The doors to the Palace Theatre may be closed temporarily but the English Riviera’s oldest working theatre in the popular seaside town of Paignton remains a hub for innovation, culture and creativity on the world’s stage.
The theatre has recently starred in an inspirational short film by internationally acclaimed, American spoken word artist, activist and Youtuber, Prince Ea. With over 1 billion Facebook and 5.64 million Youtube followers, Prince Ea has received many accolades including a listing in Oprah Winfrey’s: Oprah’s Supersoul 100 – the world’s biggest trailblazers.
When South West based independent filmmaker, Jake Cauty of JPC Film got in touch to enquire about hiring the Palace Theatre’s auditorium for a film project, the Jazz Hands team, who operate the multi-award-winning venue were delighted to help. Jake, who regularly works with some of the biggest names in the media industry including Disney and Sony Pictures, and his small crew spent the day filming a scene with a young man playing the theatre’s Grotrian-Steinweg grand piano.
Jake says: ‘It’s been one of the best experiences we’ve had on a film shoot. The venue itself is fantastic and the Palace Theatre staff were so friendly, welcoming and professional, making sure we had all we needed to get the project underway. With COVID19 being around we were introduced to a lot of new challenges to keep things safely distanced, but the Theatre team were on hand throughout, ensuring we had a smooth day’s shoot. We’ll definitely be returning for further projects.’
Kid drops out of class. The reason why will make you cry is a short film telling the story of the love between a mother and her son. Appearing on Prince Ea’s Youtube channel, the film has already had almost 260, 000 views and is increasing daily.
Maureen McAllister, Director of Operations for Jazz Hands Community Interest Company says: ‘It was a brilliant experience for us to have JPC films at the theatre, we were really pleased that they chose the Palace, and whilst we weren’t able to offer our normal hands-on welcome, we were still able to support the team throughout the day. The ‘lights, camera, action’ bringing a little ray of light in these horrid times; and to see our piano and stage in the film, and the Palace Theatre Paignton mentioned in the credits is fabulous!’
There are several ways to support the Palace Theatre’s activities and projects during COVID19 lockdown including donating through CrowdFunder and GoFundMe fundraising campaigns and taking out an annual membership as a Friend of the Palace Theatre. To find out more visit the Palace Theatre website and follow social media sites (www.palacetheatrepaignton.co.uk)
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