ANNUAL REPORT 2019/20 Mayflower Theatre ANNUAL REPORT 2019–2020 OVER Chairman’s 34,000 Report PEOPLE TAKING PART IN OUR COMMUNITY INITIATIVES Mayflower Theatre has had another good year presenting a total of 372 performances and welcoming a total attendance of 524,076 which represented an average capacity of 83%. Our most attended shows were our pantomime Peter Pan Finally, I pay tribute to my fellow directors and our Company starring Marti Pellow, Darren Day and The Grumbleweeds, Secretary, for their contributions at meetings and support Matilda the Musical, Les Misérables, Mamma Mia and of myself and the Theatre. Our excellent governance and The Bodyguard. positive approach, reflected across the whole Company, ensures the integrity of all aspects of our business. 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 34,000 people taking part in our community initiatives, whether as part of our Open Voices Choir, aimed at retired residents, or in the numerous public Malcolm Le Bas performances of our Youth Theatre. Chairman We thank our loyal sponsors and partners Paris Smith, While 2019/20 was a great year contributing £1.3 million to WE ARE CONFIDENT OF PROTECTING THE LONGER TERM Beechdean, The London Hotel, Geo Speciality Chemicals, our reserves we have had to utilise that money and far more as Hildon, Brymor Construction, Peter Cooper, Womble Bond- COVID-19 has hit our industry. There is no under-estimating FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY OF THIS WONDERFUL THEATRE Dickinson, TNG Engineering, Bury & Knight and HWB the devastating impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having Chartered Accountants for their continuing support. across the world and our thoughts remain with those who are grieving. For the theatre industry in the UK the impact is severe and, with the prospect of prolonged social distancing, theatres will be one of the last industries to reopen. We have undertaken extensive financial planning to cover a variety of scenarios including a full year closure of Mayflower Theatre. We are fortunate that we have entered this extended period of closure with a general reserve of £6.9million and total cash holdings of £14.35million. This includes £10.86million in advanced ticket sales which are ring-fenced to protect our customers. Our worst case scenario planning sees a potential deficit for the 2020/21 financial year of £3.5million. Our executive team continue to identify further steps to reduce this negative impact. My board and I are supportive of the measures being taken and, combined with a promising programme already in place for 2021/22, we are confident of protecting the longer term financial sustainability of this wonderful theatre. That confidence is reflected in the Company, subsequent to the year end, acquiring the assets of Nuffield Southampton Theatres, which will enable us to continue and expand our community and youth projects as well as presenting a more diverse programme for our public. 02 03 Mayflower Theatre ANNUAL REPORT 2019–2020 Chief Executive’s TOTAL ATTENDANCE OF Artistic Report 524,076 We were pleased to continue Having committed to developing our dance programme, Our association with Welsh National Opera saw a season to develop our artistic vision. we presented the sensational Acosta Danza’s Evolution for featuring The Magic Flute, Roberto Devereux in the spring 2 performances, Some Like It Hip Hop for 3 performances and Carmen, Rigoletto and The Cunning Little Vixen in This ensures that there is a and Mark Morris Dance: Pepperland for 2 performances. the autumn. diversity in our programme as In this year we consolidated our Associate Companies We presented a variety of new touring shows including we continue to meet our strategic Scheme with visits from Northern Ballet, English National Kinky Boots, Motown the Musical, Club Tropicana, aims by presenting the very best Ballet (ENB) and Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB). Band of Gold, and Nativity! The Musical alongside opera, ballet, new musicals, drama, return visits of We Will Rock You, Million Dollar Quartet, BRB gave us a stunning production of Swan Lake, ENB a Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Annie, Rocky Horror Show, family-friendly shows and one wonderful Cinderella and Matthew Bourne made his annual and An Inspector Calls bringing a wide and diverse audience night concerts. visit with his brilliant new production of Romeo & Juliet. to our theatre. HAVING COMMITTED TO DEVELOPING OUR DANCE PROGRAMME, WE PRESENTED THE SENSATIONAL ACOSTA MEMORABLE PERFORMANCES DANZA’S 3OF PETER PAN EVOLUTION OUR PROGRAMME BROUGHT A WIDE AND DIVERSE AUDIENCE TO OUR THEATRE WE PRESENTED A TOTAL OF 372 PERFORMANCES Chief Executive Michael Ockwell with Carlos Acosta 04 05 Chief Executive’s Artistic Report continued… ANNUAL REPORT 2019–2020 34,207 THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF CONTACTS WE HAVE HAD TO DATE FOR OUR ENGAGE PROGRAMME Our focus on developing family audiences was supported by visits from Tom Gates Live on Stage, Ministry of Science, and The Night Before Christmas. Our Summer Youth Project gave us 3 memorable performances of Peter Pan. Our Engage programme had 34,207 contacts with the community throughout the year. This is the highest number of WE CONTINUE TO MEET contacts we have had to date and reflects the developing team. OUR STRATEGIC AIMS As we know 2020-21 is already a BY PRESENTING THE VERY challenging year, however we will endeavour to present the very best BEST OPERA, BALLET, NEW available product for our audiences MUSICALS, DRAMA, FAMILY- for their return to live entertainment. FRIENDLY SHOWS AND Michael Ockwell, ONE NIGHT CONCERTS. Chief Executive WE CONSOLIDATED OUR ASSOCIATE COMPANIES SCHEME WITH VISITS FROM NORTHERN BALLET, ENGLISH NATIONAL BALLET (ENB) AND BIRMINGHAM ROYAL BALLET (BRB) 06 07 Mayflower Theatre ANNUAL REPORT 2019–2020 Shows 2019/2020 With grateful thanks to the performers who appear on our stage MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP’S PEPPERLAND, NORTHERN BALLET’S THE GREAT GATSBY, MATTHEW BOURNE’S ROMEO AND JULIET, ZOONATION’S SOME LIKE IT HIP HOP, ENGLISH NATIONAL BALLET’S CINDERELLA, BIRMINGHAM ROYAL BALLET’S SWAN LAKE/DREAMS, ACOSTA DANZA’S EVOLUTION • THE COMEDY ABOUT A BANK ROBBERY, HENNING WEHN, ALFIE BOE, SOLID SILVER 60S, AN EVENING OF ERIC AND ERN, ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE, BILL BAILEY, CELEBRATING GEORGE, AN EVENING WITH KATHERINE JENKINS, JULIAN CLARY, HANS ZIMMER VS JOHN WILLIAMS, THE GUILTY FEMINIST, THE KING OF POP, ELVIS TRIBUTE ARTIST WORLD TOUR, SINGALONGA THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, RUSSELL KANE, ROMESH RANGANATHAN, ROB BECKETT JOOLS HOLLAND, WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT, ELVIS COSTELLO & THE IMPOSTERS, A MUSICAL ODYSSEY, ONE SOUND RHOD GILBERT, ANTON & ERIN • MILKSHAKE! LIVE, BEN & HOLLY’S LITTLE KINGDOM, THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS AN INSPECTOR CALLS, BAND OF GOLD • WELSH NATIONAL OPERA • HORRIBLE HISTORIES, MINISTRY OF SCIENCE TOM GATES • ROCKY HORROR SHOW, ANNIE, THE BODYGUARD, MATILDA THE MUSICAL, ROCK OF AGES, CLUB TROPICANA PETER PAN, SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, AVENUE Q, KINKY BOOTS, MOTOWN THE MUSICAL, LES MISÉRABLES, NATIVITY! THE MUSICAL, BUDDY, PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT, WE WILL ROCK YOU, MAMMA MIA!, MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET • PETER PAN 08 09 Mayflower Theatre ANNUAL REPORT 2019–2020 Attendance by Genre 2019/20 Income & Expenditure 2019/20 Ballet 40,939 20,623 Drama Total Income Our total Surplus for the The theatre retained an average Comedy & Concerts 52,367 60,300 Pantomime £23,069,028 year was £1,305,830 29.5% of ticket sales Young Children Under 5 5,107 1% 8,076 Opera £20m Musicals 325,137 10% 11,527 Children’s 4% £18,279,551 11% £15m 8% £14,358,239 2% 2% £6,131,757 £10m £2,724,652 £2,064,825 £1,273,202 524,076 £5m TOTAL ATTENDANCE £0m Box office Other Trading Other Production Trading Overheads Income Income Income Costs Costs 62% We saw Les Misérables and it was We went to see Mamma Mia I saw Peter Pan yesterday. It was absolutely Kinky Boots was an absolutely fantastic 6 4,271 easily as good as the West End. on Monday for my mum’s 60th. 12,400 fantastic. Best one yet. I’m actually aching today brilliant and uplifting show thank you all 24,825 Absolutely fabulous. We had from laughing so much. Highly recommended. and staff of Mayflower Theatre. * I brought 5 Les Mis virgins, and * Facebook likes such a wonderful time. Instagram Twitter followers packs of tissues Fantastic performance, great * I took my 11yr old daughter to see Mamma Mia. I saw Romeo and Juliet last night. They all enjoyed it too. followers energy, music and so much talent. It was her birthday treat. She said it was the WOW!!! I was in bits at the end One of the best productions Highly recommend to anyone. best day of her life. She loved every minute of it. What an amazing and powerful of this great show Thank you Mayflower and Thanks for putting on a great show production Mamma Mia team for a truly *As of 1 September 2020 wonderful evening The Mayflower Theatre Trust is a charity which receives no direct funding from public bodies. 10 11 Community 3 161 3,151 Engagement SHOWS YOUNG AUDIENCE The Engage programme had 34,207contacts during the year – the highest number PEOPLE MEMBERS of contacts to date with our local community. This reflects the developing team, additional regular offers such as Afterschool Clubs and key large projects – Matilda Champion Schools, Swan Lake Dreams and Mayflower 400 Musical Odyssey. The strategy for our Engage programme has four strands: Youth, Community, Participation and Education Youth Our Summer Youth Project this year was Peter Pan An The piece was very ambitious theatrically including flying and Awfully Big Musical Adventure. This was the first time a piece stage fighting.