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Welcome! ... to the Friends website - our resource of news and information about the 'almost lost' theatre at Alexandra Palace. and about its Friends. Please look back from time to time to keep up with news. Even better, and simpler, sign up for our newsletter, and we'll keep you updated on the current state of the theatre, what's happening now, the place of the theatre in the wider plans for the regeneration of Alexandra Palace, and especially, what the Friends are doing. If you have any questions, or think we're missing something you'd like to see here or that you think we should consider doing, don't hesitate to get in touch, or even better, help us to add or do it!
Membership of the Friends is currently a nominal £2, and will mean you're kept more closely 'in the loop' than the general public. We'd love you to join us!
You can also keep up with 'APTheatre' on...
Theatre Regeneration Plans
Friends & Supporters Event
WEDNESDAY 23 JULY 2014
AT 6.30PM IN THE TRANSMITTER HALL *
The design team for the regeneration of the theatre and east end of Alexandra Palace is working hard, and has drawn up an outline plan of its proposals.
This is your chance, as a Friend or supporter of the Alexandra Palace Theatre, to hear about and have your say on what is being proposed, before more detailed plans are drawn up.
What do you think of flattening the theatre floor? The proposed bar facilities? The quality of the backstage facilities? The location of the toilets? The configuration of the auditorium? The proposed uses? The handling of the historic elements of the theatre? How it will all integrate into the plans for the whole east end of the Palace?
The shape of the plans so far will be outlined by Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Alexandra Palace.
A strong voice now from the Friends will assist the Palace in achieving the support of the Heritage Lottery for this, the last - and by far the biggest - stage of the project. If successful, work will begin to bring the theatre back into use as one of London's most characterful and historic performance and events spaces.
We apologise for the relatively short notice, which reflects a combination of a full chief executive's diary, and the wish to avoid August, while hearing your views in good time.
We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on 23 July.
* The Transmitter Hall entrance is on the South Terrace, a few metres to the left of the BBC tower (the tower with the mast).
News update from the Friends
See our July 2014 newsletter.
Friends' Event and AGM
WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014
AT 7.30PM IN THE THEATRE FOYER
(main ice-rink entrance, east end of Palace)
The theatre restoration expert, David Wilmore, will be giving a talk in the theatre.
David Wilmore has been involved with the restoration of the Globe Theatre in Stockton-on-Tees, the Theatre Royal in Newcastle upon Tyne, the City Varieties Music Hall in Leeds and the Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond.
We will also be electing our committee for the next year. This is a very positive time for the Ally Pally theatre, and we are very keen to bring in new members to help us and to support the Palace team.
If you would be interested in joining the committee, please introduce yourself either by email before the meeting to our chair, Nigel Willmott,
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
, or speak to a committee member before the meeting.
Join us for coffee or tea before the meeting starts, and stay for a glass of wine afterwards.
At least part of the evening will be held in the theatre itself, so bring a warm layer!
You can renew your subscription or join at the meeting, or online at http://fapt.org.uk/w/index.php/membership
Our new booklet on the history of the theatre and our postcards will be available to purchase (also online at http://fapt.org.uk/w/index.php/shop).
We look forward to seeing you there.
The FAPT committee
News update 8 December 2013
Latest Newsletter
Latest Newsletter
Just sent to all our Friends, our latest newsletter for December 2013 is available to view or download here. If you're not already on our mailing list, why not sign up? Mailings are free, and you will receive future copies of newsletters and other news effortlessly!
Christmas shopping
FAPT's online shop has just opened, selling a distinctive card featuring the sinister, magical, pantomime character 'Yellow Dwarf', and a newly-published booklet covering the history of the theatre from its opening right up to to the present. It's here: FAPT Shop.
Christmas Carol
Based on the story by Dickens, an intimate performance, with both actors and audience on the stage. The 45 minute performance will be followed a talk about the theatre. More information at: Christmas Carol in the AP Theatre.
News update 31 May 2013
Our Annual General Meeting
The AGM held on 29 May in the Transmitter Hall at AP was a good meeting, well-attended, and informative.
Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive of AP, spoke, describing the remarkable success achieved with Stage 1 of the Heritage Lottery bid, and the huge amount of work now needed for the Stage 2 bid.
In the formal part of the AGM, we were very pleased that two new members were elected to our committee: Louise Blair and Graham Bennett. Here are details of the Committee for this year (opens in new window, close to return here).
News update 26 May 2013
AGM is on Weds 29 May; Agenda is here: AGM May 2013.
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Newsletter - May 2013 is here: Newsletter May 2013.
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News update 9 May 2013
Press release
Friends of the Theatre delighted at Lottery success
The Friends of the Alexandra Palace Theatre are delighted at the news that the Alexandra Palace Trust has won the backing of the Heritage Lottery Fund for its £23.9m regeneration programme for the Theatre, former BBC television studios and East Court. The HLF has granted the Trust £844,800 in Round 1 funding to further develop plans for its £16.8m lottery funding application.
Nigel Willmott, the chair of the Friends of the Theatre, said: "The Friends have been working and campaigning for the refurbishment and reuse of the Victorian Theatre for the past 11 years, since the formation of the group. For most of that time it seemed an impossible dream. Suddenly it is on the way to becoming a reality.
"It is a stunning result for chief executive Duncan Wilson and his team at the Palace, the board of trustees, and for Haringey council, which has fully supported a new strategy of redevelopment of the Palace led by the Trust, rather than a developer.
"We have been one of the many groups whose input has gone into the creation of the regeneration programme and we look forward to continuing to support the next phase of the work, to further develop the design of the project and produce a detailed business plan.
"The refurbishment of the Theatre, keeping its historic look and feel, but creating a multi-use space for music, drama, conference and community use has the potential to make it one of the most exciting and inspiring venues in London."
The Friends group has been building membership over the past year in anticipation of a positive outcome to the Lottery bid and we aim to continue to sign up new members and increase activities in support of the regeneration project.
Duncan Wilson will attend the group's AGM at Alexandra Palace on May 29, and report on the next phase of the project and how the Friends can help.
Over the past decade the Friends group has held a number of events to showcase the Theatre, including a silent film show, concerts in the auditorium and foyer, a short opera season by Tete a Tete, a reading of the Victorian melodrama Lady Audley's Secret and several Open House days. The Theatre has also been used for location shoots, including a large Sony Music ad campaign and the BBC drama Margot Fonteyn.
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News update 5 May 2013
Newsletter - May 2013 is here: Newsletter May 2013.
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New update 5 May 2013
Friends of the Alexandra Palace Theatre
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
WEDNESDAY 29 MAY 2013 at 7.30pm
Dear Friend of the Theatre
Please make a note in your diary of the AGM of the Friends.
This will be an important meeting on the future of the theatre in the light of the success or failure of the Heritage Lottery bid, which we will know about within the next couple of weeks.
Duncan Wilson, the chief executive of Alexandra Palace, will be at the meeting to outline future plans in light of the lottery decision.
We will also be electing a new committee for this next phase, and are keen to involve new committee members in the tasks that lie ahead. Please do consider becoming more active in the organisation. Feel free to email me at chair [at] fapt.org.uk if you would like to have a chat about what this might entail.
The full agenda and papers will be sent out nearer the meeting date.
Nigel Willmott
Chair, FAPT
News update 15 February 2013
Our current newsletter is here: Newsletter February 2013.
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News update 9 February 2013
Come to a talk about the theatre...
Alexandra Palace Theatre - a History
by Marlene McAndrew
at the Haringey Local History Fair at Bruce Castle Museum.
The Local History Fair is an annual event, and is being held on Saturday 23 February, 11 am to 5 pm.
There's a full day of history talks, displays and local group's stalls. Marlene's talk is at 2 pm, just after the lunch break.
Friends of AP Theatre hope to have a stall.
Do come to hear Marlene, and do visit us at our stall. Entry is free. The museum cafe will be open all day.
The Bruce Castle Museum website is at: http://www.haringey.gov.uk/brucecastlemuseum
News update 15 November 2012
Supporting the Bid
At the end of November, the Alexandra Palace Charitable Trust will be submitting a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a total of £18 million to fund the complex repairs, refurbishment, and fitting out of the Theatre and the historic TV Studios (world's first regular broadcasts) and their opening to the public for multiple uses. Together, the recovery of these lost facilities will help catalyse the transformation of the whole of Alexandra Palace. The letter supporting the bid from the Chair on behalf of the Friends of the Alexandra Palace Theatre is below.
Friends of the Alexandra Palace Theatre
CEO, Alexandra Palace
Nigel Willmott
Chair
News update 16 September 2012
Update on AP redevelopment consultation
Alexandra Palace's consultation (see also below) is now closed, but thank you to everyone who responded.
There were over 2000 responses. The theatre gained an incredible level of support, not just from Friends of the Theatre, but from the wider public. Over 1200 people said the theatre was the part of the Palace they most wanted to see open and working again. This is a fantastic result for the Friends, and will be an important factor in the bid for funding to be submitted by AP later this year to the Heritage Lottery Fund. We'll be reporting more on all of this in future newsletters.
News update 29 June 2012
Alexandra Palace redevelopment consultation
Dear Member
These are exciting times for Alexandra Palace and its Victorian theatre. For the first time in the 10 years since Friends of the Alexandra Palace Theatre was set up, there is a real chance of sympathetic development of the Palace and Park. A regeneration project to revive the fortunes of Alexandra Palace is now well under way, led by the Alexandra Palace Charitable Trust and fully backed by Haringey Council, the trustee of the charity.
Considerable work has been already done to set out the framework for regeneration. There will be three main areas for development. First, to shore up and expand the commercial activity of the Palace, based on the western end and the Great and West halls, improving the facilities for concerts and music, which is becoming the anchor activity.
Second, to develop a hotel and restaurant complex on the site now occupied by the temporary Panorama Room - as was originally envisaged when the Palace was rebuilt after the 1980 fire.
And third, to bring back in use the derelict areas at the east of the building, the Theatre and former BBC studios block and the basements. This will be both for commercial uses, but also they will be the main focus for community and educational uses of the Palace. These will be very important in accessing grants and lottery funds for part of the necessary investment.
Here is where you as a supporter of Friends of the Theatre come in. Alexandra Palace is currently conducting an extensive consultation of its outline plans, to gauge people's support and invite their comments. The size of the response and level of support will greatly strengthen their ability to advance the case for regeneration.
And more particularly, a show of enthusiastic support for refurbishing and bringing back into use the theatre will immeasurably improve prospects for an outline bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for the theatre in November. Ideas and comments will be gratefully received.
So PLEASE FILL IN THE CONSULTATION FORM and and encourage others to do so if you can. The forms are available online here (or link in full: http://www.alexandrapalace.com/about-us/regeneration/). Paper forms are also available at the Palace, along with displays and further information on the regeneration project, and forms at local libraries and community spaces.
This is a once in a generation chance. Help make sure it is not missed.
Nigel Willmott
Chair, on behalf of the Friends of the Alexandra Palace Theatre committee