Sir,
I'd like to thank Anne-Ruth Alton for her letter in last week's paper about the Rat Pack show. I'm really grateful for her support and the rest of the community who are now regularly attending events at Tenby De Valence Pavilion. I'm sorry she felt that the £16 price of a ticket was too high. Unfortunately, we have to price the tickets according to the risk attached to taking the show.
Booking a 'West End' type show with eight performers on stage, plus two technicians, all with transport and hotel requirements, is always costly and, despite much-appreciated support from the writer and other local people, the show made a loss for the pavilion. A ticket for similar show in the West End would have been four or five times the cost of the Tenby ticket.
However, I believe it is important to programme entertainment that is good quality (maybe at a price) so our audiences can gain confidence in the De Valence Pavilion. In turn, that audience development and loyalty means that the growing attendance for shows later on in the season will support the loss on this show.
Part of the 'Have Your Say' open day in February and the taster classes in March have been about being open to suggestions and ideas from the community, so I will certainly take on board that £16 was felt to be over-priced.
The next two big shows, Abba Magic on April 17 and The Reach Out Motown tour May 29, are already booked and similarly priced, but be assured the production standards will be high and I hope Tenby will continue to support the exciting developments at the De Valence.
There is, of course, the opportunity to see a show for free if anyone would like to work as a volunteer for the De Valence. Currently, the venue itself is staffed by volunteers - setting out seating, ushering, running the bar and box office and cleaning the floor and toilets afterwards. They are all unpaid, unsung heroes, helping to keep costs down and supporting the venue with their valuable time. For information on volunteering or to send any feedback or comments, please email [email protected]">[email protected] or call 01834 843568.
Thank you again to Anne-Ruth Alton and I welcome any further comments about the Tenby De Valence Pavilion programme. It's important the we book events that the community of Tenby want to see and this type of review and feedback is invaluable.
Victoria Smathers
Director,
De Valence Pavilion,
Tenby.