New seats for Alhambra Theatre as part of refurbishment

Work in the stalls is now complete, with the seating in the auditorium replaced with a purpose built demountable seating system, and replacing seating in the theatre’s circle is the next focus with work set to begin next spring.

The new seating in the stalls, manufactured and installed by Audience Systems Ltd, is designed to be easily and efficiently removed and reinstalled whilst improving customer comfort.

It is hoped the new system will cut down the turnaround time of the seats being removed and reinstalled from six days to a mere six hours.

A spokesman for theAlhambra Theatre Trust said: “The reduction in turnaround time and labour will provide significantly more flexibility in our programming and will lead to a significant increase in the amount of standing events that the theatre is able to programme.

“Furthermore, the design of the new seating, whilst increasing capacity in the stalls, will also lead to an increase in legroom, and greater flexibility to create additional accessibility for wheelchairs and those with restricted mobility.”

With the stalls complete, the Alhambra Theatre Trust’s attentions are turning to the circle, which currently features original seating installed in 1922. It is proving to be increasingly difficult to maintain and the width and legroom is less than satisfactory for modern audiences.

The circle will be remodelled to create additional width and legroom, with Audience Systems’ specially designed Ikon seats installed.

But it’s not just the seats seeing a makeover, the trust intends to refurbish the circle foyer and rear stalls toilets as well as increase female toilet capacity in the circle.

There are also plans to replace the existing heating and the hearing loop has recently been overhauled.

Significant investment has already been made in 2019 with a complete revamp of the theatre’s lighting rig.

The spokesman added: “We are excited to announce the upcoming improvement plans, in particular the seating replacement. This work will be the culmination of a year’s long ambition and will dramatically improve our customer experience.

“We are also immensely proud to be able to fund these improvements from our own efforts, with the Alhambra Theatre bucking the downwards trend of theatre in the UK.

“These improvements will help to cement the Alhambra Theatre’s vital place in the local community for years to come, and allow the theatre to continue to move forward as we move towards the theatre’s 100th birthday.”