ANNUAL REPORT 2018/19 Mayflower Theatre ANNUAL REPORT 2018–2019 Chairman’s Report 2 6 ,176 PEOPLE TAKING PART IN OUR COMMUNITY INITIATIVES Mayflower Theatre has had a memorable year, closing for a 15 week major refurbishment project which resulted in a brand new look and feel to our auditorium. Significant improvements in the connectivity between our front Our Chief Executive, Michael Ockwell, has had a tremendous Finally, I pay tribute to my fellow directors and our Company Secretary, of house, offices and backstage were also made. We are very year. In addition to his normal (if there is such a state in the for their contributions at meetings and support of myself and the proud of the outcome, delivered on time and under budget, and theatre world) duties, he has revealed true leadership qualities in Theatre. This ensures excellent governance and a positive of all our staff who fully supported this £7.5m development. overseeing the successful major refurbishment. The Board and I approach – across the whole company – to all aspects of express our deepest gratitude to him. The contribution of Alison the business. During the closure period we were delighted that all permanent Harrison, our Director of Finance, and the whole Executive Team staff volunteered for six local charities – Naomi House Children’s was essential as well and my Board truly thank them. Hospice, Marwell Zoo, Countess Mountbatten Hospice, Society of St James, S.C.R.A.T.C.H (Southampton City and Region We thank our loyal sponsors and partners Paris Smith, Action to Combat Hardship) and Fareshare providing over 2,000 Beechdean, Carlsberg, The London Hotel, Brymor Malcolm Le Bas man hours – the equivalent of 376 days. This is a testament Construction, Geo Speciality Chemicals, Peter Cooper, Chairman to the commitment and dedication of our splendid staff, much Hoburne Development, HWB Chartered Accountants, appreciated by my Board. We continue our commitment to their Hildon, Hampshire Football Association, Rees Group WE ARE VERY PROUD OF THE OUTCOME, DELIVERED ON TIME AND UNDER BUDGET, personal development with a series of internal initiatives which and TNG Engineering for their continuing support. AND OF ALL OUR STAFF WHO FULLY SUPPORTED THIS DEVELOPMENT. offer opportunities for our teams to work together and understand the key role they all play in the success of their theatre. We continue to take our advocacy role seriously as part of the vibrant local cultural scene. Our Engage work goes from strength to strength with over 26,000 people taking part in our community initiatives, whether as part of our Open Voices Choir, aimed at retired residents, or in the numerous public performances of our Youth Theatre. ALL OUR PERMANENT STAFF VOLUNTEERED FOR SIX LOCAL CHARITIES FOR £7.refurbishment 5 mproject 2,000HOURS of our auditorium THE EQUIVALENT OF 376 DAYS 02 03 Mayflower Theatre ANNUAL REPORT 2018–2019 PERFORMANCES FROM LES BALLETS TROCKADERO DE MONTE CARLO Chief Executive’s TOTAL ATTENDANCE OF Artistic Report 2 423,814 Even with the summer closure, Having committed to developing our dance programme we presented the sensational Les ballets Trockadero de Monte AVERAGE CAPACITY we presented a total of 290 Carlo for two performances. In this year we consolidated our % performances and were delighted Associate Companies Scheme with visits from Northern Ballet, 86 to welcome a total attendance English National Ballet (ENB) and Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB). BRB gave us an unforgettable production of Beauty of 423,814 which represented and the Beast, ENB a wonderful Manon and Matthew Bourne an average capacity of 86%. made his annual visit with his brilliant production of Swan Lake. Our association with Welsh National Opera saw a season Our most attended shows were Wicked, our pantomime featuring La traviata, War and Peace and La Cenerentola in the Dick Whittington starring Steve McFadden and Joe McElderry, autumn. We presented a variety of new touring shows including War Horse, Jersey Boys and Shrek the Musical. Benidorm Live, The Kite Runner, Calendar Girls the Musical, An Officer and a Gentleman and The Girl on the Train We were pleased to continue to develop our artistic vision. alongside return visits of Blood Brothers, American Idiot, This ensures that there is a diversity in our programme as we The Full Monty and The Band bringing a wide and diverse meet our strategic aims by presenting the very best opera, audience to our theatre. ballet, new musicals, drama, family-friendly shows and one night concerts. WE PRESENTED A VARIETY OF NEW TOURING SHOWS BRINGING A WIDE AND DIVERSE AUDIENCE TO OUR THEATRE WE PRESENTED A TOTAL OF 290PERFORMANCES 04 05 Chief Executive’s Artistic Report continued… ANNUAL REPORT 2018–2019 2018/19 MEMORABLE PERFORMANCES OF PANTOMIME LES MISÉRABLES ATTENDANCE OF 4 SCHOOL EDITION Our focus on developing family audiences was supported by 54,983 visits from Awful Auntie based on the David Walliams book, The Worst Witch, and The Night Before Christmas. Our Summer Youth Project, held offsite this year at King Edwards Sixth Form School due to the closure, gave us four memorable performances OVER 40 of Les Misérables School Edition. PERFORMANCES We were particularly proud of opening Titanic the Musical, a production on which Mayflower Theatre were associate producer. The production went on a very successful tour of the UK and in 2019 will be touring internationally taking the Mayflower Theatre brand to a world-wide audience. Michael Ockwell, Chief Executive WE WERE PROUD TO BE THE ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS OF TITANIC THE MUSICAL 06 07 Mayflower Theatre ANNUAL REPORT 2018–2019 Shows 2018/19 With grateful thanks to the performers who appear on our stage LES BALLETS TROCKADERO DE MONTE CARLO, ENGLISH NATIONAL BALLET’S MANON, BIRMINGHAM ROYAL BALLET’S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, MATTHEW BOURNE’S SWAN LAKE • AWFUL AUNTIE THE WORST WITCH • BILL BAILEY, JASPER CARROTT, JOOLS HOLLAND, JASON MANFORD, THE SIMON & GARFUNKEL STORY, KEVIN BRIDGES, THE WHITNEY HOUSTON SHOW, DES O’CONNOR & JIMMY TARBUCK SARAH MILLICAN, DARA O’BRIAIN, SIXTIES GOLD, ANTON & ERIN, VAMPIRES ROCK, AN EVENING WITH THE HAIRY BIKERS, A BEAUTIFUL NOISE, THAT’LL BE THE DAY • THE KITE RUNNER, WAR HORSE, BENIDORM LIVE, THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, THE FULL MONTY, NATIONAL THEATRE’S MACBETH • TITANIC THE MUSICAL AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN, BLOOD BROTHERS, WICKED, SHREK, CALENDAR GIRLS THE MUSICAL, AMERICAN IDIOT, THE BAND, JERSEY BOYS • WELSH NATIONAL OPERA • DICK WHITTINGTON MAYFLOWER GALA NIGHT, FESTIVAL OF REMEMBRANCE, WESSEX HEARTBEAT • THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS 08 09 Mayflower Theatre ANNUAL REPORT 2018–2019 Attendance by Genre 2018/19 Income & Expenditure 2018/19 Young Children Under 5 914 91,724 Drama Total Income Our total Surplus for the The theatre retained an average £17,382,938 year was £585,680 26.14% of ticket sales Comedy & Concerts 32,155 4,429 Variety (Including investment income and gains) Ballet 30,513 54,983 Pantomime £20m Musicals 189,980 4,376 Opera 14,740 Children’s 0.3% 21.6% 1.0% £15m 7.6% £13,699,127 £5,493,488 13.0% £10m £10,579,150 1.0% £2,057,514 7.2% £1,626,297 3.5% £724,620 423,814 £5m TOTAL ATTENDANCE £0m Box office Other Trading Other Production Trading Overheads Income Income Income Costs Costs 44.8% I saw Wicked last night. Have seen The best funniest panto EVER! I was Dick Whittington was a great show, all you need I can’t recommend Wicked more! Amazing show, 59,031 this many times including the original crying with laughter and Bobby Davro 7, 6 3 0 for Christmas Eve. My granddaughter was in a so slick and well done from the set to cast! 23,369 Broadway cast and this touring cast made it for me – but – everyone wheelchair and the staff were so helpful. Standing ovation given and thoroughly deserved! Facebook likes are just as good. Costumes, staging was just fantastic and the dame Instagram Twitter followers as of 1 April 2019 and vocal talent amazing. and his costumes were awesome! followers I saw War Horse for the second time. Words Jersey Boys was a fantastic show, I saw it on as of 1 April 2019 10/10 to everyone! as of 1 April 2019 just can’t express how fantastic this show is, Tuesday night and loved every minute. We are fantastically talented cast. If you haven’t already very lucky to have such a wonderful theatre seen it then please go, you won’t be disappointed. which gets all the great shows. The Mayflower Theatre Trust is a charity which receives no direct funding from public bodies. 10 11 26,176 people were reached by Engage activity this year. Community Engagement Our Community and Education programme, Engage, had 26,176 contacts with the community this year. The focus of our refurbishment, Regeneration for the Next Generation, was exemplified in our Gala evening reopening event involving over 250 members of the community of all ages and showcasing our Engage programme alongside professional performers. The strategy for our Engage programme has four strands: Youth, Community, Education & Events. Youth Our Summer Youth Project Les Misérables Mayflower Musical Youth Theatre (MMYT), School Edition this year took place offsite at our weekly youth theatre sessions, continued to King Edwards Sixth Form School in Southampton. meet across three groups giving opportunities for The project involved 111 young people in the company: 106 in the young people aged 10–18 years to develop their skills and talents, cast, two backstage and three musicians in the orchestra. We were have fun and make friends with other likeminded young people. again pleased to work with students from Solent University’s Hair and Makeup course. Four sell out performances took place playing The company were involved in several community performances to 1,396 audience members.