The curtain is rising on the refurbishment of the Embassy Theatre in Skegness with audiences returning to see the first show of the season, That'll Be The Day. Plans to expand and alter the theatre were approved by East Lindsey District Council in September last year. The theatre closed for three months for refurbishment to begin after the panto season last year.
Funded by £5 million from Arts Council England’s Cultural Development Fund, which could also be used to refurbish Skegness Pier, the project included expanding the theatre’s courtyard on the south side and the car park to the north.
Details also included upgrading the theatre’s seating, extending the stage storage area, and creating more multi-use spaces. The expansion will also create four additional full-time jobs, increasing total employment opportunities at the site to 17. Video: Magna Vitae on Facebook.
Funded by £5 million from Arts Council England’s Cultural Development Fund, which could also be used to refurbish Skegness Pier, the project included expanding the theatre’s courtyard on the south side and the car park to the north.
Details also included upgrading the theatre’s seating, extending the stage storage area, and creating more multi-use spaces. The expansion will also create four additional full-time jobs, increasing total employment opportunities at the site to 17. Video: Magna Vitae on Facebook.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good afternoon, everybody. And here we are, better late than never. Let me just give my
00:08colleague Grace the keys to let our customers in, if you would. So, Grace is now going to
00:12warm up the computer and let people in. And we're going to reopen for the very first time
00:18in a rather long time. It's been three months without everybody, and you can see there's
00:22an assembled group of people. Polly up there with the developers. Afternoon, all. So, we
00:29are now reopening the building. Our customers haven't seen anything I'm talking to you about
00:33yet, and as you can see, we've had a bit of a spring clean. Just bear with me, guys. Thank
00:38you very much for bearing with us. It's been a bit of a challenge, but thank you for bearing
00:42with us whilst we open. So, do come in and join the queue. My colleague Grace will be
00:45with you shortly.
00:46It says on the ticket tonight, seven o'clock.
00:53Yes.
00:54That will be the time that the show will be. Seven o'clock, seven thirty. It'll be worth
00:59the wait, don't worry. It'll be worth the wait. Bear with us. Thank you very much, guys.
01:04Just join the queue. Thanks for bearing with us. Well, it's been nice. We've had a lot
01:10of fun. So, I'm just going to wander out, as you can see, into the street. I've not
01:14been out of those doors for quite a while. And that's tonight's entertainment for you.
01:20That'll be the day. Thursday the 3rd of April. Al Murray tomorrow night, the 4th of April.
01:31I'm just going to walk along the street as the customers make their way in. And you can
01:38see there, we've got Motown on Saturday evening. Then the following weekend, we kick off it
01:45all over again. We have got loads coming up over the course of this season. So, as
01:52I said, it's Motown on Saturday, Al Murray on Friday. And tonight, after what seems like
01:59an eternity, we have officially reopened our front doors to the box office for the first
02:04time in a rather long time. Remembering that we closed down on the 29th of December. And
02:13as you can see, there are people assembled. We had a bit of a queue. Reopening our box
02:18office for the very first time this afternoon. Since the 29th of December last year, when
02:24we packed away the annual Panto. It's been a remarkable period of time. And the transformation
02:32is nearly complete. There's still a little bit of snagging to deal with. A few bits and
02:35bobs that we've got to sort out. But largely, we're in a position whereby we're good to
02:42go live. Hence why I'm here this afternoon, live on Grand Parade outside the revamped
02:48Embassy Theatre here in Skegness. People milling around on Grand Parade at the moment as we
02:55walk around the venue, as you can see. The front looks a little bit different. As I said,
03:00we're not completely there. There's a few bits and bobs still to achieve. A few bits
03:04and bobs to sort out. A few signs and pictures to hang and doors to polish. But all in all,
03:11we are pretty much there. It's been a remarkable three-month period. The transformation inside
03:19the auditorium is genuinely a sight to behold. And you can see we are live. Clock Tower just
03:24there. Just after three o'clock on Thursday 3rd April 2025. The Embassy Theatre's transformation
03:31is largely complete, as I was saying. But if you want to see what else is going to be
03:34happening over the next few weeks, then visit the website embassytheatre.co.uk. My colleague
03:42Grace is at the counter dealing with a queue of customers. We don't often have a queue,
03:48but it's the first show of the season. Everybody keen to come to the box office and take a
03:51look at what we've been doing. We've had the decorators in. But yes, it's a seven o'clock
03:59start tonight. Yes, as that lady referenced, the poster outside said 7.30, but it's actually
04:04a seven o'clock start tonight. The producers and the Embassy Theatre made a decision to
04:09change the start time to seven o'clock. So it's a seven o'clock start for that of the
04:12day, as per your ticket. As per your ticket, a 7.30 start is incorrect. It's a 7pm start
04:21for that of the day. 7pm. Bars at six o'clock. So as you can see, as I say, people making
04:27their way into the box office, joining our motley crew slash queue. Nice to have a queue
04:32after all this time. Obviously, we've not opened our front doors in any capacity to
04:37anyone since December the 29th last year. It's the first time people have seen the new
04:41box office counter, the glass doors that Grace has now got, along with various other bits
04:48and bobs. It makes a change. We've obviously got, as you can see, a lovely sunny afternoon
04:55as we reopen for the first time in several months. Gorgeous afternoon. 17, 18 degrees
05:02here in Skegness. Really, really nice. And as I said, I'm not going to take you anywhere
05:07else. All you're going to get to see is the foyer. If you want to see what the auditorium
05:12looks like, then you need to buy a ticket, but not just a ticket for tonight. You can
05:15buy a ticket for any time. We've got stuff coming up now here at the Embassy Theatre
05:19until December. So I'm just going to take a tour and you'll see things look a little
05:23bit different on this floor. This is the Grand Parade main entrance. Things look a little
05:26bit different. We've had a bit of a refresh, nice paint. It smells beautiful. Carpet's
05:31clean. Wall's changed. Things have moved around a little bit, but it's obviously still
05:36the Embassy experience that you are very much used to. Lovely long queue. Really nice to
05:42see customers waiting for their face-to-face counter service for the first time in a long
05:48time. We've not done counter service, as I said, since December, so it's lovely to have
05:52people back through the front doors. Freshly polished posters out, street cleaned, et cetera,
05:58looking really lovely. A host of things going on. As you can see, we've decorated it a little
06:03bit. This is a special occasion, a £4 million revamp of the Embassy Theatre's interior in
06:09a variety of different ways. Looking beautiful. People here queuing up, ready to get their
06:14tickets for tonight and, of course, any show coming up, and you can witness that at embassytheatre.co.uk.
06:19Tonight's show, yes, that'll be the day, is a seven o'clock start. Just be mindful of
06:24the posters in the street. As that lady we met at the front doors earlier is incorrect.
06:27It's a seven p.m. start tonight, for that'll be the day, which will be returning later
06:34in the year for Trevor's 40th anniversary. It was actually the last live show we had
06:38prior to Pantomime on 29th November, it was, last year. It was the last show we had and
06:44it seemed quite fitting that it's the first show that will reopen us this evening. It'll
06:48be the first show that we see this evening, again, after Panto. It's all looking rather
06:54good, isn't it? All looking rather good. As you can see, Gracie's now behind her rather
06:58smart, chic, stylish, Scandi-style box office frontage, complete with window, new computer,
07:06digital seating plan. Looking rather good. Brochures out, flyers out for stuff that are
07:11coming up over the course of the season. So, yes, okay, fair enough. The real magic might
07:15start in the auditorium later on tonight, but we will be back live on Facebook later
07:20on and throughout the evening, as this is our first live show following our multi-million
07:25pound refit. Auditorium has been extensively revamped. It looks absolutely spectacular.
07:30We've given areas of the building some new names. Everything's had a bit of polish and
07:35more, elbow grease, etc. And, of course, the brand new cafe and bar that will actually
07:39be opening later in the month, but it's still been a fabulous period of time. Wonderful
07:44to see the Embassy Theatre revamped to this extent, largely for the first time in a generation,
07:48to the extent where we've got quite a group of people in the foyer for the first time,
07:54as I was saying. It's coming together rather nicely. Looking good. And, as you can see,
07:59people wandering around to take a look at things. It's looking rather nice. Seven o'clock
08:04tonight, I remember, for that will be the day, but anything that's forthcoming, embassytheatre.co.uk,
08:09embassytheatre.co.uk, for all of the stuff that's coming up over the course of this weekend
08:14and, of course, throughout the season. We opened our box office at three o'clock today,
08:18three p.m. today, for the very first time. Very first time, three p.m. today, and we
08:23will be back, as I said, live on Facebook later on this afternoon. But, for now, from
08:27a rather busy Embassy Theatre foyer, we'll leave it there and we'll be back again a little
08:31bit later on this evening. Good evening.