Amanda Hall Interview: The Role and Importance of Amateur Companies
Title
Amanda Hall Interview: The Role and Importance of Amateur Companies
Date
19 September 2017
Description
Oral history interview with Amanda Hall, a locally based director, choreographer and youth theatre leader.
What's the story?
Director and choreographer Amanda Hall has had strong links with the Theatre Royal for many years, from performing in the venue in a special schools show in the 1980s to her involvement with Nottingham Operatic Society and in particular from 2014 with Carlton Operatic Society.
In this interview, Amanda talks about how important amateur companies are to the region and their relationship with venues like the Theatre Royal:
I suppose, perhaps even ten years ago, a lot of societies of that size were not making money and they were folding. We’ve had lots of companies fold. I’m actually the East Midlands Youth Advisor for NODA, which is the National Operatic and Dramatic Association. So I’m responsible for advising on youth productions across the East Midlands, from Derby to Skegness to Northampton at that sort of level. And through that, both Nottingham and Carlton both belong to NODA, there’s lots of societies, but we noticed, sort of ten years ago plus, that a lot were folding and just dropping out completely, I think because we had that in the seventies, cinema went, didn’t it, and all our cinemas closed, and people weren’t going to the cinema and that’s built up again. And now, when I go into primary schools and teach and ask children, they’ve all been to the cinema, but only a few have ever been to the theatre.
And now I think it’s changing back again. Now the societies are becoming more successful. People are going back to the theatre. But I certainly think there was a stage where hiring a theatre like this costs a lot of money. You know, it costs a society a lot of money and you have to make that back, because otherwise everybody that’s on the committees, or everybody that’s a member, is responsible, is liable, for any losses that that company makes.
At the same time then theatres, obviously, were trying to build their revenues. So a theatre like this needs to have, obviously, money coming in all the time and a lot of theatres started dropping their amateur companies. They just sort of said “We need a professional company in, we need whatever”. But certainly now, Carlton Operatic have been here for the last four years. We’re just starting rehearsals for Top Hat for next year. Before that we were at Nottingham Playhouse. But the difference now – we’re selling so much better here. And the reputations are building, I think, and people come to the Theatre Royal because they know all those touring productions are coming through and if you want to see good musicals, you open up the brochure, we’re on one page, looking like a good advert on one page and on the other page is Crazy For You coming in, or whatever it is, you know what I mean? And a lot now of customers in the audience are not worried that that’s an amateur production. They know the standard that we’re putting on here is as good as what they’re seeing in The Adams Family or whatever else it is.
In this interview, Amanda talks about how important amateur companies are to the region and their relationship with venues like the Theatre Royal:
I suppose, perhaps even ten years ago, a lot of societies of that size were not making money and they were folding. We’ve had lots of companies fold. I’m actually the East Midlands Youth Advisor for NODA, which is the National Operatic and Dramatic Association. So I’m responsible for advising on youth productions across the East Midlands, from Derby to Skegness to Northampton at that sort of level. And through that, both Nottingham and Carlton both belong to NODA, there’s lots of societies, but we noticed, sort of ten years ago plus, that a lot were folding and just dropping out completely, I think because we had that in the seventies, cinema went, didn’t it, and all our cinemas closed, and people weren’t going to the cinema and that’s built up again. And now, when I go into primary schools and teach and ask children, they’ve all been to the cinema, but only a few have ever been to the theatre.
And now I think it’s changing back again. Now the societies are becoming more successful. People are going back to the theatre. But I certainly think there was a stage where hiring a theatre like this costs a lot of money. You know, it costs a society a lot of money and you have to make that back, because otherwise everybody that’s on the committees, or everybody that’s a member, is responsible, is liable, for any losses that that company makes.
At the same time then theatres, obviously, were trying to build their revenues. So a theatre like this needs to have, obviously, money coming in all the time and a lot of theatres started dropping their amateur companies. They just sort of said “We need a professional company in, we need whatever”. But certainly now, Carlton Operatic have been here for the last four years. We’re just starting rehearsals for Top Hat for next year. Before that we were at Nottingham Playhouse. But the difference now – we’re selling so much better here. And the reputations are building, I think, and people come to the Theatre Royal because they know all those touring productions are coming through and if you want to see good musicals, you open up the brochure, we’re on one page, looking like a good advert on one page and on the other page is Crazy For You coming in, or whatever it is, you know what I mean? And a lot now of customers in the audience are not worried that that’s an amateur production. They know the standard that we’re putting on here is as good as what they’re seeing in The Adams Family or whatever else it is.
Type
Oral interview
Location of item
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Rights
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Contributor
Interviewers: Diane Jones & Jennifer Sherwood
Transcriber: David Chilton
Transcriber: David Chilton
