The Town Hall Theatre is set to pass yet another major milestone with the venue about to welcome its two millionth attendee over the coming weeks.
This comes less than a year after the Town Hall celebrated its 20th anniversary. Playing host to an annual audience of around 100,000 people, the theatre has gone from strength to strength since it was officially re-opened in February 1996 by the then Minister for Arts, Michael D Higgins. According to theatre manager, Fergal McGrath, any punter that passes through the doors over the next couple of weeks could be the one that pushes them over the line.
“We’re guessing we’ll hit that figure in January and probably in the next fortnight we’ll pass the magic number – it could be you,” he exclaimed.
The Courthouse Square theatre incorporates the 400-seater main auditorium and a 52-seater studio space while also running the multi-purpose Black Box Theatre on the Dyke Road.
The venue held close to 500 different events last year and off the back of the ever successful Renmore Panto, which attracted a crowd of 7,500 over its run, Mr McGrath promised that 2017 would be another stellar year of theatre.
“In 2016 we presented close to 500 different events, performances and screenings – that is a very significant figure considering that the research shows that the average for peer venues is 204,” he said.
The average audience at aTown Hall show is over 170 people – a figure that well exceeds the national average of 115.
Mr McGrath believed that a huge part of the theatre’s success was the support of local people through their attendance and use of the facility.
“Outside of the festival, most of our business is local – in 2016, half of our customers were buying for the first time and that’s a huge number.
“If we sell between 85,000 and 100,000 tickets a year, and the population of Galway is just over 70,000, that highlights, number one the scale of the operation, number two the impact and number three that impact reflects the huge local support and participation,” said Mr McGrath.
He said that the Town Hall and Galway were blessed with a string of festivals across the year including Music for Galway’s Midwinter Festival, Prodigy, which kicks off this weekend.
Also on the way are the Subtitle European Film Festival, Cúirt International Festival of Literature, the Galway Film Fleadh, Galway Theatre Festival, Baboró and a Druid production lined up for September.
“We are really fortunate that we are playing host to festivals of that scale,” said Mr McGrath. “Galway Theatre Festival has been growing in recent years and Decadent is another local company directed by Andrew Flynn – there’s also a whole range of new and emerging talent.”
In 2017, The Town Hall will also be involved in ELEVATOR, a new initiative by the Irish Theatre Institute set up as a support system for emerging companies in Galway and Dublin.
“They will be given the opportunity to get regular advice and support,” said Mr McGrath. “We are always trying to nurture the next generation.”
The post Town Hall set to welcome two millionth attendee appeared first on Connacht Tribune.