellington's "The Queen's Suite"
next September 9th (for obvious reasons) and want to have a proper piano.

Michael

[Theo]

Michael Kilpatrick <ne...@mkilpatrick.co.uk> wrote:
> Folks, anyone know what's happening at the Mumford Theatre, ARU?
>
> It appears to have nothing on and hasn't reopened since the end of
> lockdowns etc. The website, as far as I can see, doesn't explain
> anything and the Twitter account has been silent since Aug 2020.

[a bit late reply, but]

No idea, but it appears the Addenbrookes Panto is scheduled to be there in
the new year:
https://www.camdram.net/shows/addenbrookes-charity-pantomime-2023

I'm not sure if the pandemic might have interrupted the pipeline of drama
students from ARU, who are a key part of the Mumford's operation.

> I was wondering if I might try and book it for a concert with my jazz
> orchestra given that it's got (or certainly /had/) a pretty good grand
> piano when we performed there in 2015.

I assume you've contacted them by now...

Theo

[Michael Kilpatrick]

On 09/11/2022 16:14, Theo wrote:

> Michael Kilpatrick <ne...@mkilpatrick.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> I was wondering if I might try and book it for a concert with my jazz
>> orchestra given that it's got (or certainly /had/) a pretty good grand
>> piano when we performed there in 2015.
>
> I assume you've contacted them by now...
>
> Theo

Tried email and Twitter to ARU, and tried the box office and management
phone numbers (but not repeatedly yet).

The website is certainly blank.

[Michael Kilpatrick]

On 09/11/2022 16:14, Theo wrote:

> Michael Kilpatrick <ne...@mkilpatrick.co.uk> wrote:
>> Folks, anyone know what's happening at the Mumford Theatre, ARU?
>>
>> It appears to have nothing on and hasn't reopened since the end of
>> lockdowns etc. The website, as far as I can see, doesn't explain
>> anything and the Twitter account has been silent since Aug 2020.
>
> [a bit late reply, but]
>
> No idea, but it appears the Addenbrookes Panto is scheduled to be there in
> the new year:
> https://www.camdram.net/shows/addenbrookes-charity-pantomime-2023

Well, flippin' Nora, this goes from bad to worse. In touch with Eileen
from St Andrew's Street baptist church - a very amenable place for
concerts - she has contacts at ARU and found this out for me:

On 11/11/2022 17:43, Eileen Hori wrote:
> This is what I heard back - ARU made the theatre manager and the
> production coordinator redundant some time back now (pre covid) and
> kept on the full time technician. They keep the theatre now for
> internal student productions basically which is a huge shame.
>
> He goes on to say the only exception is the Addenbrookes pantomime.
>
> Eileen Hori
> Centre Manager
> St Andrew’s Street Baptist Church


It's absolutely mad. Another small(ish) venue with a good grand piano
now possibly permanently unavailable?

I mean, West Road Concert Hall is over £1400 to hire for a concert and
it's too big for my expected audiences. The Junction J2 is half the size
and has no grand piano but costs almost as much as West Road. It is all
absolutely bonkers.

Michael

[Theo]

Michael Kilpatrick <ne...@mkilpatrick.co.uk> wrote:
> Well, flippin' Nora, this goes from bad to worse. In touch with Eileen
> from St Andrew's Street baptist church - a very amenable place for
> concerts - she has contacts at ARU and found this out for me:
>
> On 11/11/2022 17:43, Eileen Hori wrote:
> > This is what I heard back - ARU made the theatre manager and the
> > production coordinator redundant some time back now (pre covid) and
> > kept on the full time technician. They keep the theatre now for
> > internal student productions basically which is a huge shame.
>

> It's absolutely mad. Another small(ish) venue with a good grand piano
> now possibly permanently unavailable?

It's not dissimilar to some of the college auditoria: basically they don't
have the staff to offer them for non-college people, so you need a friend at
the college to book it and chaperone (including managing access, signing out
keys, etc). Tighter security on college sites no doubt contributes to
making this harder.

Sounds like it wasn't enough to pay its way. If it's not viable as a
commercial venue then they don't have the resources to offer it to the
public.

> I mean, West Road Concert Hall is over £1400 to hire for a concert and
> it's too big for my expected audiences. The Junction J2 is half the size
> and has no grand piano but costs almost as much as West Road. It is all
> absolutely bonkers.

I don't know if any colleges have a suitable space? I think some of them
are more, shall we say, appreciative of revenue than others.

eg Clare Hall use their dining hall for concerts and that has a grand piano
in it. It's not enormous - I'd guess capacity maybe 60-100. Not sure if
they make that available, but you could always ask the marketing person:
https://www.clarehall.cam.ac.uk/music/

Theo

[Michael Kilpatrick]

On 11/11/2022 23:34, Theo wrote:

> I don't know if any colleges have a suitable space? I think some of them
> are more, shall we say, appreciative of revenue than others.
>
> eg Clare Hall use their dining hall for concerts and that has a grand piano
> in it. It's not enormous - I'd guess capacity maybe 60-100. Not sure if
> they make that available, but you could always ask the marketing person:
> https://www.clarehall.cam.ac.uk/music/
>

Hmm, that avenue might be worth exploring given that I'm looking at 9th
September, which is out of term time at the University.


Michael

[Tim Ward]

Once Upon A Time you could get quite decent mates' rates for college
venues just by getting a member of college to book it for you (someone
who was a student there thirty years ago and has never been back since
would do fine).

But there's a *lot* less of that about than there used to be - it's now
much harder to pay anything other than the advertised rates.

--
Tim Ward - 07801 703 600
www.brettward.co.uk