During the past 50 years the Waterside Theatre, at the Waterside Sports and Social Club, has been the setting for hundreds of stage productions enabling thousands of Waterside residents to enjoy reasonably priced, live theatre on their doorstep. These productions have included pantomimes, plays, choral concerts, Broadway musicals, band concerts, school productions, light opera, ballet, rock bands and country and western music.
In addition to music and drama the theatre auditorium is also used regularly for amateur boxing, badminton and short-mat indoor bowls as well as dance events and parties.
The theatre’s facilities are unique outside of the professional theatres of Southampton and Bournemouth. The theatre can seat 300 people and, with its proscenium arch, a fully equipped fly-tower supporting a total of 19 bars and extensive lighting equipment, it can be used to stage highly professional productions. The auditorium also boasts a fully sprung dance floor.

The theatre is now in need of some urgent attention to bring it up to 21st century standards. The most pressing requirement is to improve the sound and acoustics properties of the auditorium. Users of the theatre and audience members have long complained about the quality of sound. A recent technical survey highlighted the main problems and work with Southampton Solent University has resulted in an action plan to resolve them. Acoustic panels have recently been fitted onto the rear wall of the auditorium, which not only improve the quality of the sound, but enhance the appearance of the theatre. Following on from this there is also the intention to add drapes to the side walls and fill in the windows on the exterior walls.

Other plans include improving the sound system and investing in an electronic exterior display sign.
These improvements will greatly enhance the sound properties and the overall ambience of the theatre and lead to a much improved “theatre experience” for audiences. Performers and other users of the theatre will also benefit from the changes and the Club’s aim is to attract more users and a broader range of entertainment.

Slowly people began to trickle in; the volume from the stage began to increase and there was a little more hope that it might not be such as disaster. But happily by 12:30 all the doubts had been washed away, as the theatre came alive, thanks to Jan French, with the arrival of children from Cadland Primary School and their families. The children entertained us with a wonderful 30 minutes of songs.

The songs kept coming (thanks to Kerry and Peter Allen’s magic fingers on the CD player, as well as Barbara’s on the piano), the printed words occasionally matched the words on the CDs (!), the singers kept coming and going and the hours kept ticking by, remarkably quickly. During the evening, we were visited by MP Julian Lewis and his partner, who not only supported us financially, but also joined in with the singing and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. In fact they had so much fun, that they stayed longer than planned and were only forced to leave due to a another engagement!

Later on in the evening there was an influx of teenagers, who were totally baffled as to why we were singing for 24 hours, but were certainly enthusiastically joining in and told us that we were more fun than the party in the ballroom! In no time at all it was 1am and we were treated to a 40 minute solo session by David Putley, who gave us a wonderful rendition of some beautiful songs. We then moved onto ‘the night shift’ and I was surprised how the songs were still being given the same amount of gusto that they had been throughout the day.

Slowly, the light began to filter through the front door and then came the most wonderful bacon rolls I think I have ever tasted (thanks to Swiss Chris). More people began to arrive again, giving an extra boost to the volume once more, before we got to a very apt Beatles song of ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ and then we were rounded off by Elvis to complete all 24 hours.

Between entrance fees, donations, the raffle and the name the cuddly toy competition we have so far raised £470 and if anyone has any sponsorship money, please could they get it to me by 31st October.

So a huge thank you to everyone who came along and supported the event, to those who helped in all the preparation beforehand and setting up the auditorium, those who helped with FOH and raffle and to everyone who sang, especially those who made it (and very nearly made it) through the night, I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did. I would also personally like to say thank you to Barbara for her endless enthusiasm and to Becky for all her support from start to finish.

Sponsor at Tile - Thank you to everyone who has sponsored a tile, we have raised over £800 for the improvement project. The rear wall has been fully refurbished and the improvement in the sound is brilliant.

The next step is to curtain the sides of the auditorium. This will improve the sound quality further as well as improve the asthetics of the auditorium. To help us out you can sponsor a meter of fabric for £5. Your name will be added to list of sponsors and displayed in the auditorium. Click below for a sponsorship form.

There’s now a new and easy way for you to help us raise funds for Waterside Theatre Improvement Project - simply by shopping and surfing online!

www.easyfundraising.org.uk is a shopping directory that features some of your favourite online stores, including Amazon, Interflora, Easyjet, Apple Store, iTunes, NEXT, Boots, M&S, British Airways, Debenhams, John Lewis, Dell, Toys’R’Us, HMV and over 500 others. All you have to do is use the links on the www.easyfundraising.org.uk site whenever you shop online and, at no extra cost to you, we'll receive a free donation of up to 15% from every purchase you make. It really is that simple!
It’s completely FREE TO REGISTER and use and you still shop with each retailer in exactly the same way. Many retailers even offer additional discounts and money saving e-Vouchers when you shop using easyfundraising.

All you need to do is visit www.easyfundraising.org.uk and register selecting Waterside Theatre Improvement Project as the organisation you wish to support. You still shop directly with each retailer as you would normally, but simply by accessing your chosen online shop from the links at easyfundraising.org.uk first, each retailer will make a CASHBACK DONATION to Waterside Theatre Improvement Project.
Will I pay anything extra? No. You pay the same prices exactly as if you visited each retailer's website directly. Using easyfundraising.org.uk will not cost you a penny more than you would pay normally. It seems very generous, but remember when you buy online costs are much lower. As there's no shop, salesperson, heating, electricity, rates, not even the cost of the bag to put your goods in, retailers are more than happy to help good causes when 'online' customers access their websites through the links on www.easyfundraising.org.uk them. Up to 15%.

IAN LUXFORD IN A GRAND CONCERT
with Ann Turner and David Turner

Bob Kerr and His Whoopee Band