The Palace Theatre in Paignton has been managed by a women-led Community Interest Company, Jazz Hands, since 2018 and its success story is being shared on this year’s International Women’s Day.
The Palace Theatre Operations Director, Maureen McAllister, is one of the speakers at an event being run by the Economic Development Team at Torbay Council. The event takes place at the Theatre, on 6th Marchcelebrating women’s achievements in a day filled with inspiration, empowerment and impact. This year’s national IWD theme, #GivetoGain, encourages a mindset of generosity and collaboration between women.
Maureen is delighted to be involved: ‘International Women’s Day will give us a great opportunity to celebrate the successes that Women in Torbay have achieved. I’m particularly looking forward to sharing the Jazz Hands story, centre stage, in my own theatre. It’s really relevant to be talking on IWD representing an organisation with a strong team, the majority of whom are women. We have a fantastic team that work together and foster an environment of support and empathy. We’ve recently benefited from a mentoring and business development programme and it’s been a revelation to meet so many inspirational women in partner organisations; we’ve not only learned from them but we have been extremely well supported by them.’
Jazz Hands Community Interest Company was set up in 2018 to manage the Palace Theatre, which had been threatened with closure. It was set up by Deirdre Makepeace and Maureen McAllister who invited in a third Director, Colin Spencer Halsey to lead their community theatre journey. Together they have built the business, increasing the number of tickets sold, the number and variety of shows and events on offer, the number of staff and volunteers running the venue, and of course the number of customers who visit for shows, concerts, conferences, workshops and more.
The Theatre Commercial Director, Deirdre Makepeace: ‘As we reflect on eight years at the Palace I feel we can be very proud of everything we have achieved here. Our careers in tourism and marketing made us well-placed to take on the challenge and I am pleased to say that we have had incredible support from across the community. Our ambition for the future is as sharp as ever so… watch this space!’
International Women’s Day falls on 8th Marchand the Torbay Celebration takes place on 6th March. Tickets are already sold out.
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