Page 41 - The Palace @ 100

John Tremelling
Remembers……

“In the 1980s I
embarked on a quest to
interview various
The Room Upstairs - recently refurbished by individuals who had a
donations from Rilys Restaurant next door. history of involvement in
the theatre and travelled
the length and breath of
Our Bit For The Environment the country interviewing

and making voice
recordings of their
Since the refurbishment of the Palace Theatre in 2005
we have strived to improve every aspect of efficiency to memories. Some of those
aid the future of the building and protect it for years to recordings included
come. Working closely with council asset maintenance those of Jack Leuty who
teams, climate change officers and tapping into various in the 1950s brought the
funding streams we have installed Solar Panels and Kendall’s to the Palace
High Efficiency Insulation in the roofs and new building as artists in residence,
management systems. We have replaced old roller Mavis Bennett as a little
shutter doors with new wooden ones to reduce drafts in girl recalled ‘hanging
around by the Palace
the scene dock and workshop areas; installed highly
efficient LED lighting throughout the auditorium, foyer Stage Door listening to
areas, lifts and even stage lighting in the main theatre the magical sounds of
and studio. All of this has resulted in a saving of 1,000 the theatre, this inspired
watts every hour the building is in use, thus saving the her to become one of the
theatre money. We hope the work we have done will lift most revered singers of
us from a respectable 'B' rated to an 'A' rated building, her time. Lillian Beale
potentially making the theatre even more of a 'one of a (was) a lady who had a
kind'! lifetime involvement (in
the Palace) from the day
it first opened its doors.
As we move forward, drastically improving efficiency at
every level in the operation of the building, we hope the She played the piano for
next ‘100 years book’ will be telling more stories of the some of the silent movies
wonderful influence, entertainment and effect that the and accompanied many
Theatre and all those associated with it has had on a soloist, including
Redditch and the wider communities surrounding it. myself, who performed
at the theatre.”
Tim Mackrill, Theatre Manager

2013
Page 35