Last Thursday evening a smiling Greg Khoury, Executive Director of The Concourse Performing Arts Centre at Chatswood, welcomed myself and fellow UPSTAGE members with a short familiarisation speech, after which we were treated to a complimentary champagne buffet dinner. Whilst dining, I mingled with other members who, like myself, simply love going out to the theatre.
In an effort to publicise this wonderful entertainment venue, the UPSTAGE scheme was set up by Development Manager, Zoe Davies, who spoke about the history of the scheme.
“The membership scheme was set up just over a year ago to let people know that the Concourse was up and running, and was doing incredibly well, having the second largest venue after the Opera House. But we really wanted to get to know our audience more. UPSTAGE is not a money-making scheme by any means. In fact, the cost of staging our many events throughout the year far outweighs the membership fee.
“For the small outlay of $50 dollars per year, members are initially given two free tickets to any show at the Concourse in the first year of membership. They are also given free drink vouchers, discounted parking, and advance notice of upcoming functions. It’s all about giving our loyal patrons who come here all the time something more. But of course it’s really about the events. We set it up firstly to entice people to come to the venue, and once they’ve been here, we know they will want to come back again and again.
“We have an eclectic range of events and functions planned, including talks with Willoughby Theatre Company, which is undoubtedly one of the best community theatre companies in Sydney. Their past productions like “The Phantom of the Opera’’ and “Evita” have all played to sold-out houses. We have had the Australian Ballet performing their special show for children; we have backstage tours, where audiences can see what goes on backstage while there is a performance taking place. One night, when the Theatre was ‘dark’ we had people come in and feel what it was like to stand on the stage, then have a tour of the entire complex and dressing rooms.
“As for the venue itself, it caters for all of the suburbs north of the city, but even for people coming from the other side, it’s not a long way to come. Public transport will get you here in no more than half an hour from the CBD by bus or train if you want to leave the car at home. But if you do choose to drive, we give you discounted parking tickets.
“We have world-class restaurants within the grounds, all with a variety of food cultures. We have open-air cinema, and now VIVID has included us into their fantastic light shows every year. Right now we have our local community celebrating Chinese New Year with the wonderful Lion Dancers performing out on the street as we speak.
“A large part of our demographic comes from the North Shore and even the Central Coast, so they don’t have to travel across the bridge. But the thing most people like about the Concourse is, as I said before, we have a huge range of shows here. We’ve got comedy shows; we are home to the Willoughby Theatre Company; home to The Willoughby Symphony Orchestra with the wonderfully talented Maestro Dr Nicholas Milton AM. He is the orchestra’s Chief Conductor and Artistic Director. The orchestra’s two performances this weekend are nearly booked out, but tonight we have an exclusive invitation for our UPSTAGE members to sit in on the final rehearsal not only with the orchestra but also with three outstanding opera soloists and the majestic Willoughby Symphony Choir, who we believe are unsurpassed.
“We have a number of school events throughout the year, and right now we have “Australia’s Got Talent” being taped in the Theatre. We’ve got the Ensemble Theatre’s production of “Six Lessons in Six Weeks” coming up, which is filling up really well.
“But tonight we are really focussing on not only meeting our members, but encouraging them to get to know each other. And the Theatre itself is doing really well; in fact it’s hard to get a date it’s filling up so quickly. Already we are attracting world-class events. We’re reaching out to companies such as Bell Shakespeare and other companies like them, because the Theatre is such a wonderful venue for them to perform in. Every seat in the Theatre and Concert Hall is a good one. And our prices are more than competitive when you look at how much you pay to see a show in the city.”
To find out more about the benefits derived by being an UPSTAGE member, visit the Concourse website and click on MEMBERSHIP. For any further enquiries contact Development Manager, Zoe Davies at zoed@centuryvenues.com.au